Journal of Political Economy Vol. 16 No. 2 1908
The Crisis of 1860 and the First Issue of Clearing-House Certificates: I
Abstract
THE CRISIS OF i86o AND THE FIRST ISSUE OF CLEARING-HOUSE CERTIFICATES. I. The causes of crises are so subtle in nature that any attempt to foretell fluctuations in the financial world might well be considered hazardous. No one in the opening months of the year i86o thought of doubting the continuance of the rising tide of prosperity which had begun to gather strength the year before. And yet the closing months of the year saw such a destruction of trade and credit, and the downfall of so many powerful houses, that the financial situation in New York and, indeed, throughout the United States generally, occasioned deep anxiety to the financiers of the world. This revulsion is in itself worthy of attention as a study of a financial panic; but it is of still greater historical interest to the student of credit and crises because it was the first occasion, in this country, of the issue of clearing-house certificates as a means of checking the course of liquidation. As will be shown hereafter, the panic was caused by the rupture of business relations between the North and the South, and aggravated by the suspension of normal trade relations between the East and the West. In order that the causes that occasioned the revulsion may be clearly apprehended, it will be necessary, first of all, to describe the condition of industry and agriculture in the South and West. In doing so, the inquiry will be confined to the decade I850-60.
- DOI
- 10.1086/251398
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 65-75
- Language
- en
- Sources
- semanticscholar openalex crossref