The Great Crash of 1929: A Reconciliation of Theory and Evidence

There were many changes in the USA in the post WW1 Period and the 1920s. A housing boom, new theories on finance and stock pricing models, high inflation rates, increases in the money supply, and a technology boom all took place to create a very exciting and dangerous period for investors. It was the most infamous 'boom and bust' episode in modern history and one which is again the subject of heated debate as the field of economics clashes over the presence of asset bubbles and their implications for economic policy. With new data and over 100 years of stock market returns, the actual models used by investors, together with new findings from modern research, Ali Kabiri offers the reader the chance to investigate what drove stocks so high and then caused them to crash. He thoroughly re-examines all the unanswered questions on 1929 and, using new data sets, he allows the reader to understand the changes which led to the 1920s stock market boom and the 1929 crash and answers the key question of whether 1929 was a bubble or not, and which part of the bubble, if present, could have been anticipated. The Great Crash of 1929 is an ideal resource for those interested in financial history, historical finance, behavioural economics, financial markets and the history of economic thought.

Understanding the American stock market boom and bust of the 1920s is vital for formulating policies to combat the potentially deleterious effects of busts on the economy. Using new data, Kabiri explains what led to the 1920s stock market boom and 1929 crash and looks at whether 1929 was a bubble or not and whether it could have been anticipated.

Ali Kabiri is a research associate at the Financial Markets Group at the LSE and a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Buckingham, UK. He has been a visiting research scholar at Columbia Business School and Yale University in the USA.

1.Introduction
2.Literature Review and Methodology
3.The US Economy and the Financial System
4.The Returns to US Common Stocks from 1871 - 2010
5.The October Crash of 1929 and the NYSE Credit System
6.The Great Contraction 1929 - 1933 and the Value of Stocks
7.Conclusions