A single bank executive’s last-minute decision averted a potential 1987 depression

Evidence

“Please listen, Wilma; you have to take it upon yourself to guarantee the balance because if you don’t, I’ve got to call Alan Greenspan, and we’re going to cause the next depression.” … There was silence on the other end of the phone… Suddenly, fate intervened. “Hold it a minute, Leo,” she shouted into my earpiece, “Tom Theobald just walked in.” Theobald was then the chairman of Continental Bank. A couple of minutes later, but what seemed to me like an eternity, Smelcer was back on the phone. “Leo, we’re okay. Tom said to go ahead. You’ve got your money.” I looked at the time, it was 7:17 A.M. We had three full minutes to spare. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 26

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: State intervention after the 1987 crash averted a 1929-style depression — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 515

Broader Connections

• State intervention after the 1987 crash averted a 1929-style depression #qualifies (0.85) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 515