Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

by Liaquat Ahamed
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

by Liaquat Ahamed

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Overview

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“Erudite, entertaining macroeconomic history of the lead-up to the Great Depression as seen through the careers of the West’s principal bankers . . . Spellbinding, insightful and, perhaps most important, timely.” Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“There is terrific prescience to be found in [Lords of Finance’s] portrait of times past . . . [A] writer of great verve and erudition, [Ahamed] easily connects the dots between the economic crises that rocked the world during the years his book covers and the fiscal emergencies that beset us today." The New York Times


It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of that economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades. As we continue to grapple with economic turmoil, Lords of Finance is a potent reminder of the enormous impact that the decisions of central bankers can have, their fallibility, and the terrible human consequences that can result when they are wrong.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781440697968
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 01/22/2009
Sold by: Penguin Group
Format: eBook
Pages: 576
Sales rank: 350,719
File size: 2 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Liaquat Ahamed has been a professional investment manager for 25 years. He has worked at the World Bank in Washington D.C. and the New York based partnership of Fischer Francis Trees and Watts, where he served as Chief Executive. He is currently an adviser to several hedge fund groups, including the Rock Creek Group and the Rohatyn Group, is a director of Aspen Insurance Co. and is on the board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution. He has degrees in economics from Harvard and Cambridge Universities.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 The Unexpected Storm August 1914

1 Prologue 19

2 A Strange and Lonely Man 23

3 The Young Wizard 35

4 A Safe Pair of Hands 45

5 L'Inspecteur Des Finances 61

6 Money Generals 73

Part 2 After The Deluge 1919-23

7 Demented Inspirations 99

8 Uncle Shylock 130

9 A Barbarous Relic 155

Part 3 Sowing A New Wind 1923-28

10 A Bridge between Chaos and Hope 179

11 The Dawes Opening 193

12 The Golden Chancellor 217

13 La Bataille 241

14 The First Squalls 270

15 Un Petit Coup De Whisky 291

Part 4 Reaping Another Whirlwind 1928-33

16 Into the Vortex 107

17 Purging the Rottenness 347

18 Magneto Trouble 374

19 A Loose Cannon on The Deck of The World 393

20 Gold Fetters 422

Part 5 Aftermath 1933-44

21 Gold Standard on the Booze 451

22 The Caravans Move on 477

23 Epilogue 497

Acknowledgments 506

Notes 509

Bibliography 533

Index 545

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Ahamed...easily connects the dots between the economic crises that rocked the world during the years his book covers and the fiscal emergencies that beset us today." —-The New York Times

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