It did not happen in 1987, the last great crash. In 1987, when the stock market crashed, the central banks of the big countries immediately cut their interest rates to make it cheaper to borrow and reduce the cost of company debts. And they began to cut taxes and boost public spending. That stretched the boom for another three years before the inevitable capitalist cycle of boom and slump reasserted itself. This time there is less room to manoeuvre.
Interest rates are already near rock bottom levels.
To save growth and stop a slump, European government would have to sacrifice monetary union. The stock market crash may just be a blip on the trading screen this time, or it could be the signal of the coming economic crash. But what is certain is that the Asian bubble has burst. The Tigers have entered an era of austerity and social collision. And also, that capitalism will enter another recession worldwide within a few years whatever investors in shares do today.