>> NOW, IT WAS A MOMENT THAT SENT THE U.S.

AND THE WORLD REALLY INTO A PANIC AND DREW THE ROARING '20s TO A CLOSE.

THE 1929 WALL STREET CRASH WAS THE MOST DEVASTATING IN HISTORY.

AND IT EVENTUALLY BROUGHT ABOUT THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

THAT'S THE FOCUS OF ANDREW ROSS SORKIN'S NEW BOOK.

AND HE SPEAKS TO WALTER ISAACSON ABOUT IT AND WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM 1929 NEARLY A CENTURY LATER.

>> ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW.

>> THANKS FOR HAVING ME, WALTER.

>> YOU WRITE ABOUT THE 1929 CRASH IN THIS BOOK AND YOU SAY IT'S ONE OF THE MOST LARGELY MISUNDERSTOOD SIGNIFICANT EVENTS.

WHY WAS IT MISUNDERSTOOD?

>> I THINK THERE'S TWO THINGS.

ONE IS MOST AMERICANS UNFORTUNATELY HAVE ONLY A VAGUE CONCEPTION THAT SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED IN 1929 AND THAT WHATEVER HAPPENED IN 1929 LED TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

I THINK THAT'S THE SORT OF PREVAILING VIEW AND BY THE WAY WAS MY VIEW BEFORE I INVESTED THE LAST EIGHT YEARS OF MY LIFE IN THE ARCHIVES WRITING THIS BOOK.

REALLY THE CRASH OF 1929 WAS SO MUCH MORE BECAUSE YES, IT LED TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

BUT THE NUMBER OF DOMINOS THAT DID BEGIN IN 1929 AND WHAT THOSE DOMINOS WERE I THINK WILL SURPRISE A LOT OF AMERICANS AND A LOT OF READERS.

>> DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE COULD HAVE HAD THE 1929 CRASH BUT NOT THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF 1930?

>> OH, ABSOLUTELY.

SO THE CRASH IN 1929, WHICH IS REALLY ONLY PART OF THIS BOOK, WAS THE FIRST DOMINO.

AND IT TOOK THE NEXT DOMINO AND THE DOMINO AFTER THAT TO ULTIMATELY GET US TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

BUT THERE WERE SO MANY MISTAKES AND FRANKLY BAD DECISIONS ALONG THE WAY THAT LED US TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

AND IN FACT, I ARGUE THAT YOU COULD LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED EVEN IN 2008 IN THE FINANCIAL CRISIS AND ONE OF THE REASONS THAT WE DIDN'T GO INTO A GREAT DEPRESSION IS I LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT WE LEARNED AT LEAST SOME OF BUT CLEARLY NOT ALL OF THE LESSONS.

>> YOU TALK ABOUT 2008.

YOU WROTE A GREAT BOOK ABOUT IT, "TOO BIG TO FAIL," WHICH WAS THE LEHMAN BROTHERS COLLAPSE, AND THE PROBLEMS OF 2008.

WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT 2008 AND 1929?

>> OH, GOODNESS, SO MANY THINGS.

LOOK, 1929, THE 1920s THERE WAS NO REGULATIONS.

ZERO.

THE S. E. C. DID NOT EXIST.

AN EARLY READER OF THIS BOOK ASKED ME DID YOU READ THE PROSPECTUSES OF THE COMPANIES THAT WERE PUBLIC IN 1929?

I SAID PROSPECTUSES?

THERE WERE NO PROSPECTUSES.

MAYBE THERE WAS A LEAFLET AT BEST THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE HANDED OUT ON THE STREET OR AT A BROKERAGE FIRM TRYING TO HAWK YOU A STOCK.

THERE WERE NO INSIDER TRADING LAWS.

THERE WERE NO CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BANKS.

THERE WAS NONE OF THAT.

AND SO THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THEN, 2008, AND NOW ARE HOPEFULLY VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.

I LIKE TO SAY I WROTE THIS BOOK ALMOST AS A PREQUEL TO "TOO BIG TO FAIL" IN HOPES WE DON'T HAVE TO EVER WRITE A SEQUEL.

>> ONE OF THE COMMON THREADS, THOUGH, IS THE FED.

THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.

THAT HAD BEEN AROUND FOR 15 YEARS I THINK BY THE TIME THE 1929 CRASH HAPPENED.

