History of Financial Panics and Crisis
History of Financial Panics and Crisis in the United States
Panics and Depressions | Dates | Duration | Prime area of collapse | Panic of 1792 | 1792-1800 | 8 years | Commerce and real estate | Panic of 1819 | 1819-1824 | 5 years | Bank failures | Panic of 1837 | 1837-1843 | 6 years | Bank failures, currency collapse | Panic of 1857 | 1857-1860 | 3 years | Railroads and real estate | Panic of 1873 | 1873-1879 | 6 years | Bank failures | Depression | 1873-1896 | 23 years | Global depression despite huge economic expansion | Panic of 1893 | 1893-1896 | 3 years | Railroads and run on gold | Panic of 1907 | 1907-1908 | 1 year | Bank failures caused by new financial instruments | Great Depression | 1929-1939 | 10 years | Stock market crash, bank failures, bank runs, trade wars | 1973 oil crisis | 1973-1975 | 2 years | Quadrupling of oil prices, inflation from Vietnam War | Panic of 1987 | 1987 | 4 years | Dollar crisis, program trading, illiquidity, real estate | Early 1990's Recession | 1990-1991 | | | 2000 dot.com bubble | 2001-2003 | 2 years | Dot.com bubble, September 11, accounting scandals | Panic of 2008 | 2008-? | ? | Real estate, bank failures, illiquidity |
The U.S. financial crisis of 1792, which can be regarded as Wall Street’s first crash, was a more important historical episode than one might gather from the inattention it has received from historians and economists. The panic of 1792 is important for two reasons, one a matter of history, and the other a matter of economic theory and policy. First, as an historical event, the panic did not derail the U.S. financial revolution taking place at the time, although it might have done so. During Alexander Hamilton’s tour of duty as first U.S. Treasury Secretary from 1789 to 1795, and largely as a result of his strategies and tactics, the U.S. went through a successful financial revolution. In 1795 the United States had six key institutional components that characterize modern
Panics and Depressions | Dates | Duration | Prime area of collapse | Panic of 1792 | 1792-1800 | 8 years | Commerce and real estate | Panic of 1819 | 1819-1824 | 5 years | Bank failures | Panic of 1837 | 1837-1843 | 6 years | Bank failures, currency collapse | Panic of 1857 | 1857-1860 | 3 years | Railroads and real estate | Panic of 1873 | 1873-1879 | 6 years | Bank failures | Depression | 1873-1896 | 23 years | Global depression despite huge economic expansion | Panic of 1893 | 1893-1896 | 3 years | Railroads and run on gold | Panic of 1907 | 1907-1908 | 1 year | Bank failures caused by new financial instruments | Great Depression | 1929-1939 | 10 years | Stock market crash, bank failures, bank runs, trade wars | 1973 oil crisis | 1973-1975 | 2 years | Quadrupling of oil prices, inflation from Vietnam War | Panic of 1987 | 1987 | 4 years | Dollar crisis, program trading, illiquidity, real estate | Early 1990's Recession | 1990-1991 | | | 2000 dot.com bubble | 2001-2003 | 2 years | Dot.com bubble, September 11, accounting scandals | Panic of 2008 | 2008-? | ? | Real estate, bank failures, illiquidity |
The U.S. financial crisis of 1792, which can be regarded as Wall Street’s first crash, was a more important historical episode than one might gather from the inattention it has received from historians and economists. The panic of 1792 is important for two reasons, one a matter of history, and the other a matter of economic theory and policy. First, as an historical event, the panic did not derail the U.S. financial revolution taking place at the time, although it might have done so. During Alexander Hamilton’s tour of duty as first U.S. Treasury Secretary from 1789 to 1795, and largely as a result of his strategies and tactics, the U.S. went through a successful financial revolution. In 1795 the United States had six key institutional components that characterize modern