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Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered a depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 until 1879, and even longer in some countries. In Britain, for example, it started two decades of stagnation known as the "Long Depression" that weakened the country's economic leadership. -
The Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act is an Act of Congress that created the Federal Reserve System, and which created the authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes as legal tender. The Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson. -
Great Depression
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. -
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The stock market crash of 1929 was not the sole cause of the Great Depression, but it did act to accelerate the global economic collapse of which it was also a symptom. By 1933, nearly half of America's banks had failed, and unemployment was approaching 15 million people, or 30 percent of the workforce. -
Glass-Steagall Act
In 1933, in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash and during a nationwide commercial bank failure and the Great Depression, two members of Congress put their names on what is known today as the Glass-Steagall Act (GSA). This act separated investment and commercial banking activities. -
Securities Act of 1933
The Securities Act of 1933 required that investors receive financial information from securities being offered for public sale.The other main point of the Securities Act of 1933 was to prohibit deceit and misrepresentations. The act aimed to eliminate fraud that happens during the sales of securities. -
9/11
After that day in September 2001, our economic climate was never the same again. It was only the third time in history that the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for a period of time. In this case, it was closed from September 10 - 17. Besides the tragic human loss of that day, the economic loss cannot even be estimated.18,000 small businesses were either displaced or destroyed in Lower Manhattan after the Twin Towers fell. 9/11 caused a catastrophic financial loss for the U.S. -
Year 2001: Enron, the Emergence of Corporate Fraud, and Corporate Governance
Enron, one of the top energy companies at this time, and Arthur Andersen, one of the top five public accounting firms, were caught in a corporate fraud scandal that led to the bankruptcy of Enron and dissolution of Arthur Andersen. Enron hid billions of dollars of debt from its shareholders in failed deals and projects. Further, it pressured its auditors, Arthur Andersen, to ignore the issues. Shareholders lost more than $60 billion. -
Year 2005: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
On August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S. as a strong Category 3 or low Category 4 storm. It quickly became the biggest natural disaster in U.S. history, almost destroying New Orleans due to severe flooding.Hurricane Rita quickly followed Katrina only to make matters worse. Between the two, more than $200 billion in damage was done. 400,000 jobs were lost and 275,000 homes were destroyed. Many of the jobs and homes were never to be recovered. -
Subprime mortgage crisis
The subprime mortgage crisis, which guided us into the Great Recession, has many parties that can share blame for it. For one, lenders were selling these as mortgage-backed securities. After the lenders approved and gave out the loan, that loan would be sold to an investment bank.