The history of wall street

An American best-selling book about Wall Street, "Where is the customer's yacht?

"There is an old and hostile joke in America that Wall Street is a street with a river at one end and a grave at the other."

Geographically, Wall Street is really a small street with a length of less than 5 meters. Its easternmost part is the East River in new york, and its westernmost part is Trinity Church and a cemetery on Wall Street, where Hamilton, the first US Treasury Secretary, was buried. The name of Wallstreet comes from a wooden fence wall built by Dutch immigrants who settled in new york in their early years to resist the British invasion. On the one hand, this joke shows that wall street, which is extremely rich, is just a small street geographically; On the other hand, it reflects that there has always been a kind of aversion and ridicule to Wall Street in American society. In many people's minds, Wall Street is a selfish, greedy and sinful place.

where is the customer's yacht? Published in 194, it tells the story that happened on Wall Street in the early 2th century. The author is a famous Wall Street stock trader named Frederick Schweed. He left Wall Street after he was completely tired of life on Wall Street, and wrote Where is the client's yacht? This book caused a sensation. After quoting the joke, he added, "Although this joke is very vivid, it is not complete. It ignores the' kindergarten' between the two. " What he means is that Wall Street is a "kindergarten" between a river and a cemetery. Why do you say that? Because he thinks that in the daily ups and downs of the stock market, what people on Wall Street do is very stupid and ridiculous.

Coincidentally, 5 years later, in 1989, there appeared another best-selling book about Wall Street, The Liar's Poker Game, written by michael lewis. Like Schweed, he was also an excellent trader who left Wall Street after getting tired of life on Wall Street. At the beginning of the book Liar's Poker Game, michael lewis also quoted this passage.

The two books have been separated for 5 years. It seems that the image of Wall Street has not improved much in these 5 years. In the eyes of many Americans, Wall Street is still a game place for money and a paradise for the rich.

True Wall Street

Although geographically, Wall Street is very small, in a true sense, Wall Street is synonymous with the capital market and even the financial services industry in the United States.

There is no doubt that when we talk about Wall Street now, we mean this real Wall Street, which has already gone far beyond this small street and the most prosperous urban area in new york, including new york Financial Service Zone, and developed into a financial service network all over the United States. Today, with the integration of the world economy, Wall Street has crossed national boundaries and spread to every corner of the world. Therefore, the real Wall Street includes not only hundreds of thousands of people who are busy on Wall Street every day, but also fund managers in Florida, venture capitalists in California's "Silicon Valley" or traders of American investment banks in London, and so on. In fact, as the floorboard of American financial services, Wall Street has actually represented a self-contained financial empire.

Classical political science defines a world power as "a country whose interests must be considered by other countries." Therefore, although today's Russian economy is very backward, it is still a world power. By the same token, Wall Street itself has become a world power, although it is not a sovereign country. According to the data of the Federal Reserve in 24, the size of the capital market in the United States (also known as the securities market, usually including the stock market and bond market) has far exceeded the gross national product of the United States. In 24, the market value of American stock market reached $17.2 trillion, which was 143% of American GDP ($12 trillion). The market value of the US bond market reached $36.9 trillion, accounting for 38% of the US GDP. Earlier in 2, these two figures were even higher.

On September 11th, 21, the World Trade Center in new york Financial District near Wall Street was attacked by terrorists, and the New York Stock Exchange stopped trading. At this moment, the American economy and even the world economy almost stopped, which shows the influence of Wall Street as a financial empire.

Historical Wall Street

The history of Wall Street is more than 3 years, and it is intertwined and complicated with other major events of American economic and social development. Briefly, it can be roughly divided into three historical stages, interspersed with two transition periods and three wars, and its development is also influenced by two tit-for-tat ideas.

the first stage: the childhood of wall street

the childhood of wall street was from 1653 to the end of the 19th century. At first, New York was a Dutch colony, where Dutch immigrants lived. At that time, it was called Nieuw Amsterdam. The year 1653, when the new Amsterdam Municipal Council was established, is generally regarded as the beginning of Wall Street's childhood.

The early rapid development of new york and the rise of the financial industry in new york have much to do with the Dutch business spirit. Although the early germination of capitalism began in Italy during the Renaissance, the real capitalism was gradually perfected in the Netherlands in the middle of the 17th century. At that time, the Netherlands formed a very complete financial system, including banks, stock exchanges, credit, insurance, limited liability companies, etc. The development of the financial system gave birth to the Dutch economic take-off, making this small European country once one of the world powers. When the Dutch immigrated to North America, they brought the capitalist business spirit to New Amsterdam.

In 1664, New Amsterdam was captured by the British, and the city was transferred from the Dutch to the British, and was named New York as a tribute to the Duke of York, the younger brother and heir of King charles ii of England at that time. But the citizens of new york have maintained the Dutch culture of loving business and making money. Today, people who work and live in new york can also appreciate the money-oriented culture of new york. In a sense, the higher the degree of commercialization, the more money the city tends to admire.

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