Abstract
The Tea Party that emerged in the wake of what is now called the Great Recession is not the first such group to co-opt the symbolism of the Boston Tea Party for political purposes. The first “Tea Partiers” were also an unlikely group of activists protesting the infringement of “freedom” by government. This Tea Party was comprised of Wall Street brokers, stock traders, and other businessmen who, in 1933, decided to move the New York Stock Exchange to Newark in protest against the New York City’s new stock taxes. This article discusses this important history in order to show that, in many ways, we have returned to the past and have experienced similar contradictions. Now, as then, we are both poorer and richer, more connected and more isolated, cognizant of our interdependence and simultaneously unaware of the cascading effects of our individual decisions. The article also examines the important differences in past and present, such as a Tea Party in favor of Wall Street, culture wars, and a consolidation of power on Wall Street. A close examination of this history can help us understand the future by looking to the past. <b>TOPICS:</b>Financial crises and financial market history, exchanges/markets/clearinghouses
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