Here's what happens with a little government intervention:
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[snip]Some economists also view the stock-market crash as being a preemptive revaluation of stocks based on the news that the tariff act would most likely pass into law. On October 23, 1929 (according to the New York Times reporting on October 24th) the anti-tariff coalition broke apart. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 21 points, or over 5%, during the last hour on the 23rd. On the 25th, the New York Times reported that on the 24th the anti-tariff forces had suffered another setback and casein tariffs in the draft Smoot-Hawley bill were raised by 87%. The 24th was “Black Thursday” as the Dow continued to fall. However, news commentators at that time did not make the causal connection between the tariff news and the market’s fall.

As countries resorted to protectionism, the general amount of international trade radically decreased, causing the world economy to slow.[snip]
With Congress prepared to underwrite $300B of bad mortgage debt, wonder how long it will take tax-payers to work off this obligation and its likely iterations and how many politicians will be enriched? Read the masthead when longing for so-called government intervention since all human action is fraught with unintended consequences. smile

Last edited by Harv3; 07/01/08 01:08 AM. Reason: context