A History of the United States in Five Crashes

Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation

De: Scott Nations

Narrado por: Christopher Grove

In this absorbing, smart, and accessible blend of economic and cultural history in the vein of the works of Michael Lewis and Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial executive and CNBC contributor examines the five most significant stock market crashes in the United States over the past century, revealing how they have defined the nation today.

The Panic of 1907; Black Tuesday (1929); Black Monday (1987); the Great Recession (2008); the Flash Crash (2010): Each of these financial implosions that caused a catastrophic drop in the American stock market is a remarkable story in its own right. But taken together, they offer a unique financial history of the American century. In A History of the United States in Five Crashes, financial executive and CNBC contributor Scott Nations examines these precipitous dips, revealing how each played a role in America's political and cultural fabric, one building upon the next to create the nation we know today.

Scott Nations identifies the factors behind the disastrous runs on banks that led to the Panic of 1907, the first great scare of the 20th century. He explains why 1920s America adopted investment trusts - a practice that helped post-World War I Britain - and how they were a primary catalyst of the 1929 crash. He explores America's love affair with an expanding stock market in the 1980s - which spawned the birth of portfolio insurance that significantly contributed to the 1987 crash. And he examines the factors that led to the 2008 global meltdown and the rise of algorithmic trading, the modern financial technology that sparked the 2010 Flash Crash when American stocks lost a trillion dollars in minutes.

A History of the United States in Five Crashes clearly and compellingly illustrates the connections between these financial collapses and examines the solid, clear-cut lessons they offer for preventing the next one.

©2017 Scott Nations (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

A must read for every individual

I highly recommend that every individual whether they have a financial background or a total communist, with a liberal arts background, must read this book, so that they understand the very mechanics that conspire and create the five Market crashes. That way, both the left, the right and the center have a valid understanding of how the stock market behaves, crests, and fails.

in so understanding, we have a common and understood platform from which, we can then begin a common discussion of how to resolve the current inequalities of wealth.

A Favorite

As a huge economics and history nerd this is one of my favorite books. re-listened several times a great premise, well performed by narrator, remains very relevant. I expect an update to include March 2020.

A Fantastic Look At the United $tate$ - Riveting

Well, good thing it is digital because I would have worn out an LP by now! The narration is excellent, the story and the perspective are relatable to the "everyman". I listen to parts of this book over and over again each week. I never get bored and, like watching my favorite movie repeatedly, I realize something about the story that I did not understand before!

If you like having the "mysteries" of Wall Street and the U.S.A. financial system de-mystified at your leisure, this is the book for you!!!!

A bit dry but interesting history

A bit dry but interesting history; probably need to be an enthusiast or history buff to enjoy.

Highly Educational

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I found this book to be highly educational. The Stock Market is probably the best representation of capitalistm in action and when it goes horribly wrong, it is very interesting to analyze why and how it happened. It was fascinating to read so many details behind each of the crashes that I never knew about. In particular, I enjoyed the details about the Flash Crash of 2010. I remember the day it happened and the news reports, but never got so much detail as what was narrated in the book. Truly fascinating!

Really good and revealing

This is like an NTSB report on a plane crash, except it's 5 plane crashes and you come to find while all are different there are some key similarities. like a plane crash many small things lead up to one big crash that is very hard to see coming.

The narration was very good.

The only detraction is that numbers and percentages coupled with brokerage terms can be difficult to follow if you are a layman like myself.

Great economic review of 5 important crashes

Very Professional and clear review of the most important and devastating crashes of the US economy

Great overview of the 5 crashes

A fascinating, but also scary and somehow disturbing, account of five pivotal moments in the history of the US.

De las mejores formas Entender la economía moderna.

De las mejores formas de entender la economía moderna es mirar los errores del pasado, de los mejores ejemplos y de los más influyentes son estos.

Informative, eye-opening and well researched

Extremely interesting to hear the crashes and their catalysts laid out in factual, non-emotive terms. makes you think twice about market movements, your investment strategies and most importantly where you find your indicators, above where you get your news.