Greed and fear make the markets, backed by $Trillions in guarantees from U.S. government
On October 19, 1987, "John Phelan, (then-Chair of the New York Stock Exchange), had been up throughout the night in his Manhattan apartment monitoring the bad news that was moving, like a tidal wave, toward the United States that Monday, October 19, 1987. Tokyo exchanges had closed after sustaining a record collapse in prices amid panic selling. The collapse triggered others around the globe. Disaster followed the sun and inexorably exacted its toll from Asia through Europe and then on to New York. Hong Kong was wiped out. In Australia the nation's leading market index lost 20 percent of its total value in the first forty minutes of trading. In Rome, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Paris, record losses were recorded. Down and down the prices plunged. In London the stock exchange was experiencing the single worst day in its history."
"At one point, as the grim reports kept flooding in, Phelan ... moved to a window overlooking the darkened New York skyline. He wondered if the world as he knew it was coming to an end, ... . (p. 377. Haynes Johnson, Sleepwalking Through History, American in the Reagan Years, 1991, (WW Norton and Company)) See also C-SPAN.
Celebrate Black Monday-1987 today by reading In These Times.
'The crash of ’87 is a reminder that for all its vaunted rationality, capitalism is an economic system driven by greed and fear.' With these words, long-time In These Times contributor David Moberg began the cover story from the Oct. 28–Nov. 3, 1987, issue.
Thirty years ago, 'Black Monday' sent markets into a tailspin across the globe. The ’87 crash was the largest single-day market crash in history, resulting in the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars on the stock market and shrunken pension funds.
The crash of 2008, and the resulting Great Recession, offered further evidence that the capitalist system is not just risky, but prone to crises. Today, the shaky foundations of our finance-centered economic system remain largely unchanged.
Today, October 19, 2017 the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at a near-record, 23,107.47, (Bloomberg Markets).
We should rejoice, we are blessed by Donald Trump's stunning genius and astonishing strength.
Just last week Trump said this high value of the securities markets is shrinking the national debt, (CNN).
What can possibly go wrong?
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