The Stock Market Crash of 1929

Paper Summary:

Discusses factors leading up to the collapse of the market and the Great Depression. Federal Reserve Policy. Arrogant attitude of the bankers, government, big business and the investors. Causes of the crash including speculation, overpricing of stocks, fraud & corruption, margin buying. Role of President Herbert Hoover. Economic structure of 1920s.

From the Paper:

"The factors leading up to the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression all had one element in common--arrogance. The bankers, the government, big business, and the investors all believed that the profits they were enjoying would never end, that the American economy was so strong that nothing could go wrong, and that no steps were necessary to safeguard against a collapse of the market and the economy. They believed this despite the fact that two earlier recessions had occurred in the 1920s, or perhaps because those recessions came and went with little lasting effect.


Whatever the economic, social and/or political lessons to be learned from the events of the 1920s which resulted in the crash of 1929, Galbraith makes clear the moral lesson: "It is that very specific and personal misfortune awaits those who presume to..."

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