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with_freedom_and_books's review against another edition
3.0
Read for The Well-Educated Mind Histories. My review:
https://www.greatbookstudy.com/2020/09/the-great-crash-1929-by-john-kenneth.html
https://www.greatbookstudy.com/2020/09/the-great-crash-1929-by-john-kenneth.html
llysenw's review against another edition
5.0
It's really delightful to read a book by an author who knows how to use the English language to its fullest.
You'd never expect a book on the Great Crash to be witty, but it is. I can visualize his deadpan delivery as I read it.
But what stands out more than anything else about this book is the eerie parallels between 1929 and now.
He has some wonderful turns of phrase. Some of my favorites:
* If there must be madness something may be said for having it on a heroic scale.
* In 1929 treason had not yet become a casual term of reproach.
* He was also conducting one of the oldest, most important—and, unhappily, one of the least understood—rites in American life. This is the rite of the meeting which is called not to do business but to do no business. It is a rite which is still much practiced in our time.
* The Senate investigations of 1933 and 1934 showed that tax avoidance had brought individuals of the highest respectability into extraordinary financial intercourse with their wives.
* the immediate death not only has the disadvantage of being immediate but of identifying the executioner.
You'd never expect a book on the Great Crash to be witty, but it is. I can visualize his deadpan delivery as I read it.
But what stands out more than anything else about this book is the eerie parallels between 1929 and now.
He has some wonderful turns of phrase. Some of my favorites:
* If there must be madness something may be said for having it on a heroic scale.
* In 1929 treason had not yet become a casual term of reproach.
* He was also conducting one of the oldest, most important—and, unhappily, one of the least understood—rites in American life. This is the rite of the meeting which is called not to do business but to do no business. It is a rite which is still much practiced in our time.
* The Senate investigations of 1933 and 1934 showed that tax avoidance had brought individuals of the highest respectability into extraordinary financial intercourse with their wives.
* the immediate death not only has the disadvantage of being immediate but of identifying the executioner.
emmatdr's review against another edition
5.0
I don’t know much about economics but I loved reading this, it’s hilarious. The man might be a better comedian than an economist but he’s a bloody sharp comedian. Highly readable, highly recommended.
sofialister's review against another edition
so i read it! v intriguing on how it presents this time of intense scrutiny and change within the investments & stock exchange world
no rating bcos who am i to rate this aha
no rating bcos who am i to rate this aha
stevenk's review against another edition
4.0
A very easy to read economic history of the stock market crash of 1929 and the personalities involved in the economy at the time. Starting with a look at the 1920's real-estate crash in Florida that preceded it this books intent seems to be to point out and hopefully avoid the mistakes of the past. Galbraith's writing style is simple and easy to read and his witty observations about some of the behavior that lead up to the crash were entertaining. While he cites to several reasons that the crash hit the economy so hard (uneven wealth distribution, bad banking structure, foreign trade imbalances caused by WWI) the belief by a majority of Americans that investing in the stock market was such a sure thing that they could invest money they couldn't afford to loose and/or investing on margin lead to an economy that couldn't withstand the crash of 1929 which lead to the Great Depression.
unionmack's review
4.0
Galbraith feels like the prototype for writers like the Freakonomics guys. He’s a little more heady and data heavy, but this is far and away one of the breeziest and most entertaining books on economics I’ve ever read. His analysis as to the crash’s causes all felt very sound to me, and he delivers them all with wit and worldly wisdom. As we see our own economy in free fall right now, it’s both depressing to see the similarities between them and now and consoling that the seeds of renewal were planted in the soil of destruction back then. Let’s hope that can be the same for today!
garyboland's review
4.0
An excellent read. It covers not only the run up to the crash but covers the reasons why the crash spawned the depression. Very interesting connotations for today as the countermeasures put in place to prevent re-occurrence were subsequently dismantled and led to a similar (but not identical) event in 2008
sofialister's review
so i read it! v intriguing on how it presents this time of intense scrutiny and change within the investments & stock exchange world
no rating bcos who am i to rate this aha
no rating bcos who am i to rate this aha