AND ONE OF YOUR GREAT CHARACTERS, CHARLES MITCHELL, SUNSHINE CHARLIE MITCHELL, RUNS NATIONAL CITY BANK.

HE GETS PUT ON THE FED AND THERE'S THIS POLITICAL PUSH BACK AND FORTH ON THE FED THAT REMINDS ME OF TODAY.

TELL ME HOW THAT WAS RELEVANT.

>> WELL, YOU'RE RIGHT.

AND I SHOULD SAY WHEN I BEGAN WRITING THIS BOOK I DIDN'T NECESSARILY GO INTO IT THINKING THERE WERE GOING TO BE SO MANY EERIE PARALLELS TO TODAY.

BUT ONE OF THEM IS THIS ISSUE OF THE FED WE TALK OFTENTIMES ABOUT THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE FED AND WHAT THE FED SHOULD BE DOING.

BACK IN 1929 THEY KNEW THE MARKET WAS OUT OF CONTROL.

THEY KNEW THERE WAS TOO MUCH SPECULATION.

AND THEY TALKED ABOUT TRYING TO TAMP IT DOWN.

BUT THERE WAS A BIG QUESTION ABOUT HOW YOU DO THAT.

AND THEY WERE VERY ALMOST OVERLY CONCERNED I WOULD ARGUE WITH THE POLITICS OF THE MOMENT.

YOU KNOW, AS YOU MENTIONED, THE FED WAS NEW BACK THEN.

IT WAS CREATED IN 1913.

AND THERE WAS A VIEW THAT IF THEY TRIED TO STAMP OUT THE SPECULATION BY RAISING INTEREST RATES TOO HIGH, AND IN FACT BACK THEN THE SAME DEBATE WE'RE HAVING NOW ABOUT LOWERING INTEREST RATES VERSUS RAISING INTEREST RATES AND WHAT THAT'S GOING TO DO TO THE ECONOMY, THE VIEW IS IF YOU DID WHAT FOR EXAMPLE PAUL VOLCKER DID IN THE LATE '70s NOT ONLY WOULD THESE PEOPLE LOSE THEIR JOBS THEY THOUGHT POLITICALLY AND GET HAULED IN FRONT OF CONGRESS, THEY THOUGHT THE FEDERAL RESERVE MIGHT BE ELIMINATED.

>> YOU'RE A GREAT TRIPLE THREAT IN MEDIA.

YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, WONDERFUL BOOK WRITER.

YOU HAVE THE CNBC "SQUAWK BOX. "

YOU'RE "THE NEW YORK TIMES" AND DEAL BOOK.

IF YOU WERE DOING DEAL BOOK OR DOING "SQUAWK BOX" IN 1929, LET'S SAY IN AUGUST, WHAT TYPE OF QUESTIONS DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE ASKING AND SHOULD WE BE ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS NOW?

>> SO I THINK THE QUESTION YOU'D WANT TO BE ASKING IN 1929, AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED BUT I WISH IT WOULD BE, IS HOW MUCH LEVERAGE REALLY IS THERE IN THE SYSTEM.

EVERY FINANCIAL CRISIS, AND I THINK I LEARNED THIS WRITING THIS BOOK, I THINK I LEARNED THIS COVERING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 2008 IN "TOO BIG TO FAIL," IS A FUNCTION OF REALLY ONLY ONE THING.

IT REALLY IS LEVERAGE.

IT'S TOO MUCH CREDIT IN THE SYSTEM.

AND THAT IS WHAT LEADS TO SOME FORM OF SPECULATION.

IN 1929 IT WAS LARGIN LOANS ON STOCK.

PEOPLE WERE LITERALLY GOING TO BROKERAGE HOUSES THAT HAD SPRUNG UP ON THE CORNERS OF STREETS THE WAY THERE ARE LIKE STARBUCKS ON THE CORNERS OF STREETS.

AND YOU COULD PUT A DOLLAR DOWN AND THE BROKERAGE WOULD LEND YOU $10.

IN 2008 IT WAS SUBPRIME MORTGAGES.

RIGHT?

AND SO THE QUESTION FOR TODAY WOULD BE WHERE IS THE LEVERAGE?

