are joined by two historians who will be speaking about economic crises in american history, jessica letler teaches history at the university of new hampshire and alice o'connor, a historian at the university of history santa barbara, thank you for being was. >> thank you. >> let's start early in the history, with the pak panic of 1837, pwhat was the panic of 1837. >> that phrase refers to a rather long period of time it referred to seven years of boston a financial crisis and really hard times that followed it well into the 18 40sz. but my focus has been on the experience of panic which happened between march and may of 1837 and was rather remarkably similar to our own crisis in several ways, it was a secret crisis built out of speculation and consumption of goods and sort of very similar experience to what a lot of people have just experienced. >> so it was an inherited crisis for martin van buren. >> andrew jackson was president, and martin van buren took office in 1837 which was the same day that in london and -- an inherited crisis, but it was a crisis inherited within an administratio