What name describes the 1973–1974 worldwide stock-market crash and bear market?

The worldwide crash and bear market of 1973–1974 is called the 1973–1974 stock-market crash.

The decline followed the collapse of the postwar economic expansion and coincided with severe inflation, high interest rates, and energy shocks. The 1973 oil crisis began after the Yom Kippur War, when Arab members of OPEC imposed an oil embargo on several countries. Oil prices rose sharply, worsening inflation and slowing economic activity.

In the United States, the Watergate scandal and President Richard Nixon’s resignation in August 1974 added to political uncertainty. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 45 percent from its January 1973 peak to its December 1974 low, although exact measurements vary with the index and dates used.

This crash is sometimes grouped with the 1970s stagflation crisis, but the terms are not identical. Stagflation describes simultaneous weak growth and high inflation, while the crash describes the major fall in stock prices. The downturn affected markets across North America, Europe, and other regions.