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Anonymous
Posted January 13, 2010
This seems to be a good book for a research paper or a class. As I was participating in neither, I found the book to fall a little flat. If you're looking for a good story, this isn't the book for you. If it's cause and effect, theory, and a bit of philosophy about the Stock Market crash, pick this one up. Doesn't seem to be "colored" with any slant of political dogma. You can take it at face value.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I just finished this one and although it is highly informative and especially detailed his type of writing and his word usage are pretty distracting. Some of the words i looked up in there werent even in the dictionary?? so i guess thats attributed to it being a sort of ancient book. but otherwise if those two things dont bother you its prettu funny too he is not overly factual writer...but he tends to go over the stock markets points going up and down for a couple pages throughout the book...kind of a drag...but its and ok book its excellent for those who want to learn about the events leading up to the stock market crash of 1929....i would suggest looking up some basic terminology in economics tho...and of course having the hindsight into that eras important people and what they were involved with. this book gives mention but it is as if already expecting the reader to know most of it.....
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Galbraith's classic study of the Great Crash of 1929 retains all its freshness, and has some lessons for us today, faced as we are with a repeat.
Wall Street was, as usual, betting with other people's money, and they began to believe their own hype, that the US economy had reached a new stage, when prices would always rise.
He observed that the US economy was basically unsound because of huge inequality (the rich have larger shifts in their spending), bad corporate structure ('a kind of flood tide of corporate larceny'), a similarly bad banking structure and bad policy - raising taxes and cutting spending. The government and its tame economists focused on beating inflation, when "instead of inflation the country was experiencing the most violent deflation in the nation's history."
The Harvard Economic Society said in November 1929, "a serious depression like that of 1920-21 is outside the range of probability. We are not facing protracted liquidation." For two more years, the Society forecast recovery. As Galbraith noted, "this view the Society reiterated until it was liquidated."
Wall Street's failure harmed the real economy. In 1938, one in five was still out of work.
Some blamed 'mob psychology', but it was not the 'mob' that ran the Wall Street casino. The 'speculative orgy' of the greedy few ruined everyone's lives.
Anonymous
Posted March 8, 2007
I've read two other much more livelier accounts of the Great Crash and it's subsequent aftermath. Galbraith writes a very succinct and understandable version for the regular person. I think the revelation about the Crash from Galbraith is that supposed tax cuts do not neccessarily spur investment by the super-wealthy, but rather out of control gambling on the stock market. The other learning is that when the market crashed in 1929, the upper 5% of wealthiest American's controlled 22% of america's wealth. Well we have that same percentage again today. It's enough to keep you awake at night.
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Posted June 22, 2003
This is an excellent account of the factors that led to the Great Depression.
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Posted May 13, 2002
This is my second time reading this book, to get a better understanding of what went on. It's an amazing piece of work, and a lot of what I am reading again relates to what went on recently with the .COM (Dot-Com) boom 2 years back and the subsequent crash of such stocks.
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Posted February 27, 2001
i was referred to this book by an article in MONEY magazine... it was insightful, and well worth reading...
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More About This Textbook
Overview
Of Galbraith's classic examination of the 1929 financial collapse, the Atlantic Monthly said:"Economic writings are seldom notable for their entertainment value, but this book is. Galbraith's prose has grace and wit, and he distills a good deal of sardonic fun from the whopping errors of the nation's oracles and the wondrous antics of the financial community." Now, with the stock market riding historic highs, the celebrated economist returns with new insights on the legacy of our past and the consequences of blind optimism and power plays within the financial community.
Widely and admiringly reviewed as a bestseller in 1955, John Galbraith's "skilled chronicle and analysis of the causes of that most memorable year in our economic history, 1929, " (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) put the past in perspective. Now with a new introduction, it has become even more timely in the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash.
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Table of Contents
Introduction A Note on Sources I "Vision and Boundless Hope and Optimism" II Something Should Be Done? III In Goldman, Sachs We Trust IV The Twilight of Illusion V The Crash VI Things Become More Serious VII Aftermath I VIII Aftermath II IX Cause and Consequence Index