The last time faced a recession and a Bear Market of such viciousness was 35 years ago in the recession of 1973-1975. In the UK, it was truly horrific as inflation shot up to 25% and stocks dropped more than 90% in inflation-adjusted terms.
The Bear market of 1973-1974 simply does not get enough press. As you can see from the chart below, in the U.S. we saw a 40% drop before inflation. With the S&P down 40% from its high right now, our decline is of the same magnitude thus far.
Let’s hope 1973-1974 is a better comparison than the Great Depression or Japan in the 1990s.
This post is part of my chart of the day series.
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