Throughout the 1920s, prices on the U.S. stock exchange rose exponentially, however, by the end of the decade, uncontrolled growth and a stock market propped up by speculation and borrowed money proved unsustainable, resulting in the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. This set a chain of events in motion that led to economic collapse - banks demanded repayment of debts, the property market crashed, and people stopped spending as unemployment rose. Within a year the country was in the midst of an economic depression, and the economy continued on a downward trend until late-1932.

It was during this time where Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was elected president, and he assumed office in March 1933 - through a series of economic reforms and New Deal policies, the economy began to recover. Stock prices fluctuated at more sustainable levels over the next decades, and developments were in line with overall economic development, rather than the uncontrolled growth seen in the 1920s. Overall, it took over 25 years for the Dow Jones value to reach its pre-Crash peak.

The aim of this investigation is, to describe the development of the German Stock Market during the inter-war period. Causes for the so called change of the stock exchange functions are analysed. The author wants to make a contribution on special aspects of the economic history of the Weimar Republic and the following NS-regime. In his investigation the researcher analyses the activities of the involved players in a historical-institutional framework. The Study’s subjectIn the year 1890 the constitution of security exchange markets and stock markets has been the object of political debate and there has been discussed similar questions according to this topic in public and in policy as today. A current question is about the possibilities to boost the functionality of the security exchange and stock markets, not least in the face of Germany’s position in the global economy. In 1896 as a result of massive political conflicts a stock exchange act has arisen that disappointed the representatives of liberal trading interests because of the restriction of the stock market system’s autonomy and the prohibition of certain forms of trade. In 1908 an amendment to the stock exchange act has been adopted by the parliament. The stock market act in this new form has had validity until today. After the years of the hyperinflation deep changes of the stock market processes has been taken place. This changes can be described as a change of function. The economic-historical study at hand deals with the description of the development of the German security exchange markets during the interwar period. Reasons of the functional changes, which means mainly the decrease in importance, are analysed. In this context the primary investigator’s analysis contributes also to specific aspects of the economic history of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi empire. Due to a lack of date the needed statistical information concerning the period of interest is not available and therefore a statistical analysis cannot meet cliometric requirements. Therefore, the study’s concept is primary a desciptive one. On the basis of the quantitative information an identification of the functional change and the definition of stages of this process is made. The researcher tries to carve out the factors which have led to the functional change particularly during the period between 1924 and 1939. In this context the annual reports of banks, reports of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, contributions of professional journals, and documents of authorities charged with the stock exchange market, are the empirical basis for the investigation. The researcher analyzed the effects of the banking sector’s concentration-process on the stock exchange market and assessed quantitatively the functional change. On the basis of the collected time series for the period of the late 19th century until 1939 the investigator analyzed the activities at the stock markets. First, the focus on interest is on the development of investments and securities issues. Then information on the securities turnover of German capital market before 1940 are given on the basis of an estimation procedure, developed by the researcher. The sepcial conditions during the inflation between 1914 and 1923 are discussed separately and the long term effects of this hyper-inflation on the stock exchange are identified. The effects of the taxation of stock exchange market visits and the high transaction costs are discussed, too. Used sources for the investigation have been:Archives of German Public Authorities:- finance ministry of the German Reich,- imperial chancellery- Reich´s ministry of economics- reference files of the German Reichsbank- Imperial commissioner of the stock market in Berlin Official Statistics, statistics of trade associations, chambers of commerce, enterprises, the press, and scientific publications. Finally, the author made estimates and calculations. The Study’s data:Data tables are accessible via the search- and download-system HISTAT unter the Topic ‘State: Finances and Taxes’ (= Staat: Finanzen und Steuern). The Study’s data are diveded into the following parts: A. Quantitative Indicators on the Change of Functions (Quantitative Indikatoren des Funktionswandels) A.1 Structure of floatation (Struktur der Wertpapieremission ausgewählter Zeitspannen (1901-1939).)A.2 Tax revenues of exchange turnover (Börsenumsatzsteueraufkommen (1885-1939).)A.3 Vergleich des unkorrigierten mit einem fiktiv möglichen Börsenumsatzsteueraufkommen (1906-1913).A.4 Estimation of everage tax rates (Geschätzte Durchschnittssteuersätze (1884-1913).)A.5 Amount of stock companies of the German Empire (Zahl der Aktiengesellschaften im Deutschen Reich zu bestimmten Jahren (1886-1939).)A.6 Shares listed on the Berlin stock exchange at the end of the year (Die zum Jahresende an der Berliner Börse notierten Aktien (1926-1939).)A.7 Reports und Lombards der Berliner Großbanken in ...

