ECONOMICS REPORT - 75th Anniversary of the 'Great Crash'

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - 75th Anniversary of the 'Great Crash'
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Friday, October 29, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

 
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Seventy-five years ago this week, an event shook the world: the Great Crash of nineteen twenty-nine.

It began October twenty-fourth, nineteen twenty-nine. Fear seized the New York Stock Exchange. Investors³ wanted to sell their shares before the stock lost value. Over the next five days, millions of shares flooded the market. Many investors lost all their money.

During the nineteen twenties, many Americans had invested in the stock market. Many got rich. In nineteen twenty-eight, Herbert Hoover was elected president. He said the future was bright with hope.

People were being advised to buy stock before prices climbed even higher. Common sense was in short supply. Stock market rules let investors buy shares even if they did not have enough money. That is still true today, but there are stronger controls.

During the summer of nineteen twenty-nine, some economists⁴ warned that there was no real value behind the high prices. President Hoover urged stock market officials to make trading safer and more honest. But he did not think the government should interfere⁵ in the market.

When the drop in stock prices finally came, it was slow at first. It picked up speed as investors sold more and more shares. Several bankers bought stocks in an effort to prevent a crash.

But the intense activity continued. October twenty-ninth is remembered as Black Tuesday. That day alone, stocks lost a tenth of their value.

The crash caused a lot of people to lose their jobs, their farms and their homes. Many banks and businesses failed. The crash led to a worldwide depression.

In nineteen thirty-two, Americans elected a new president, Franklin Roosevelt. He increased federal control over banks and the stock market. But the Great Depression did not end in America until nineteen forty-two, during the Second World War.

The stock market has had other bad days in the last seventy-five years. October nineteenth, nineteen eighty-seven, is called Black Monday. American stocks lost twenty-three percent of their value, their biggest percentage loss in a single day.

In less than two years, however, those stocks had regained⁶ all the value they lost. And economists like Lee Kjelleren [SHELL-er-en] at the Museum of American Financial History in New York say good quality stocks are still the best investment.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Gwen Outen.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

6 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。