The Great Crash 1929

John Kenneth Galbraith

• Publisher: Harper Business
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9780547248165
• eBook ISBN:
  9780547575773
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Investments & Securities
• Index: Economics

John Kenneth Galbraith's classic examination of the 1929 financial collapse.

Arguing that the 1929 stock market crash was precipitated by rampant speculation in the stock market, Galbraith notes that the common denominator of all speculative episodes is the belief of participants that they can become rich without work. It was Galbraith's belief that a good knowledge of what happened in 1929 was the best safeguard against its recurrence.

Atlantic Monthly wrote, "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."

"Most intriguing for its depiction of the delusion that swept the culture, and the ways financiers and bankers, wishful academics and supine regulators willfully ignored reality and in the process encouraged the epic collapse of the stock market." — The New York Times

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

Acceptances, 30, 41

Agriculture. 2; farm program, 192; and stock market, 187; weakness of economy, 182. See also Farmers

Aktiebolaget Kreuger and Toll. See Kreuger and Toll

Aldrich, Winthrop W., 149–50

All Quiet on the Western Front, 83

Alleghany Corporation, 50, 66

Allen, Frederick Lewis, 5, 5 (n)., 6 (n)., 12 (n)., 73 (n)., 77, 82, 101, 111, 112 (n)., 116 (n)., 143 (n).

Allied Chemical and Dye, 63

American Can, 112, 119

American Company, 63

American Founders Group, 55, 58–59, 142

American Insuranstocks Corporation, 64

American Magazine, The 70

American Railway Express, 36

American Stores, 45

American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 62, 66, 83–84, 98, 109, 123, 141–42

American Tobacco, 44

American Trust Company, 63

Anaconda Copper, 142

Anglo-American Shares, Inc., 63

Angly, Edward, 86 (n)., 143 (n).

Aquinas, Saint Thomas, 74

Armour and Company, 147

Arndt, H. W., 175 (n).

Associated Cas and Electric, 45, 106

Astor, Vincent, 132

Atlantic Monthly, The 56

Auburn Automobile, 126

Axley, Seth, 39

Ayres, Colonel Leonard P., 105

B

Babe Ruth, 83

Babson, Roger W., 95, 97, 125; Annual National Business Conference, 84 Babson break, 85–86; election forecast, 15

Bagehot, Walter, 23, 46 (n), 135, 170

Baker, George F., Jr., 101 (n).

Balance of payments. See Foreign balance

Balanced budget, a formula, 182–85; Whitney and, 157

Baldwin Locomotive Works, 106

Bank of England, 10, 34

Bank of France, 10

Bankers, bear raid denied, 113–14; loss of prestige, 114–15, 147, 159; optimism of, 71; Pecora committee, 156; speculation of officers in their own stocks, 149, 151, 166; support market, 100–3, 105–6; support ended, 110–11, 114

Bankers Trust Company, 101

Banks, failures, 179; federal insurance of deposits, 191; in another crisis, 193; out-of-town banks recall money from Wall Street, 114; weakness of banking structure, 179–80. See also Bankers, Commercial ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Introduction
• A Note on Sources
• “Vision and Boundless Hope and Optimism”
• Something Should Be Done?
• In Goldman, Sachs We Trust
• The Twilight of Illusion
• The Crash
• Things Become More Serious
• Aftermath I
• Aftermath II
• Cause and Consequence
• Index
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH
• Footnotes