The stock market crash of 2008 occurred on September 29, 2008. On September 16, the Federal Reserve announced that it was bailing out insurance giant AIG . On Wednesday September 17, money market funds lost $144 billion. Prices fell incredibly, oil fell the most and it was very difficult to get oil. The Dow Jones The stock market crash was a very bad time for America. The stock market crash influenced the Great Depression, although it would have happened in later years if the stock market crash had never happened. It was the worst crash in history, and then 79 years ago there was another stock market crash, the 2008 crash, which is also bad (Blumenthal). The years following World War I were the golden age for many Americans (Blumenthal 2). Most of the decade, jobs were plentiful and wages rose steadily, mass production made many items affordable (Blumenthal 2). Very few people were truly rich, money became the sign of success, most Americans earned a few thousand dollars a year (Blumenthal 3). In 1928, many investors never made money in the market, or at least not much, and there weren't many stock investors to begin with (Blumenthal 4). That year, the stock market crash dominated everything related to sports, murder, and aviation (Blumenthal 10). There were mass murders because people were so crazy (1929 Stock Market Crash). The stock market crash triggered the Great Depression which lasted for 10 years and affected not only the United States but also other countries (Stock Market Crash of 1929). The stock market crash of 1929 was not the sole cause of the Great Depression, but it did help accelerate the economic collapse. Without the crash, the Great Depression would have occurred in the 1960s and 1970s (Personnel History.com). The root cause of the Great Depression was spending, which led to a decline in production and after which businesses began to close their doors (Great Depression).