SO HOPEFULLY WE WOULD HAVE ASKED IS THERE TOO MUCH LEVERAGE IN '29, AND TODAY YOU MIGHT SAY TO YOURSELF IS THERE TOO MUCH LEVERAGE AND WHERE IS IT?

>> WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT LEVERAGE, YOU'RE PRETTY MUCH TALKING FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT DEBT.

RIGHT?

PEOPLE TAKING ON TOO MUCH DEBT.

>> TOO MUCH DEBT.

>> CONSUMERS TAKING ON, THE GOVERNMENT TAKING ON.

WHERE IS THERE TOO MUCH DEBT BEING TAKEN ON NOW, AND HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO BACK IN '29?

>> WELL, IT'S VERY INTERESTING THAT YOU SAY THAT BECAUSE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT TODAY, THE DEBT --AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CONCERNS ME -- IS A LITTLE BIT OUT OF REACH.

WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THE DEBT IS THE WAY WE USED TO KNOW WHERE THE DEBT IS.

IT USED TO LIVE ON THE BALANCE SHEET OF BANKS.

TODAY MOST OF THE BORROWING, ESPECIALLY AMONG CORPORATE AMERICA, IS NOT ACTUALLY FROM BANKS ANYMORE.

IT'S FROM WHAT'S CALLED PRIVATE CREDIT VEHICLES.

THESE ARE THINGS THAT PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS HAVE SET UP THAT LIVE VERY MUCH IN THE SHADOWS.

SO WE DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH DEBT THERE REALLY IS TODAY.

AND THERE'S A LOT OF DEBT THAT'S BEING EMBEDDED IN THIS WHOLE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REVOLUTION THAT'S TAKING PLACE.

YOU KNOW, HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS BEING SPENT TO BUILD DATA CENTERS BUT A LOT OF THAT IS BEING PAID FOR WITH CREDIT, WITH DEBT.

AND I THINK WE NEED TO WATCH THAT AND TRY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING.

>> I'M READING YOUR BOOK, AND THERE ARE SO MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BACK THEN, 100 YEARS AGO, AND NOW.

CERTAINLY AN AGE OF GREAT TECHNOLOGY WITH ELECTRICITY AND CARS AND EVERYTHING BEING TRANSFORMED.

LIKEWISE IT'S A ROARING JAZZ AGE AND ROARING '20s COMES ALONG.

TELL ME ABOUT THAT CULTURAL EXUBERANCE THAT'S HAPPENING THEN AND HOW THAT LED TO THE CRASH.

>> WELL, LOOK, I DON'T KNOW IF PEOPLE FULLY APPRECIATE IT, BUT PRIOR TO 1919 IN AMERICA NOBODY ACTUALLY TOOK ON CREDIT.

NOBODY TOOK A LOAN.

BECAUSE IT WAS ALMOST CONSIDERED A MORAL SIN TO TAKE A LOAN.

PEOPLE STARTED DOING THEM IN 1919 BECAUSE GENERAL MOTORS WANTED TO SELL MORE CARS AND THEY STARTED TO LOAN PEOPLE MONEY.

AND THEN SEARS ROEBUCK CLOCKED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND SAID, WELL, WE'LL DO THE SAME NOW FOR APPLIANCES.

AND THEN CHARLIE MITCHELL, THE CEO YOU REFERRED TO WHO RUNS NATIONAL CITY, WHICH BECOMES CITIGROUP, HE SAYS OKAY, WELL, WE CAN LEND MONEY TO PEOPLE SO THEY CAN BUY STOCKS.

AND THE EXUBERANCE OF IT WAS A DECADE LONG.

AND ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ON WALL STREET AND CEOs ARE NOW ON THE COVER OF MAGAZINES, "TIME" MAGAZINE, "FORBES" MAGAZINE.

THEY BECOME ALMOST CULTURAL SUPERSTARS THE WAY YOU MIGHT THINK OF AN ELON MUSK OR SAM ALTMAN OR JAMIE DIMON TODAY.

YOU HAD THIS SORT OF REMARKABLE PERIOD WHERE THE STOCK MARKET KEPT GOING UP AND UP AND UP.

IN 1929 THE STOCK MARKET WAS UP 48%.

AND IF YOU HAD GOTTEN A LOAN FROM THE BANK TO BUY STOCK IT WAS LIKE FREE MONEY.

