Where Wall and Pennsylvania Intersect

Tourist guidebooks say that Wall Street starts at Broadway and ends at the East River. Political analysts know better: at the end Wall Street changes into Pennsylvania Avenue. Economics alone can no longer explain the ups and downs of the stock market. The recent Wall Street crash was more accurately telegraphed by political than by economic indicators.

During the past six years the objective economic situation has steadily worsened. Our technological leadership in the world declined steadily and so did our standard of living. If at any time a Wall Street crash had occurred it would have been easy to show it was warranted on economic grounds. The fact that no recession occurred left economists perplexed, constantly revising their ...