How does Trump tariff chaos compare to previous market crashes?

Trillions of dollars have been wiped from global stock markets thanks to Donald Trump’s tariffs.

But just how bad is it compared to other historic crashes? pic.twitter.com/MpqhbxiLyA

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) April 7, 2025

$10 trillion has been wiped off the value of shares so far, and that’s all because of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

But how does this compare to other stock market crashes?

Well, the Nasdaq is already down 20%, that’s what traders call a bear market. And the S&P 500, which tracks America’s 500 biggest companies, is heading into bear territory.

But go back to 1987, to Black Monday. and shares saw their steepest collapse in a single day. The S&P lost 28% in just four days.

In 2008, Lehman Brothers was the most famous bank to collapse. It triggered a 57% crash in shares.

Now that is much more severe than the situation today. It was also coupled with a credit crunch. Shares were in freefall for 17 months and it took four years of cash injections from central bankers to get the economy back on track.

And then there was Covid. The US market saw their steepest 30-day decline in history, 34% in just 33 days as the world economy shut down.

Remember that Covid was a health crisis, Lehman was a systemic failure.

What’s happening today is being triggered by policy alone and policy driven by one man, Donald Trump.

Watch more here:
Starmer says Labour will protect UK economy from Trump tariffs
Retaliatory UK tariffs on US will ‘make it more expensive’ – Kemi Badenoch
How far should the UK go to get a deal with Trump? | Debate