While trying to make a quick and easy profit, Americans ignored the risks and spent more than they had with installment buying and speculation, leading them to go into debt, cut their spending and send the economy down the drain. Speculation was a way Americans tried to make a quick and easy profit. Due to little restrictions during the 1920s, Americans could buy stocks on the margin or use borrowed money. Harry J. Caraman and Harold C. Syrett in their book A History of the American People state, “the exchange became a betting ring where people gambled on stocked in much the same fashion that gamblers wagered on roulette or horse races” (Document 5). The people were throwing their money left and right, not caring about the risks involved. The