CHAPTER XVI 
THE HOPEFUL OUTLOOK 
IN the introduction and first chapter of this book 
I have presented a picture of the market crash in 
all its untoward aspects. There was a panic which 
duplicated the great recession on the London Stock 
Exchange, only in the United States the fall in prices 
was swifter and sharper than that on the London 
exchange or of any previous panic. When the 
market touched bottom on November 13, twenty- 
six billions had been cut* from the value of shares 
listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 
But in subsequent chapters I have shown that the 
factors leading to the crash of the American stock 
market were not factors of depression but of pros- 
perity, unexampled prosperity. They were factors 
identical with those which should bring about the 
recovery of the long bull market, that had lasted 
with but minor interruptions from the close of 1922. 
It was in the main over-eagerness to profit by these 
factors which produced the crash. The prime fault 
lay in the credit structure. Just because there were 
golden opportunities to invest, opportunities for 
future dividends and profits that were not illusory 
but real, there had been an undue haste, an undue 
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