>> YOU TALK ABOUT SUNSHINE CHARLIE MITCHELL, THE HEAD OF NATIONAL CITY BANK, AND SAYING I THINK TO ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES, THE EMPLOYEE'S SAYING WE'VE RUN OUT OF PEOPLE TO BUY STOCKS, HE SAID THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE DOWN THERE, WE JUST HAVE TO GIVE THEM CREDIT.

WAS THAT PART OF IT, GETTING THE AVERAGE PERSON IN AMERICA HOOKED ON BEING IN THE STOCK MARKET?

>> SO MUCH OF THIS WAS ABOUT AND REALLY ALMOST PUT IN THE BANNER OF WE'RE GOING TO DEMOCRATIZE FINANCE.

AND THAT HAS A LOT OF ECHOES ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY.

THERE'S A REAL EFFORT TO, QUOTE UNQUOTE, DEMOCRATIZE FINANCE IN AMERICA TODAY.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RECENTLY PASSED A BILL SO THAT COMMON ORDINARY INVESTORS COULD GET ACCESS TO THINGS LIKE VENTURE CAPITAL AND PRIVATE EQUITY AND PRIVATE CREDIT, THINGS THAT HISTORICALLY WERE CONSIDERED WAY TOO RISKY FOR THE ORDINARY AMERICAN.

BUT THERE WAS A VIEW THAT YOU KNOW WHO HAD ACCESS TO THESE THINGS?

THE ELITE.

AND THAT THE ELITE HAVE HAD GREAT SUCCESS INVESTING IN THINGS LIKE UBER AND FACEBOOK LONG BEFORE THEIR IPOs.

WELL, ALL OF THAT IS NOW COMING TO US ALL OVER BETWEEN.

BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT WE'RE TAKING SOME OF THE GUARDRAILS OFF THE SYSTEM AGAIN.

>> ISN'T THERE SOME TRUTH TO THAT, THOUGH, WHICH IS THE ECONOMIC ELITES UNTIL THAT GOT OPENED UP IN THE 1920s KIND OF CONTROLLED ALL THESE THINGS?

>> OH, 100%.

THE ECONOMIC ELITES CONTROLLED IT THEN AND YOU COULD ARGUE THAT THE ECONOMIC ELITES CONTROL IT NOW.

I THINK THE QUESTION IS WHENEVER YOU START TO TAKE THE GUARDRAILS OFF THINGS, WHENEVER YOU START TO CREATE NEW PRODUCTS WHICH YOU SELL THE ORDINARY INVESTOR, THERE ARE SOME GOOD PLAYERS IN ALL THIS BUT IT'S ALSO WHEN THE FRAUDS EMERGE.

IT'S WHEN THE CHARLATANS ARRIVE.

AND THE QUESTION IS ARE WE WATCHING FOR THAT?

>> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY STRUCK ME WAS I GUESS DISPARITIES OF WEALTH, IF THAT'S A WAY YOU WANT TO PUT IT.

>> YES.

>> SO TELL ME HOW THAT COMPARES TO TODAY.

>> VERY SIMILAR.

I MEAN, THE TRUTH IS THAT THE INEQUALITY OF THE LATE '20s IS VERY REMINISCENT OF WHERE WE ARE TODAY.

THE SOCIAL UNREST, INTERESTINGLY, AND THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INEQUALITY WERE NOT AS PRONOUNCED IN THE LATE '20s.

AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A FUNCTION OF THE WAY THE MEDIA WAS AT THAT TIME.

AND YOU KNOW, INTERESTINGLY IT REALLY WASN'T TILL '31, '32, AND '33 WHERE YOU REALLY SAW THE DEPRESSION REALLY MOVE INTO FULL FORCE AND HOOVERVILLES, WHICH ARE TENTED CAMPS, STARTED TO EMERGE INCLUDING, BY THE WAY, IN CENTRAL PARK LITERALLY JUST BLOCKS AWAY FROM WHERE CHARLES MITCHELL LIVED ON 5th AND 74th STREET.

>> YOU KNOW, HENRY FORD RIGHT AFTER THE CRASH HAPPENED, HE'S THERE IN DETROIT OF COURSE, AND HE GIVES HIS WORKERS A WAGE INCREASE.

HE TRIES TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT HAPPENS ON WALL STREET DOESN'T INFECT WHAT HAPPENS IN REGULAR BUSINESS.

