Wall Street: A History - Softcover

Geisst, Charles R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195130863 ISBN 13: 9780195130867

Publisher: OUP USA, 1999

Synopsis

Wall Street is the stuff of legend and a source of nightmares, a force so powerful in American societyDSand, indeed, in world economics and cultureDSthat it has become an almost universal symbol of both the highest aspirations of commercial success and the basest impulses of greed and deception. How did such a small, concentrated pocket of lower Manhattan come to have such an enormous influence in national and world affairs? In this wide-ranging volume, economic historian Charles Geisst answers this question as he provides the first history of Wall Street, ranging over two centuries from the loose association of traders meeting on New York sidewalks and coffee houses in the late 18th century, to the modern billion-dollar computer-driven colossus of today. Taking in the Gold Rush, the economic boom (for the North) of the Civil War, the great stock market crash of 1929, and the junk bond frenzy and the merger mania of the 1980s, this is a tale of profits and losses, endlessly enterprising spirits, and the role Wall Street played in helping America become the most powerful economy in the world.

About this title

Review

"Geisst's history ends in 1996, on an optimistic note, with the stock market forging ever higher. But the pages that have come before, chronicling the unending stream of wipeouts after similar investment booms, leaves one appropriately skeptical about how long these good times will last.... A quick-reading history of the United States as told through the doings of bankers and brokers."--The Washington Post "A thorough retelling of a critical--though often overlooked--aspect of U.S. history. Wall Street will be enjoyed not just by the warriors who work there but also by the growing legions of Main Street investors whose retirements depend on the fortunes of the stock market."--The Wall Street Journal "Geisst's history ends in 1996, on an optimistic note, with the stock market forging ever higher. But the pages that have come before, chronicling the unending stream of wipeouts after similar investment booms, leaves one appropriately skeptical about how long these good times will last.... A quick-reading history of the United States as told through the doings of bankers and brokers."--The Washington Post "A thorough retelling of a critical--though often overlooked--aspect of U.S. history. Wall Street will be enjoyed not just by the warriors who work there but also by the growing legions of Main Street investors whose retirements depend on the fortunes of the stock market."--The Wall Street Journal "Geisst's history ends in 1996, on an optimistic note, with the stock market forging ever higher. But the pages that have come before, chronicling the unending stream of wipeouts after similar investment booms, leaves one appropriately skeptical about how long these good times will last.... A quick-reading history of the United States as told through the doings of bankers and brokers."--The Washington Post "A thorough retelling of a critical--though often overlooked--aspect of U.S. history. Wall Street will be enjoyed not just by the warriors who work there but also by the growing legions of Main Street investors whose retirements depend on the fortunes of the stock market."--The Wall Street Journal "Geisst's history ends in 1996, on an optimistic note, with the stock market forging ever higher. But the pages that have come before, chronicling the unending stream of wipeouts after similar investment booms, leaves one appropriately skeptical about how long these good times will last.... A quick-reading history of the United States as told through the doings of bankers and brokers."--The Washington Post "A thorough retelling of a critical--though often overlooked--aspect of U.S. history. Wall Street will be enjoyed not just by the warriors who work there but also by the growing legions of Main Street investors whose retirements depend on the fortunes of the stock market."--The Wall Street Journal

From the Author

Response to Kirkus
The assertion that this book is pro-wall Street is probably the silliest thing I can imagine. Extreme care was taken not to give that impression which is utterly false. Blurb reviews are usually worthless, this one especially so.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195130863
• ISBN 13: 9780195130867
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416