Today marks the 30th anniversary of "Black Monday," one of the worst days in Wall Street history. The Dow Jones lost dropped nearly 23 percent in a single day of trading.
These days, it seems like the stock market only goes up. 30 years ago today it crashed. Lest we forget, this is what that felt like.
The crash exposed problems in how the markets operated and how they were regulated. In the aftermath, there were Congressional hearings and even the creation of the Presidential Task Force on Market Mechanisms chaired by future Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady. Other than the creation of circuit breakers to halt trading and prevent panic sell-offs, few new regulations were implemented. As the market recovered and the national economy continued to grow, people moved on, until the next crash.
Today, we look at the response to the 1987 crash, and what it says about today’s financial system.
This is the third story as a part of WNYC's Crash Course, a series about the stock market crash of October 19, 1987, and what it can tell us about today's financial markets. If you've ever regretted a decision about investing in the stock market, how did you make that choice? Tell us your story.