AND HE LAMENTS THE FACT THAT SO MUCH BRAIN POWER IS MOVING TO WALL STREET, THAT THERE ARE ALL THESE SMART PEOPLE GOING THERE INSTEAD OF MAKING REAL THINGS.

TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THAT A PROBLEM THAT HELPED EXACERBATE THE 1929 CRASH?

BECAUSE IT'S CERTAINLY REMINISCENT OF WHAT WE HAVE TODAY.

>> I THINK IT'S REMINISCENT OF WHAT WE HAVE TODAY.

I THINK IT'S REMINISCENT OF REALLY WHAT HAPPENED IN 2008, JUST HOW MUCH WALL STREET BECAME NOT THE BACK ROOM ENGINE BUT THE FRONT ROOM ENGINE OF THE ECONOMY, AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE TRUE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT ARE.

INTERESTINGLY, HENRY FORD IN 1929 WAS DESCRIBED AS THE NATION'S SECOND BILLIONAIRE.

SO ROCKEFELLER WAS THE FIRST BILLIONAIRE.

THIS IS NOT INFLATION ADJUSTED, BY THE WAY, WALTER.

THIS IS FOR REAL.

AND HENRY FORD WAS THE SECOND BILLIONAIRE IN AMERICA.

BUT YOU'RE RIGHT, HE DID -- HE DID NOT ONLY TRY TO RAISE THE WAGES OF HIS WORKERS, HE ALMOST DID IT TO EMBARRASS HOOVER AND TO EMBARRASS THE OTHER CEOs TO TRY TO GET THEM TO RAISE WAGES.

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HOOVER WAS TRYING TO DO AT THE TIME WAS ALMOST TRYING TO JAWBONE HIS WAY OUT OF THIS, CALLING THIS SORT OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM, THAT IF PEOPLE COULD JUST SORT OF GET OVER IT AND IF COMPANIES COULD PAY PEOPLE MORE.

HE ALSO WANTED TO TAX PEOPLE MORE.

AND BY THE WAY, ANDREW MELLON, WHO WAS OUR TREASURY SECRETARY, WAS WHISPERING IN HIS EAR THE WHOLE TIME, HE WAS A CAPITALIST, SAYING LET THEM EAT CAKE, IT'S FINE, LET THEM ALL FAIL, IF THEY MADE POOR DECISIONS THEY SHOULD FAIL.

SO YOU HAD THIS SORT OF FASCINATING DYNAMIC TAKING PLACE INSIDE WASHINGTON.

AND BY THE WAY, VERY MUCH LIKE TODAY'S WHITE HOUSE.

YOU KNOW, HOOVER WAS ON THE PHONE WITH AND CONSTANTLY IN CONTACT WITH ALL OF THESE CEOs.

THEY WERE LITERALLY MAKING THESE PILGRIMAGES TO THE WHITE HOUSE THE WAY THEY DO TODAY.

>> PRESIDENT HOOVER FELT THAT THE COLLAPSE OF THE STOCK MARKET WOULD NOT NECESSARILY AFFECT BUSINESS IN AMERICA.

WHY WAS HE WRONG?

>> WELL, THIS IS --YOU KNOW, OFTENTIMES WE SAY LOOK AT THE STOCK MARKET, LOOK AT THE REAL ECONOMY, AND WE THINK THAT THEY'RE SOMEHOW NOT CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER AT ALL.

THE REASON WHY IT WAS CONNECTED, IT'S CONNECTED TODAY BUT I WOULD ARGUE IT WAS PERHAPS EVEN MORE CONNECTED THEN WAS BECAUSE SO MANY ORDINARY INVESTORS, SO MANY ORDINARY AMERICANS HAD TAKEN ON SO MUCH DEBT IN THE STOCK MARKET SO THAT WHEN THE STOCK MARKET FELL IT WASN'T JUST THAT THEY LOST MONEY AND THAT THE STOCKS THEY HAD BOUGHT AT $10 WERE NOW WORTH $1.

IT WAS THAT THEY HAD TAKEN ON SO MUCH DEBT THAT THEY NOW OWED SO MUCH MONEY.

AND BECAUSE THEY OWED SO MUCH MONEY THEY COULDN'T BUY BASIC GOODS.

THAT'S WHY THEY HAD HOOVERVILLES.

