The world has suffered lots, and money wise, even more. Some of these financial crises were so huge that they deserve to be read and shared, for avoiding the same in the future. Money has always been important, and these prove so. The top financial crises in history have shaken the entire world.
Here’s a list of top financial crises in history!
1. The 2007-08 Financial Crisis
What’s better than to start this article by recent world happenings (although I do admit, 2007-08 seems like yesterday but it has actually been a huge while since those years.) This crisis marked the beginning of the Great Recession, which is something complimentary to the Great Depression (the world’s most known financial crisis.) This started when the Lehman Brothers collapsed, resulting in a very stressful time for many businesses and institutions, marking one of the top financial crises in history. Things have started to run smoothly after so many years, but the billions of dollars and huge unemployment situations cannot be reverted.
2. The 1772 Credit Crisis
The 1772 credit crisis is also one of the top financial crises in history. Originated in London but this crisis became so huge that it spread to the rest of Europe. The wealth acquired by the British by colonial trade and possessions was in a large amount, marking a great high for the banks. However, one day Alexander Fordyce who was one of the partners of a huge banking house fled to France to escape his debt. The news spread, causing panic in the banks, forcing creditors to withdraw their money from the banks, standing in long queues. It spread to Scotland and then soon to other parts of Europe. Economists say that the crisis even played a part in the American Revolution.
3. The 1929-39 Great Depression
This is a crisis that everyone already probably knows about. One of the most famous and top financial crises in the world is the Great depression of 1929. It was the most mind-boggling economic disaster of the 20th century. Theories on what caused it are considerably different. Most believe that it started because of the Wall Street crash of 1929, and couldn’t be controlled because of the US Government’s poor policies. It lasted 10 years and resulted in massive loss of money, income, employment, and output, especially in industrialized nations.
4. The 1973 OPEC Oil Price Shock
OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) member countries, mostly Arab nations, decided to rebuke against the United States because of their sending arms supplied to Israel during the Arab Israeli war. They declared an oil embargo, stopping oil exports to the United States and allies. This resulted in a major shortage of oil and a huge increase in the prices, leading to a crisis in the US and other developed countries. It also took several years to recover the economy to like pre-crisis times. Thus, becoming one of the top financial crises in history.
5. The 1997 Asian Crisis
Originated in Thailand in 1997, the Asian crisis became one of the top financial crises in history. It even affected the rest of East Asia soon, along with the trading partners. Credit, due to over-optimistic approaches overextended and resulted in the accumulation of debt in the countries’ economies. The widespread Asian financial markets panicked because of the change rate of exchange of the USD. It also resulted in the scare getting to the world market and took years to become normal. Even the International Monetary fund had to step in for help.