Market crash of 1929: Some facts of the economic downturn (2024)

Black Thursday on October 25, 1929, in the New York Stock Exchange saw nearly 13 million shares being sold in panic selling. Five days later, Black Tuesday saw investors trading 16 million shares in a single day. In the aftermath, the industrialised world spiralled downward into the Great Depression. Here are some facts of the economic downturn:

Market crash of 1929: Some facts of the economic downturn (1)

On October 29, 1929, shares were traded as panic selling reached its peak. Some stocks had no buyers at any price. These were known as “air pockets”. In the first half hour, around 3,259,800 shares were traded. Soon $30 billion was lost. This was more than twice the US national debt.

This was the worst stock market crash in US history, when billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialised world spiralled downward into the Great Depression.

The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1939, and was the worst economic downturn in history. By 1933, when the Depression reached its lowest point, some 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed.

In 1930, 12 million people were out of work, every day 12,000 people lost their jobs, 20,000 companies went bankrupt and around 23,000 people committed suicide.

Market crash of 1929: Some facts of the economic downturn (2)

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to America’s entry into World War II, and the nation’s factories went back in full production mode. In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act, which for the first time provided Americans with unemployment, disability and pension for old age.

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Market crash of 1929: Some facts of the economic downturn (2024)
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