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The United States of America is changing like never before.
美利堅合眾國發生著前所未有的改變
In just a decade,
僅僅花了十年時間
the country has become one of the most advanced on earth,
美國就成為了全球最進步的國家之一
and darkness no longer means the end of the day.
黑暗降臨不再意味著一天的結束
Two men have driven this remaking of the country.
兩個男人推動了整個國家的改造
John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt
約翰·D·洛克菲勒和科尼利厄斯·范德比爾特
are locked in a battle of wills.
陷入了一場意志力的戰爭
Commodore.
船長
Mr. Rockefeller.
洛克菲勒先生
Vanderbilt and his competitors are in drastic
范德比爾特和他的競爭對手們
search of passengers and cargo to fill the trains running on their lines.
正四處尋找乘客和貨物來裝滿各自線路上的火車
In the 1870s, the country needed to be connected via railroads,
1870年代 整個國家需要鐵路來連接
and what happens then is everybody who thinks they have an edge
當時所有認為自己在鐵路行業擁有優勢的人
in the railroad business goes out and raises money
都開始四處籌集資金
and they start their own railroad.
開始自己的鐵路生意
And what happened then is we've seen happen many of times
這同之后很多時候一樣
since then, is it created a huge bubble.
創造出了巨大的泡沫
John D. Rockefeller's oil
約翰·D·洛克菲勒的油
makes up nearly forty percent of the cargo shipped on the rails.
占據了鐵路運輸40%的貨運量
But when Vanderbilt teams with
不過就在范德比爾特
his biggest rival to push for a rate increase,
聯合最大對手 試圖推高運輸價格時
Rockefeller takes it as a declaration of war.
洛克菲勒將這看成了對他的宣戰
He builds a pipeline in response,
作為回應 他建立起了管道
and begins to pull his shipments.
并停止使用鐵路進行運輸
And since the railroads have been drastically overbuilt,
而這時的鐵路明顯建造過度
losing cargo means losing money.
失去貨物就意味著損失金錢
Stocks plummet as investors run scared.
投資者膽戰心驚 股價垂直下落
When prices get out of control,
價格失去控制時
and smart people decide,
聰明人心想
"Wow, this thing is a bubble, I want out",
這是泡沫，我要出去
then you can get a collapse very quickly.
這時崩盤很快就會發生
By the time the Panic is through,
大恐慌過后
one-third of the country's 360 railroad companies have gone bankrupt.
全國360家鐵路公司有1/3都宣告破產
Every crisis of this type,
這類危機中的任何一次
whether it's 2008,
無論是2008年
or 1873,
還是1873年
has got the same roots.
根源都一樣
Namely, that it was unanticipated.
也就是 誰都不曾預料到
So a necessary condition for a crisis is nobody expects it.
沒人預料到是危機暴發的必要條件
The crash is the worst America has seen in its short history.
這次崩潰是美國短暫歷史中最為糟糕的一次
