We Keep Crashing the Economy — Here’s Why

In this episode of Past Is Prologue, John looks at more than 200 years of American economic history to answer a deceptively simple question:

Why does the United States keep crashing its own economy?

Starting with the Panic of 1819 and running through 1837, 1873, 1893, the Great Depression, and the 2008 financial collapse, John shows how the same boom-and-bust pattern repeats with stunning consistency. Rather than treating each crisis as a fluke or “black swan,” he traces the underlying structural forces that make meltdown a recurring feature of the American system.

He examines the development of the market economy, waves of reckless speculation, weak or nonexistent regulation, new financial instruments that outpace oversight, and political failures that allow predictable disasters to become national catastrophes. And he explains why the people who design the riskiest systems almost never pay the price — but ordinary workers, farmers, and homeowners always do.

If you’ve ever wondered why America has endured so many economic collapses — or why the next one shouldn’t surprise anyone — this episode lays it out clearly.