The prolonged global economic downturn that began with the 1873 financial crash is called the Long Depression.
The downturn followed financial collapses in Europe and North America, including the failure of the investment bank Jay Cooke & Company in the United States. The resulting panic helped close the New York Stock Exchange temporarily and damaged confidence in railroads, banks, and industrial companies. Falling prices and weak investment then spread across several economies.
Historians debate the exact dates and severity of the Long Depression because different countries recovered at different times. In the United States, the downturn is often dated from 1873 to 1879, while some European economies experienced prolonged weakness into the 1890s. Industrial output still grew in some areas even as prices and profits fell.
The Long Depression is commonly confused with the Great Depression, which began after the 1929 Wall Street Crash. The two crises were separated by more than five decades and had different financial and political settings.