Скачать или смотреть Stock Market Crash (September 29, 2008)

The 2008 stock market crash occurred during the Global Financial Crisis, one of the most severe economic downturns since the Great Depression. It unfolded primarily between 2007 and 2009, with the most dramatic market collapse happening in 2008. In the United States, the S&P 500 lost about 57% of its value from its 2007 peak to its 2009 low.

The crash was caused mainly by the collapse of the U.S. housing market and the widespread use of subprime mortgages—home loans issued to borrowers with poor credit. These risky mortgages were bundled into complex financial products such as mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), which were widely held by banks and investors around the world. When homeowners began defaulting on loans, these assets rapidly lost value, leading to massive losses across the financial system.

A critical turning point came in September 2008 with the failure of Lehman Brothers, a major investment bank. This event triggered panic, froze credit markets, and caused stock prices to plunge globally. Several financial institutions either collapsed or required government bailouts to survive.
In response, governments and central banks took extraordinary measures, including bank rescues, stimulus spending, and near-zero interest rates. In the U.S., programs like the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) were created to stabilize the financial system.

The crisis led to millions of job losses, foreclosures, and a deep global recession, but it also prompted major financial reforms, such as stricter bank regulations and stress testing. The 2008 crash reshaped global finance and highlighted the risks of excessive leverage, poor oversight, and complex financial instruments.