e in October, Wall Street went into a panic. In one day, 16 million shares were sold, wiping out holders on the margin and oftentimes leaving no buyers at any price.
Although much of America was stunned by these disastrous turns in the stock market in a period of seeming prosperity, many business and political leaders, including President Herbert Hoover, insisted that the economy was sound and the market disruption would not affect industry. Only about half a million people had margin accounts and just about three times that many had brokerage accounts of any kind. Unfortunately, since this small group included those who had accumulated most of the nation's wealth, their small numbers grossly understated the devastating impact. In the collapse of security values, corporations lost their surplus cash; brokerage houses were unable to cover their loans; and banks were stranded with loans that could be liquidated at only a fraction of their value.
The main barrier to effective action on the part of business and the government to deal with the pending De
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