Katherine Lewis, America.gov Washington — Four-score years ago, on Oct. 28 and 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market crashed. Those two days, known as Black Monday and Black Tuesday, burst a bubble of speculative trading and helped trigger the Great Depression.
On this 80th anniversary of the great crash, it is striking to compare the modern stock market to the market of the 1920s. Stock investing has spread to every corner of the globe and into nearly half the households in America. New investments have been invented, from credit-default swaps to mortgage securitizations. Layers of government and self-regulation aim to ensure orderly trading and prevent fraud — and while there are those who argue for more regulation due to the recent financial crisis, the regulation is a change from the free-for-all of the Roaring ‘20s.
Continue reading here:
http://www.america.gov/st/busi... 