I read the story of Arthur A. Robertson, a man who witnessed the stock market crash. His story was very descriptive, and it helped me understand the severity of the stock market crash. In the 1920’s, the stock market was a symbol of hope to people; there was no way this system could fail. But the stock market worked very differently back then. “Today, if you want to buy $100 worth of stock, you have to put up $80 and the broker will put up $20. In those days, you could put up $8 or $10” (Terkel 100). People were investing small amounts of money in stocks that could turn into huge debts. People didn’t know what they were getting into. This irresponsible spending is what caused the crash. When the crash hit, stock fell over 80 percent in value. People’s lives were ruined and many committed suicide. I also read a story about a farmer named Oscar Heline. He had to live through the troubles of the great depression. Like most other people, Heline lost his farm land and could hardly provide for his family. Grocery stores were giving their merchandise away because it was more expensive for them to maintain it. Everything went from good to bad overnight. This is like what’s happening with the economy today, people bought too many things on credit and now they are in massive debt. If a world war brought the US out of the depression last time, what will bring the economy out of this present day deperession.