The 1819 Panic That Gave America Its First Depression

In 1819, the young United States experienced its first major financial crisis — a land bubble fueled by easy credit from the Second Bank of the United States, a collapse in cotton prices, and a wave of bank failures. Lucas and Luna walk through the mechanics of the panic, from the speculative land purchases in the Mississippi Valley to the sudden contraction that left farmers and merchants destitute. They discuss the parallels with modern boom-bust cycles, including the role of central bank policy and international trade shocks. The episode draws on specific data: land sales in 1818 vs. 1819, the drop in cotton prices, and the number of banks that suspended specie payments. It's a deep dive into the roots of American financial instability that still resonates two centuries later. #PanicOf1819 #FirstUSDepression #LandBubble #SecondBankOfTheUnitedStates #CottonPrices #SpeculativeBoom #BankFailures #SpeciePayments #EconomicHistory #FinancialCrisis #BoomAndBust #CentralBanking #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HistoryOfFinance #LessonsFromHistory #MonetaryPolicy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo