The Great Crash 1929

The book does an outstanding job in describing the people and events that produced the October 1929 stock market crash in a highly entertaining style. Galbraith wrote more like a witty and insightful journalist than the award-winning economist that he was. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn about American financial history. The book is a model for writers who want to educate non-experts about public policy issues.

John Kenneth Galbraith boasts a witty and melodious writing style that rivals the greatest writers of American literary history, making it worth reading just for the writing. Better still, his book, The Great Crash, written before the era of 401k retirements and multiple financial channels, is more relevant now than when it was first published. A pleasure to read and a pertinent subject, it is written by one of the greatest economists of the 20th century. His word choice is thought-stirring, Instead of calling a speculative mania a ‘bubble,’ he calls it ‘financial euphoria.’ Galbraith was as liberal as anybody… show more.

What does a book written in the 1950s about a financial crash in the 1920s have to tell us about modern finance? The answer is ‘everything you need to know.’ This financial classic, barely 200 pages long, shows how greed, hubris, and illusion brought about Wall Street’s first great crash. Today’s financial products might be more complicated than those in Galbraith’s book but the tricks of the trade are not. This elegant account is a ‘must-read’ for anyone wanting to understand the people and institutions who drive markets.        

A classic by the late great liberal economist, this book tells the American story of the greed, naivety and duplicity that laid the foundation for the implosion of Wall Street in 1929. It provides salutary reading for all investors. As Galbraith makes clear, bubbles always burst but few investors including professionals can summon the independence of mind to step aside before it’s too late. The author brings a sardonic rationality to this account of what was an avoidable disaster.