Graph and download economic data for Index of Stock Flotations for Lyons, France (M10032FR00LIOM320SNBR) from Jun 1921 to Jul 1939 about Lyons, France, stock market, and indexes.

The Study’s subject: The investigator’s aim is to determine the volume of stock trade. A sample of papers consisting of shares, government’s bond issues, corporate bond issues, bonds of mortgage banks, bonds of so called ‘Landschaftsbanks’, bonds of annuity banks, and floated subscription rights is the focus of the investigation.

With regard to the periods of German history the development of the stock market is described. The periods are: - the influence of the First World War 1914 to 1918 on the stock market - the period of inflation 1919 to 1924 - apparent return of normality 1924 to 1929 - the influence of world economic crisis 1929 to 1933 - the Nazi Socialist economic policy 1933 to 1939 - finally, the Second World War 1939 to 1945.

Important comment on the data: Taxes and the system of taxes have changed over time under investigation. Therefore, the development of stock exchange turnover tax is only one indication among others for the development of securities transactions. Furthermore, it has to be taken into account, that the reported values for the period of inflation cannot be used for comparisons with other periods.

Data-Tables in HISTAT (subject: money and currency, financial sector, in German: Thema: Geld und Währung, Finanzsektor):

A. Volume of Stock Trade in Germany A.1 Development of stock exchange turnover tax in millions of M/RM (1910-1944). A.2 Circulation of securities of domestic issuers in Billions of M/RM (1910-1944).

B. Apparent return of normality after the period of inflation
B.1 monthly averages of share prices (monthly statistics, index: 1924 to 1926 = 100, (1925-1929)). B.2 Monthly bonds prices in percent of the nominal value (monthly statistics, (1925-1929)). B.3 Stock market in Breslau: Firms and brokers authorized for stock trading (1850-1931/32).

C. Influence of economic crisis
C.1 Monthly share prices (monthly statistics, index: 1924 to 1926=100 (1930-1934)). C.2 Monthly bonds prices in percent of the nominal value (monthly statistics, (1930-1934)).

D. Influence of Nazi Socialist economic policy and stock exchange during World War II D.1 Share prices of the company ‚Rütgerswerke-AG’ in Berlin (1933-1937). D.2 Index of share prices, index: 1924 to 1926=100 (1924-1943).

On October 29, 1929, the U.S. experienced the most devastating stock market crash in it's history. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set in motion the Great Depression, which lasted for twelve years and affected virtually all industrialized countries. In the United States, GDP fell to it's lowest recorded level of just 57 billion U.S dollars in 1933, before rising again shortly before the Second World War. After the war, GDP fluctuated, but it increased gradually until the Great Recession in 2008. Real GDP Real GDP allows us to compare GDP over time, by adjusting all figures for inflation. In this case, all numbers have been adjusted to the value of the US dollar in FY2012. While GDP rose every year between 1946 and 2008, when this is adjusted for inflation it can see that the real GDP dropped at least once in every decade except the 1960s and 2010s. The Great Recession Apart from the Great Depression, and immediately after WWII, there have been two times where both GDP and real GDP dropped together. The first was during the Great Recession, which lasted from December 2007 until June 2009 in the US, although its impact was felt for years after this. After the collapse of the financial sector in the US, the government famously bailed out some of the country's largest banking and lending institutions. Since recovery began in late 2009, US GDP has grown year-on-year, and reached 21.4 trillion dollars in 2019. The coronavirus pandemic and the associated lockdowns then saw GDP fall again, for the first time in a decade. As economic recovery from the pandemic has been compounded by supply chain issues, inflation, and rising global geopolitical instability, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the U.S. economy.

Gegenstand der Studie:

Der Autor versucht, den Umfang des Handels mit Wertpapieren an den Börsen zu bestimmen. Eine Auswahl von Wertpapieren steht hierbei im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung. Es handelt sich dabei um Aktien, Kuxe, Anleihen der öffentlichen Hand, Anleihen der Unternehmen, Pfandbriefe von Hypothekenbanken, von den Landschaftsbanken und von Rentenbanken sowie um die gehandelten Bezugsrechte. Auf die Vorgänge an den Wechsel- und Devisenbörsen wird nur dann eingegangen, wenn diese Vorgänge für den hier analysierten Wertpapierhandel von Bedeutung sind.

