上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 between excessive governmental regulation and laissez-faire The public's overwhelming optimism about economy Wall Street villains As is mentioned above,the Coolidge Prosperity witnessed a booming economy and the tremendous improvement of people's living standard:After WWI,England and its European allies were exhausted economically due to the war,while the US economy was thriving,and the world danced to the America tune.And for the first time in history,the idea of"Buy Now Pay Later" became the mainstream.What's more,the consumerism culture came into being,which says that "we believe now in instant gratification,take care of now,and don't worry about the future,live for the moment."The bankers in Wall Street urged to form the sense in public that investing in stocks was not only safe,but reliable and respectable.They built up agencies around the country to teach the skill of speculating in stock market and all Americans began a mania of speculation. And the "Buy now Pay later"idea spread to the stock market and people began borrowing money to speculate on rising share prices.By the end of 1920s,90%of the purchaser's price was made of borrowed money and nearly 40 cents of every dollar in America were loaned to the stock market. An investor himself,President Coolidge was notably silent on the speculative mania led by Wall Street.With little government supervision,the market was a law to itself,and insider dealing and manipulation was rampant.In March 1929,President Hoover was inaugurated and he reassured Americans that "We had reached a higher degree of comfort and security than ever existed before in the history of the world."However,he was less confident behind the scenes.As Steve Fraser, author of "Wall Street,A Cultural History",put it,"He is actually skeptical about what's happening on Wall Street and the economy generally,but he doesn't have the political courage of his convictions.So when he became president,he did nothing to rein this wild speculative fervor."4 In September,the market became increasingly volatile while Wall Street bankers kept assuring President Hoover that the market would correct itself.Finally,on October 24th,the mania and chaos culminated with the Black Thursday,which trigger the 10-year-long Great Depression. In mere 36 hours,America lost 23%of the value of its industry. In my opinion,apart from the lack of government supervision and the manipulation of Wall Street bankers,the public were also culpable of the stock market crash:They were credulous of the stories of overnight fortune fabricated by Wall Street bankers and lost their mind in speculating, or gambling to be more exact,with borrowed money.However,the current economy crisis since 2008 shows that people have learned nothing from the Great Depression:before the housing bubble's breaking,American people had a lot of cheap credits as they did in the 1920s,and they speculated in real estate."In 1980s and 1990s,as faith in free market and optimism revived,many of the financial regulations Roosevelt had introduced were thought to be out-of-date,and were gradually dismantled.Consequently,a lightly regulated market that allows speculation to grow unchecked just as that of the 1920s emerged again."5 In China,such farce had happened,too.When I was junior two,the stock market in China 4 Joanna Bartholomew,《The Great Crash》(纪录片)，BBC,2009,23分4秒至23分 24秒 5 Joanna Bartholomew,.《The Great Crash》(纪录片)，BBC,2009,56分45秒至57分 07秒 3上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 3 between excessive governmental regulation and laissez-faire. The public’s overwhelming optimism about economy & Wall Street villains As is mentioned above, the Coolidge Prosperity witnessed a booming economy and the tremendous improvement of people’s living standard: After WWI, England and its European allies were exhausted economically due to the war, while the US economy was thriving, and the world danced to the America tune. And for the first time in history, the idea of “Buy Now Pay Later” became the mainstream. What’s more, the consumerism culture came into being, which says that “we believe now in instant gratification, take care of now, and don’t worry about the future, live for the moment.” The bankers in Wall Street urged to form the sense in public that investing in stocks was not only safe, but reliable and respectable. They built up agencies around the country to teach the skill of speculating in stock market and all Americans began a mania of speculation. And the “Buy now Pay later” idea spread to the stock market and people began borrowing money to speculate on rising share prices. By the end of 1920s, 90% of the purchaser’s price was made of borrowed money and nearly 40 cents of every dollar in America were loaned to the stock market. An investor himself, President Coolidge was notably silent on the speculative mania led by Wall Street. With little government supervision, the market was a law to itself, and insider dealing and manipulation was rampant. In March 1929, President Hoover was inaugurated and he reassured Americans that “We had reached a higher degree of comfort and security than ever existed before in the history of the world.” However, he was less confident behind the scenes. As Steve Fraser, author of “Wall Street, A Cultural History”, put it, “He is actually skeptical about what’s happening on Wall Street and the economy generally, but he doesn’t have the political courage of his convictions. So when he became president, he did nothing to rein this wild speculative fervor.” 4 In September, the market became increasingly volatile while Wall Street bankers kept assuring President Hoover that the market would correct itself. Finally, on October 24 th , the mania and chaos culminated with the Black Thursday, which trigger the 10-year-long Great Depression. In mere 36 hours, America lost 23% of the value of its industry. In my opinion, apart from the lack of government supervision and the manipulation of Wall Street bankers, the public were also culpable of the stock market crash: They were credulous of the stories of overnight fortune fabricated by Wall Street bankers and lost their mind in speculating, or gambling to be more exact, with borrowed money. However, the current economy crisis since 2008 shows that people have learned nothing from the Great Depression: before the housing bubble’s breaking, American people had a lot of cheap credits as they did in the 1920s, and they speculated in real estate. “In 1980s and 1990s, as faith in free market and optimism revived, many of the financial regulations Roosevelt had introduced were thought to be out-of-date, and were gradually dismantled. Consequently, a lightly regulated market that allows speculation to grow unchecked just as that of the 1920s emerged again.” 5 In China, such farce had happened, too. When I was junior two, the stock market in China 4 Joanna Bartholomew, 《The Great Crash》（纪录片），BBC，2009, 23 分 4 秒至 23 分 24 秒 5 Joanna Bartholomew, 《The Great Crash》（纪录片），BBC，2009, 56 分 45 秒至 57 分 07 秒