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'Highly readable... [Ahamed] cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be. -- Niall Ferguson ― FT
'Fascinating... a brisk, original, incisive and entertaining account of a crucial time in the world's economic history that continues to affect us all today. Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book' ― Michael Beschloss
One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative. ― Strobe Talbott
A great read. ― George Soros
Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant. ― The Economist
'Fascinating... a brisk, original, incisive and entertaining account of a crucial time in the world's economic history that continues to affect us all today. Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book' ― Michael Beschloss
One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative. ― Strobe Talbott
A great read. ― George Soros
Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant. ― The Economist
About the Author
With degrees in economics from the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard, Liaquat Ahamed has witnessed at close hand the way countrys' economic policy is made and executed as a professional economist at the World Bank during the 1980s. He has since worked as an investment manager, with a ring-side seat at a sequence of financial crises, from the collapse of the European Monetary System in the 1990s to the current 'sub-prime' economic downturn. This is his first book.
Review:
4.7 out of 5
93.85% of customers are satisfied
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb history, readable and informative
This did not turn out to be the book I thought I had ordered, but it proved a compelling read nonetheless. I thought I would get a book the explained the "springs and levers" that connected the Wall Street crash to bank failures to the depression. This was not made clear, and in hindsight it Is clear this book is aimed at a reader more knowledgeable in macroeconomic matters than I am.Nevertheless, it is a fascinating book, extremely well written ( if not extremely well proofed) and very approachable even if you don't understand clearly some of the cause/effect relationships it talks about. Essentially it is a history of central banking and the growth of the effects of the Gold Standard during the inter war years, told through the roles played by the 4 chief protagonists, the Governors of the central banks of U.K., Germany, France and the New York Fed. Maynard Keynes features prominently and is shown as a key player in the increasing awareness of the limitations of the gold standard. The story focuses on the struggles of these four Governors in trying to deal with the fallout of the post-war reparations imposed on Germany, and the near-bankruptcy of both the UK and French governments during the depression. The US suffered enormously from the post-crash depression, but I never realised just how much it profited from the Allies from its war loans, to the extent that I can't help suspecting that the US took deliberTe action to accelerate the demise of the British Empire to impose its own hegemony. The French national stereotypes are played out again, both in its negotiations of the Reparations and its refusal to countenance meaningful reductions in the face of evidence that Germany would be unable to pay (consider that in today's terms relative to the size of the German Economy, reparations amounted to $2.4 trillion dollars !). The French position on Brexit negotiations (no discussion on Trade without settlement of the "divorce bill") came to mind several times as I read this book.Anyone looking for a history of the growth of the role and expertise of Central Banks will find this a very useful read. Equally, it presents a very readable history of the main characters, especially the governor of the Central Banks and New York Fed, but also of the roles of FDR, Herbert Hoover and Winston Churchill, as well as John Maynard Keynes in this seminal period in Western economic history. A great read.
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 STAR
VERY GOOD BOOK TO READ AND LEARN ABOUT POWER AND MONEY
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
A good read, full of facts and lessons for the present. History, biography and economics in one.
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely stunning.
Eat your hearts out Irving Fisher, John Kenneth Galbraith, Charles Kindelberger, Milton Friedman, Richard Koo and Ben Bernanke. An amateur has written the definitive narrative of the Great Depression.I have no idea if the author is right about everything he says here. I looked in vain for Smoot-Hawley and could not find any mention. But I don't care. If this book was fiction it would still be a strong candidate for the best book I've ever read. The fact that it takes you through the history of the Great Depression through the lives of arguably four of its biggest protagonists (the heads of the four most important central banks) is a nice bonus.I went through this doorstop of a tome in less than three days. As an added bonus I found out what happened in the Great Depression in the view of an author who may not be a celebrated economist but is clearly totally engrossed by his subject. I was so excited about it, I sat down my poor dad to tell him the story. That bit did not go so well, he stopped me an hour into my trance.But I digress. This book is AWESOME.Makes you want to ask for a sixth star.
5.0 out of 5 stars interesting nook to read
I read this book November 2010. It was hilarious and very informative about the financial challenges Germany faced after the WWI, though this should never be allowed to be an accuse to start a war that had ended the lives over fifty two million people and the creation of the horrifying consideration camps.As Greece is now facing shocking financial challenges and everyone is asking how at the beginning the EU allowed Greece to fund its social agendas with borrowed money; I thought about revisiting this book and rereading the part where the then German Kaiser and his parliament decided to fund the war with borrowed money, which contributed to the financial challenges and hyperinflation that Germany faced after the war. Hence, i bought this book again in kindle format! What happened to the paper copy that i bought few years ago? I kept sneezing when I try to read it!The other issue is what will be the end game for Greece and the EUR club, who allowed Greece to borrow more than it could handle? Do we need to punish the ill-fated borrow or do we need to allow them go insolvent for short period of time?How the remnants of African dictators now feel about the idea of silly borrowing and the doubting fact of repaying both the principle and the interest of what they had borrowed? Is Greece in the same situation than they and the Germans of post WWI were?Should we come up with a new concept where, when a nation faces what the Germans of WWI , most of 1990s African nations and now Greece is facing, the borrowing politicisations and the lending bank managers are sent to the International Criminal Court; Instead of punishing the an entire nation?
