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Can 1987's Black Monday Happen Again?
Not likely, but credit crunch proves we can invent new screw-ups
By Jonas Oransky
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Posted Oct 16, 07 7:49 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Twenty years ago, Black Monday—now, the credit crunch. Haven’t we learned a thing? Yes and no, says MSNBC: Today, "circuit breakers" make a 1987-style sell-off unlikely by cutting off trading at certain limits. And new, tighter mortgage standards will keep credit under control. But greed and fear will again find ways to rock the marketplace.
Black Monday played out in public, as investors wary of overvalued stocks clogged the system with a sell-off. This year’s drama found a new way to unfold, behind closed doors, in “the murky world of credit derivatives and computer valuation models.” Feds saved the system both times by dousing it with money. But Wall Street “hubris” will one day allow a new crisis, as yet unforeseen, warns MSNBC.