Book Review: Lords of Finance – The Bankers Who Broke The World by Liaqat Ahamed
The frailties of finance and the fellows who flubbed it up
An honestly amazing tour through the lives of the four central bankers (Strong, Norman, Moreau and Schacht) who played key roles during the 1920’s and early 30’s.
If you desire an in-depth look at the role of the key economic players, and the evolution of economic/monetary policies of the U.S., U.K., France and Germany leading up to and during the Great Depression – this volume of scholarly insight is for you.
An excerpt is particularly poignant for the present day perils we are struggling with: “The Great Depression was not some act of God or the result of some deep-rooted contradictions of capitalism but the direct result of a series of misjudgments by economic policy makers, some made back in the 1920’s, others after the crisis set in – by any measure the most dramatic sequence of collective blunders ever made by financial officials…authority at the Fed shifted to a group of inexperienced and ill-informed timeservers, who believed the economy would return to an even keel (emphasis is mine).” Pp. 501 & 503
This is truly a valiant contribution of a depth and breadth of a superbly crafted text, that I’m, quite certain, will inform the minds of students, practitioners, the citizenry and scholars for many years to come. Mr. Ahamed – I look forward to your next contribution.
Ahamed, Liaquat Lords of Finance – The Bankers Who Broke The World, The Penguin Press – The Penguin Group (USA) Inc. New York, New York Copyright © 2009 by Liaquat Ahamed
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