Associated Press

Specialist Gregg Reilly works Monday at his post on the New York Stock Exchange. Wall Street suffered through another extraordinary and traumatic session as the Dow closed 370 points down.

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The financial train wreck, the rescue and the chance of there being any survivors were on the minds of citizens who attended an economic issues forum by college professors Monday night.

"So we're looking at higher taxes?" one man asked experts assembled at Roanoke College for an event titled "The Wall Street Collapse."

"Probably," answered Larry Lynch, head of the college's department of business administration and economics.

"Why hasn't the government done more to regulate business ethics?" a student asked.

"They've tried," said Hans Zorn, chairman of the college's department of religion and philosophy. But faith in the free market system to regulate itself is deep-rooted, Zorn said.

The event began only hours after severe stock market gyrations suggested that the financial crisis is unfolding further. There was more blood shed on Wall Street. Heath Brown, assistant professor of public affairs, told the crowd of nearly 200 that the Roanoke Valley economy, along with that in many cities across the state and nation, is already in a recession even though a national recession has not been officially declared.

In Monday trading, the Dow Jones industrials plunged as much as 800 points, their largest one-day point drop, before recovering to close at 9,955.5 -- down 370 points or 3.58 percent. The catalyst for the selling, which also took the Dow below 10,000 for the first time in nearly four years, was investors' growing despair that the spreading credit crisis will take a heavy toll around the world.

Investors have come to the realization that the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue plan and steps taken by other governments won't work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets.

That sent stocks spiraling downward in the United States, Europe and Asia, and drove investors to sink money into the relative safety of U.S. government debt. Fears about a global recession also caused oil to drop below $90 a barrel Monday. Still, gasoline prices at the pump are at historic highs.

Sensing that area residents are looking for answers, college officials invited students and the public to hear from an expert panel. They were right. The question session ran about as long as the speeches.

An audience member asked what this is doing to our world reputation.

"There's no doubt our reputation has taken a hit," Lynch said. People are looking at the U.S. to address the problem, and if U.S. leaders succeed in righting the ship, "we'll come out still the top economy in the world."

In fact, Lynch said, depressed stock market prices offer a chance to buy low. "I don't think there's a lot more downside," he said.

Someone else asked why more citizens aren't outraged that the government is planning to bail out large corporations partly responsible for the mess. Zorn replied that those corporations control huge swaths of the economy. It's not a pleasant task to bail them out, but their failure is unthinkable, he said. "It's a question of scale," he said.

One person asked where federal lawmakers will find the needed expertise as the bailout moves forward to value complex financial instruments at the heart of the crisis without turning to the same Wall Street firms that contributed to the chaos from the start.

"I don't know where the expertise is going to come from," Lynch said. But he added that he is sure it's out there.

A woman asked how long before we know if it worked.

Lynch said that TV commentators have said the market could need three to five years to recover. In all honesty, Lynch said, "I don't think anybody knows."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.