There was a joke, which told of a visitor to New York City being shown around by a friend.

The visitor was amazed by the size and number of the private yachts in the harbor,

and asked how New Yorkers got the money to afford such expensive boats.

The friend explained that most of them were owned by bankers and stock

brokers. These were people who managed investments on behalf of their customers in exchange for

commissions. These bankers and brokers were so successful at managing their customers' money that they

themselves became very wealthy, and that was how they could afford to buy their own yachts.

The visitor paused for a moment, looking out over the water and pondering what he had just been told.

Then he asked, where are the customer's yachts?

Welcome to the history of the 20th century. Episode 283.

Where are the customers yachts?

The American public of 1933 had a very low opinion of Wall Street, the stock market, and the finance industry.

This presented a difficulty for the finance industry.

Roosevelt had gotten the banks open and convinced the public it was safe to deposit their cash

and gold into American banks, and he had managed this seemingly impossible feat in his first

two weeks in office.

The stock market was another story.

The collapse in share prices on the New York Stock Exchange only

began in October 1929. It continued for three years with prices bottoming out in 1932. Of course,

we only know that was the bottom in hindsight. People living in 1932 only knew that stock prices had been through three years of uninterrupted decline,

in parallel with the larger economy, which had also experienced three years of uninterrupted decline.

By 1932, there were many voices saying this was the end of the road for capitalism. It had failed.

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