AND SO IT REALLY DID SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL TO THE POINT IN WHICH 1933 9,000 BANKS FALTERED.

THEY FAILED IN 1933.

AND THAT IS REALLY I THINK A DIRECT DOMINO, IF YOU WILL, FROM WHAT HAPPENED IN FALL OF 1929.

>> THE LAST THIRD OR SO OF YOUR BOOK IS ACTUALLY AFTER OCTOBER 1929.

IT'S ABOUT THE DEPRESSION, WHY ALL OF THIS HAPPENS, WHY IT AFFECTS BUSINESS, AND THEN OF COURSE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT COMES IN.

WHAT DOES HE DO?

>> WELL, HE DOES A WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS, SOME OF WHICH ACTUALLY HOOVER WANTED TO DO.

BUT FOR WHATEVER REASON DECIDED NOT TO OR FELT HE COULDN'T.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HE DOES IS HE HAS WHAT'S CALLED A NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY.

SO HE ACTUALLY SHUTTERS ALL OF THE BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THEN TRIES TO PROP UP THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY HE BELIEVES ARE STRONG ENOUGH.

AND THEN ENACTS, YOU KNOW, A SERIES OF LEGISLATION INCLUDING THE GLASS-STEAGALL PIECE OF LEGISLATION SEPARATING THE GAMBLING PIECE FROM THE BANKING PIECE, BUT ALSO CREATING THE FDIC SO THAT YOUR MONEY THAT GOES INSIDE A BANK IS INSURED.

AND THEN LATER IN 1934 CREATES THE S. E. C. , WHICH REALLY OVERSEES AND REGULATION THE STOCK MARKET, THE IDEA OF INSIDER TRADING AND MANIPULATION, BY THE WAY, WHICH IS A HUGE COMPONENT OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN 1929.

SO MUCH OF THE STOCK MARKET WAS BEING MANIPULATED, OFTENTIMES BY THE ELITES.

>> I MUST SAY THAT WHEN I FINISHED YOUR BOOK I WAS LIKE ALL RIGHT, I'VE GOT TO SELL STOCKS.

AND I'M NOT A BIG STOCK SPECULATOR.

BUT IT WAS LIKE OH MY GOD, THIS COULD HAPPEN AGAIN.

IT'S SUCH A FRIGHTENING BOOK.

TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU THINK IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN?

AND TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU THINK YOU MIGHT PROVOKE IT SLIGHTLY IF PEOPLE READ THIS BOOK?

>> WELL, I'M HOPING NOT TO PROVOKE IT.

I'M ACTUALLY HOPING THAT TO THE EXTENT THAT PEOPLE READ THIS BOOK THEY TAKE AWAY SOME LESSONS.

I HOPE POLICY MAKERS BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED IN 1929 SO THAT WE CAN TAKE AWAY LESSONS AND THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN.

IT DOES NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN AGAIN.

WE ARE NOT DESTINED TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.

IT IS TRUE, I DO THINK THAT THE TRAIN, IF YOU WILL, IS CAREENING TOWARDS SOME FORM OF A CRISIS AT SOME POINT.

THE PROBLEM IS YOU'LL NEVER KNOW.

WE'RE ALWAYS LIVING IN A BUBBLE OF SOME SORT.

AND IT WILL POP AT SOME POINT TOO.

WHAT WE WANT TO DO, THOUGH, IS PREVENT IT FROM POPPING IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT CREATES THE NEXT GREAT DEPRESSION.

AND I THINK THAT CAN BE AVOIDED.

THE TRUTH IS WE'VE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO AVOID THAT EVER SINCE THEN.

YES, WE'VE HAD CRISES.

1999, DOTCOM BUBBLE WAS A NICE.

2008 WAS A CRISIS.

BUT HERE WE ARE, WALTER, AND WE'RE BETTER FOR IT.

AND IN MANY WAYS I THINK WE'VE HAD MORE AND MORE INNOVATION.

A. I. I THINK IS VERY EXCITING AND WILL BE HERE FOR AS LONG AS I CAN IMAGINE.

WILL WE HAVE A HICCUP ALONG THE WAY?

I IMAGINE WE WILL.

BUT LET'S HOPE THAT'S ALL IT IS.

>> ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

>> THANK YOU, WALTER.

SO APPRECIATE IT.

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