In this paper, we take a different approach to the question of whether or not stocks were overvalued. Instead of using data on dividends, we use data on productive capital stocks and tax rates to estimate the fundamental value of all . corporations. By this, we mean the value of productive assets in the corporate sector. Our conservative estimate of the fundamental value of these corporations before the crash — assuming as low a value for intangible capital as observations allow — is 20 times after-tax corporate earnings, which for 1929 is times GNP