Angelehnt an Teilperioden der deutschen Geschichte wird in dem Beitrag die Entwicklung des Börsengeschehens dargestellt. Die Teilperioden sind: - Der Einfluß des Ersten Weltkrieges (1914-1918) - Die Inflationszeit (1919-1924) - Die scheinbare Rückkehr zur Normalität (1924-1929) - Der Einfluß der Weltwirtschaftskrise (1929-1933) - Die nationalsozialistische Wirtschaftspolitik (1933-1939) - Der Zweite Weltkrieg (1939-1945).

Die Effektenbörsen wiesen in der Zeit von 1914 bis 1945 erhebliche Wandlungen auf, vor allem Beeinträchtigungen aufgrund außerwirtschaftlicher Rahmenbedingungen charakterisierten die Entwicklung. Krisenhafte Situationen traten dabei immer wieder wegen der starken Angebots- und Nachfrageänderungen auf, verbunden mit den entsprechenden Kursverlusten. Diese Situationen kennzeichnen die Börsenkrisen.

Voraussetzung für Börsenkrisen war häufig eine Hausse-Spekulation, d.h. ein übermäßiges Ansteigen der Kurse. Die Vorgänge der übermäßigen Anstiege und Rückgänge der Kurse brachten Unruhe sowohl in die Effektenmärkte als auch in die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung, wobei es sich bei der Beeinflussung zwischen Effektenmärkten und Wirtschaft um eine Wechselwirkung handelt. Kriege und Wirtschaftskrisen wurden in erheblichem Maße durch Eingriffe des Gesetzgebers ergänzt, so daß auch das Börsengeschehen innerhalb der Länder als auch die internationalen Börsenbeziehungen erheblich beeinträchtigt wurden.

Sollen die Änderungen quantitativ ermittelt werden, dann können im wesentlichen zwei statistische Reihen herangezogen werden: - Der Umsatz an den Börsen wird in der Entwicklung der Börsenumsatzsteuerzahlungen deutlich; - die Menge der vorhandenen und handelsfähigen Wertpapiere, aus der ersichtlich wird, in welchem Maße der Handel mit Effekten ausgedehnt werden konnte. Der Umfang des im Effektenhandel einsetzbaren Materials läßt auch Rückschlüsse auf den Kapitalbedarf der Wirtschaft und der öffentlichen Hand zu.

Da sich die Steuersätze und Steuertatbestände in Zeitverlauf änderten, kann die Entwicklung der Erträge der Börsenumsatzsteuer nur ein Indiz neben anderen für die Entwicklung des Wertpapiergeschäfts sein. Auch muß berücksichtigt werden, dass Zahlenangaben für die Inflationszeit nicht zum Vergleich herangezogen werden können.

Als Quellen hat der Wissenschaftler wissenschaftliche Publikationen sowie die öffentliche Statistik herangezogen.

Die von Henning erhobenen Datentabellen sind im Recherche- und Downloadsystem HISTAT zugänglich (Thema: Geld und Währung, Finanzsektor):

A. Der Umfang des Wertpapierhandels A.1 Entwicklung der Börsenumsatzsteuereinnahmen in Mill. M/RM (1910-1944). A.2 Der Umlauf von Wertpapieren inländischer Emittenten in Mrd. M/RM (1910-1944).

B. Die scheinbare Rückkehr zur Normalität nach der Inflationszeit
B.1 Monatsdurchschnitte der Aktienkurse, Monatsdaten, Index: 1924 bis 1926=100 (1925-1929). B.2 Monatliche Obligationenkurse in Prozent des Nennwertes, Monatsdaten,(1925-1929). B.3 Zahl der an der Börse in Breslau für den Effektenhandel zugelassenen Firmen und Makler (1850-1931/32).

C. Der Einfluß der Wirtschaftskrise
C.1 Monatliche Aktienkurse, Monatsdaten, Index:1924 bis 1926=100 (1930-1934). C.2 Monatliche Obligationenkurse in Prozent des Nennwertes, Monatsdaten,(1930-1934).

D. Der Einfluß der nationalsozialistischen Wirtschaftspolitik und die Effektenbörse im 2. Weltkrieg
D.1 Börsenkurse der Aktien der Rütgerswerke-AG in Berlin (1933-1937). D.2 Index der Aktienkurse, Index:1924 bis 1926=100 (1924-1943).