Forecast of Wall Street Crash On September 5, 1929, Babson gave a speech to the National Business Conference at Babson College, in which he proclaimed, "More people are borrowing and speculating today than ever in our history. Sooner or later a crash is coming, and it may be terrific". Speaking at a time when expectations of a continuing boom economy were high, Babson's prescient advice was "wise are those investors who now get out of debt and reef their sails. This does not mean selling all you have, but it does mean paying up your loans and avoiding margin speculation".
Forecast of Wall Street Crash On September 5, 1929, Babson gave a speech to the National Business Conference at Babson College, in which he proclaimed, "More people are borrowing and speculating today than ever in our history. Sooner or later a crash is coming, and it may be terrific". Speaking at a time when expectations of a continuing boom economy were high, Babson's prescient advice was "wise are those investors who now get out of debt and reef their s:ails. This does not mean selling all you have, but it does mean paying up your loans and avoiding margin s!peculation".