5.0 out of 5 stars Super insightful
I learned a lot
4.0 out of 5 stars Great compromise between detail and narrative
I purchased this book to get a better idea of the economic causes of the great depression. I can safely say I have achieved that with this book and gained a greater understanding of the monetary econmics of the time especially the gold standard.
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fantastic book. Very well written
Very detailed and interesting insight into the loss of the gold standard and economic decision making in the early 1900s
Super interesting but a bit too long for somebody not with a finance background
The work behind this book is clearly humongous. So, hats off to the author. Historically a work of art. But the language is at times willinglynamd unnecessarily overcomplicated.
Most interesting financial boom I’ve read so far
Great book...gives us a chance to understand all the path to the 29 crisis, passing through the First World War and shaping the way that the most important financial heads think back then.
Excessive confidence of an official (in his judgement) dealing with a complex market is dangerous.
This review is being written, while the world is in the middle of COVID related economic challenge. Lock downs and social distancing have impeded economic activity leading to job losses, salary cuts and economic challenges. People are looking towards their central bankers and Government for rescue.Lords of Finance makes for an interesting read in such a backdrop. It is the story of the Central Bankers of USA, UK, France and Germany, of the decisions that they took, influenced their Government to take and the results.The story starts with the end of first world war, which put reparations on Germany and resulting in European countries owing money to United States and the actions, thinking debates, etc. The story ends in a way with Roosevelt coming to power and his administration taking measures to get the USA and the world out of the economic crisis, by calming people and taking some counter-intuitive decisions like letting Agricultural prices to go up and drive out depression on the back of it.A central theme of the book is to link fix the exchange rate by linking it to a Gold Standard. This is the way, the world worked historically, but by the end of it, Governments are fine to get the currency to what they believe are realistic levels and not let them be linked to gold and to be artificially high or low. Interestingly, this mistake was made by no less than Winston Churchill, despite the advise of Keynes. As it comes out, by linking credit to Gold, countries limit the amount of credit expansion and fortunes of countries and people are dependent on the new finds of gold.Very interesting to read were the actions of the New York Fed in the run up to the 1929 crisis. They did raise interest rates and were worried about excessive speculation. In a way there was a similar message in Timothy Gethner's book the Stress Test. I guess Central bankers cannot influence irrartional markets beyond a point.Following messages came out and I think that they continue to be relevant to the world:1. The goal of central bank is to maintain the strength of the currency, support the banking sector minimise inflation and also support growth. This is important as some celebrated previous RBI Governors in India have focused primarily on inflation.2. Very important in a financial crisis is to establish trust in banks. Stock market crashed in 1929, however the depression got bad with a bank failure in 1931. This happened again in 2008 with lehman. Alowing ILFS to go down was probably a great mis-judgement on the part of the Indian Government.3. Indian history blames the British empire entirely for India's economic woes. As the author points out that international capital flowed freely globally and financed things like ports, railways, plantations, etc.4. Financing Crisis lays the seed of the next trouble. Countries like Germany who financed the first world war by printing more money experienced high inflation in post war years.5. Monetary Policy does not work like a scalpel but like a sledgehammer.6. Greatest of people can make judgement errors. Keynes and all European central bankers welcomes the 1929 crash7. Raising taxes and cutting unemployment benefits in a middle of a financial crisis is bad policy to deal with a crisis. In India a group of Income Tax Officers proposed an increase in taxes to fight COVID.Roosevelt's strategy of getting a country out of a crisis makes for interesting reading:1. Address bank failures first. Get people to have confidence to trust the banking system. done through bank holidays, talking to people, providing credit guarantees2. Public spending to create jobs.3. Pushing the prices to go up to encourage spending and borrowing. Distinction between cause and effect may not be that clear. This in a way is like yoga and reading body language, where both are based on co-relating the mind with the bodily actions. In one the body conveys what is going on in the mind, in the other use the body to change your mind and thinking4. Allowing currency to fall and take dollar off the gold.The ideas in the book continue to be relevant as the author points out at the end. All in all a great book to read and I give it my highest recommendation.
An education!
The best kind of history. Entertaining. Insightful. Educational.Feels like I’ve done a course in economics. It makes a powerful case against old gold standard economics. I’m sure there’s another side to the story, as it’s very pro Keynesian - I will have to try to find something from the other side of the fence.
Very good
Very well detailed. Nice reading.A recommended one.
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Lords of Finance: 1929, The Great Depression, and the Bankers who Broke the World
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Product origin: United Kingdom
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