Roger Babson
Roger Ward Babson (born July 6, 1875 in Gloucester , Massachusetts , † March 5, 1967 in Lake Wales , Florida ) was an American statistician, economic and stock market forecaster and author.
Babson achieved fame in the stock market crash of 1929 when - shortly before Black Thursday - on September 5, 1929, in a speech to a chamber of commerce, he predicted the devastating stock market crash. The sharp drop in share prices that took place on the same day was attributed to his speech and has since been referred to as the “Babson Break”.
In 1904 he founded the Business Statistical Organization , which dealt with the forecast of stock market and economic trends. He also founded two training schools that focus particularly on economics, the Babson Institute (now Babson College ) in 1919 and the Webber Business College for Women in 1927 .
In the US presidential election of 1940 he was the candidate of the Prohibition Party , which campaigned for the reintroduction of Prohibition , and received 57,812 votes. So he was behind the Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt , the Republican candidate Wendell Willkie and the socialist Norman Thomas fourth of eight candidates.
Babson wrote several books including Business Barometers (1909), Investment Fundamentals (1930), and If Inflation Comes (1937). He is also the namesake of Babson College near Boston .
Web links
- Biographical data
- Newspaper article about Roger Babson in the press kit of the 20th century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Babson, Roger |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Babson, Roger Ward (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American statistician, economic and stock market forecaster and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 6, 1875 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gloucester , Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 5th 1967 |
| Place of death | Lake Wales , Florida |