CONTROL OF THE SECURITY-INVESTMENT SYSTEM.

This article presents a brief history of the security-investment system in Europe and the U.S., and discusses its relation to the economic structure as a whole. According to the author, the investment system is the economic mechanism which converts liquid capital into some form of tangible or intangible property. The system originated in Europe during the early 19th century from both economic as well as noneconomic factors. In the U.S., the system grew substantially after the Civil War and into the 1920s, but dropped suddenly in the early 1930s. The author gives several reasons for the sharp decline and discusses reform of the system through federal legislation.