ABSTRACT
The Wall Street Crash caused the world recession, but although the crash marked the start of an economic crisis, it was not actually the most important cause. It firstly affected the financial system; brokers unable to pay their debts to the banks went bankrupt. The value of shares given as collateral plummeted, undermining the stability of the banks, which then reduced the volume of credit granted to their own customers in order to strengthen reserves. The lack of a global “lender of last resort” meant the overall impact of the world depression. Many observers believed they were witnessing the end of capitalism. Interviewed in 1932 by writer and journalist Emil Ludwig, Benito Mussolini answered a question about the world economic situation by stating that he considered it not as a crisis “in the system”, but rather “as a crisis of the capitalist system”.
