Lords of Finance

The Bankers Who Broke the World

By: Liaquat Ahamed

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, History, 2010

It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of the economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades.

In Lords of Finance, we meet the neurotic and enigmatic Montagu Norman of the Bank of England, the xenophobic and suspicious Émile Moreau of the Banque de France, the arrogant yet brilliant Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank, and Benjamin Strong of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, whose facade of energy and drive masked a deeply wounded and overburdened man.

After the First World War, these central bankers attempted to reconstruct the world of international finance. Despite their differences, they were united by a common fear - that the greatest threat to capitalism was inflation - and by a common vision that the solution was to turn back the clock and return the world to the gold standard. For a brief period in the mid-1920s, they appeared to have succeeded. The world's currencies were stabilized, and capital began flowing freely across the globe. But beneath the veneer of boomtown prosperity, cracks started to appear in the financial system. The gold standard that all had believed would provide an umbrella of stability proved to be a straitjacket, and the world economy began that terrible downward spiral known as the Great Depression.

As yet another period of economic turmoil makes headlines today, the Great Depression and the year 1929 remain the benchmark for true financial mayhem. Offering a new understanding of the global nature of financial crises, Lords of Finance is a reminder of the enormous impact that the decisions of central bankers can have, of their fallibility, and of the terrible human consequences that can result when they are wrong.

©2009 Liaquat Ahamed (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Ahamed cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be..... Lords of Finance is highly readable - enlivened by vivid biographical detail but soundly based on the literature. That it should appear now, as history threatens to repeat itself, compounds its appeal." ( Financial Times)
"Erudite, entertaining macroeconomic history of the lead-up to the Great Depression as seen through the careers of the West's principal bankers....Spellbinding, insightful and, perhaps most important, timely." ( Kirkus Reviews)

The winds of change

This book is a wonderful explanation of how four butterflies flapped their wings and created hurricanes in the financial and therefore entire world.

History Of international banking 20th century

this book is Well written to give a general context of the four major Banks from World War I to World War II. it goes over the policies and impacts they had on monetary policies. I gave it a low star review simply because the content is pretty Advanced and not for the average reader. unless you have a real desire to learn about financial history, Finance and monitary policy then this book is for you.

Excellent book

A great history book. It explained these four men wonderfully and through great writing, the listener is able to keep everyone straight.

Much more interesting than I expected

I kinda fell into this book accidentally when I was looking for a history of the world between the wars. I know little to nothing about macroeconomics and wasn't really looking to learn more. But the author does an amazing job of weaving these abstruse financial concerns with intimate facts about the men who are his real subject, making it all both understandable and engaging.

The more things change...

The more they stay the same.

Fascinating book which reminds us that disastrous consequences often arise from best laid plans.

Greed and hubris were as much at play in the interwar period as they are today.

A great book for history buffs.

interesting insight into interwar period!

longish, but engaging historical narrative! related to you through mini-biographies of the main players of the time. easy to understand too, although due to its approach to the story (economics/finance), you might have to rewind sometimes to get the more technical aspects of his sweeping narrative. but highly recommended if you're looking to learn a thing or two about the Great Depression and some perspective on its connections to our current global economic crisis.

Great fun history book (1920s/1930s) for all!

I admit it, I delayed reading the book; the Great Depression of the 30s and its preambles is a fascinating period but the inner workings of the Central banks seems the most boring place to watch history.

Not so! Ahamed makes a convincing case that a few people, namely the four heads of the major central banks, were central in the grand orchestra of the Great Depression. Their errors, perhaps a mix of poor economic training, selfishness and obstinacy, led to real consequences, prompting the world toward what would be the greatest disaster in human history.

You will find here a detailed account of the consequences of Britain joining the gold standard, France's policy toward gold hoarding, the well-intentioned but ultimately destructive support by the Fed toward European cheap credit and, lastly, the lacking attempts as everything unravels to take power away from these men.. too little too late.

There is one point where the author, apparently not an economist, appears overly naive and out of context. The book is about the errors of a few men in powers, but in places, the admiration for the economist John Maynard Keynes becomes blinding to the extent that it misrepresents both current attitude toward his theories or, even, at the time, whether his ideas would have worked his place. In a gratuitous manner, the book ridicules I. Fischer not on theoretical grounds but on silly comments he made, or completely fails to note that Keynes' work, falsely presented as the panacea that protected us from crises, collapsed during the decade of the 70s.

The book shines as a epic economic history of the times, not as a guide for future policy.

Very interesting book!

I was surprised by how engaging this book was. The subject matter could have been dry, but the book and person reading it was very interesting. I thought I knew a lot about the causes of the great depression, but this book taught me so much more.

History of global finance

It has some very good important lessons from the past. I high recommend for those to see patterns to give a listen. Very relevant today.

Exceptional

The Lords of Finance won the Pulitzer Prize for history, and that award was well-deserved. The Pulitzer also means my individual review is probably of little consequence. However, I will say the book was rich in detail, fascinating, and exceptionally well-written. I would also recommend it to anyone out there who still thinks the gold standard is a good idea...