...War casualties - including about 350,000 dead in the South alone
- decreased the labor force by about a third;
the printing of hundreds of millions of dollars during the war caused massive inflation;
the Confederate currency was worthless, bartering grew for goods;
the banking system had collapsed;
railroads and transportation infrastructure had been obliterated;
the stock of farm animals was a fraction of pre-war numbers.
With the end of slave labor, large-scale farming was impossible to sustain...
Triggered by the 1929 stock market crash,
a severe worldwide depression that lasted until the 30s and 40s for most countries.
...In the U.S, 9,096 - or 50% - of the nation's banks failed;
unemployment was at 25%...
growth declined by about 30%;
the stock market lost almost 90% of its value.
World trade ground to a halt....
Complete collapse of the German economy and its industry after WWII.
...11% of the population had died;
whole cities were rubble;
agricultural production was 35% of what it was before the war;
hoarding was rabid;
inflation was rampant...
Mao's program of economic collectivization,
the Great Leap Forward,
resulted in mass starvation due to a Chinese food crisis.
...Estimates for how many died due to famine are between 16 and 40 million.
Private ownership was abolished...
National debt surged...
The Collapse Of The Vietnamese Economy After The War
Complete economic collapse caused by the war
and collectivization of agriculture and industry.
...Infrastructure was non-existent;
farmland was ravaged by toxic chemicals;
mass collectivization of farms and factories caused triple-digit inflation
and eventually complete economic collapse.
There were multiple famine outbreaks...
The 1998 Russian Ruble and Debt Crisis
A severe currency and debt crisis, exacerbated by the Asian Financial Flu,
with Russia defaulting on $40 billion of domestic bonds.
..."Between March and August the Moscow stock exchange,
which was the world’s best-performing market in 1997,
lost more than 80 percent of its value".
International credit rating services downgraded debt to junk
and inflation surged to 84%.
Numerous banks closed.
...food prices surged; imports quadrupled in price;
food hoarding resulted in mass food shortages;
...millions of workers went without wages for months...
The Brazilian Currency Crisis
Triggered by the Russian bond default and Asian financial crisis,
mass capital flight erased half Brazil's market value.
...Investors were drawing out over "$2 billion a day
despite an interest rate rise to 50% by the Central Bank,"
currency devaluation exacerbated capital flight instead of halting it...
India declares bankruptcy and has to be bailed out by the IMF.
...Inflation hit 12.1 percent.
Foreign exchange reserves shrunk to 1.1 billion
with less than 15 days cover for imports' currency needs.
...pledged the country's entire gold reserves as collateral against an IMF loan.
The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis
stirred fears of a global economic meltdown...
The Thai baht collapsed
and Thailand had to ask "people to hand over their gold jewelery
to be melted down to boost the central banks' reserves."
Most of Southeast Asia saw currencies plunge 40-60%;
...Rioting was rampant in many nations
and the Thai, Korean, Indonesian, Philippine and Malaysian economies
shrunk by an average of 7.7%...
The Argentine Economic Crisis
Three year recession ending in economic collapse
and the fall of the government.
...Unemployment hit over 20%;
...a massive run on the banks
saw the government freeze all bank accounts for 12 months...
...government defaulted on $132 billion of public debt.
The most important take-away from the crises
...is that hard times are generally followed by reform,
hard work, and human innovation."
Katya Wachtel and Vincent Fernando, CFA
Business Insider
No comments:
Post a Comment