This Actually Happens If the Stock Market Crashes. For anyone with a 401(k), or no stocks at all: 34 cents of every dollar American households own is now in the stock market, a Federal Reserve record since 1945. This is what actually happens if it crashes, and who it hits, in order. Inside: who owns the stocks, how a fall reaches paychecks and state budgets, the margin calls that hit Korea and a hedge fund with $20 billion of US stocks on the same day, and why the 2008 and 2020 rescue is boxed in this time. Event footage: news, government and archive video, muted, used for commentary (fair use), credited in the comments. Stock: Pexels. Maps: © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap. Original score.