1. Introduction
1.1 Black Monday
The 1987 stock market crash stands out as one of the most remarkable financial events of the 20th century, perhaps since the emergence of our capitalist system several centuries ago. What makes it remarkable is:
1) The historic extent to which markets fell, an unprecedented 23%, and that they did so all over the world.
2) Its suddenness, how it appeared out of nowhere, and only took one day to play itself out.
3) Its complete lack of explanation. To this day no definite reason for the decline has been isolated. …