Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises (Wiley Investment Classics)
by Charles P. Kindleberger
book data
50 ratings,
3.60
average rating, 16 reviews
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published
October 4th 2005
(first published 1978)
by Wiley
binding
Paperback, 304 pages
isbn
0471467146
(isbn13: 9780471467144)
description
"Underneath the hilarious anecdotes, the elegant epigrams,s and the graceful turns of phrase, Kindleberger is deadly serious. The manner in which...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 137)
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avg 3.60
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in March, 2009
If you're looking for a colorful, narrative history of financial bubbles, this book is not for you. Kindleberger is bone dry, and his goal is mainly to analyze common features of bubble cycles. Towards that end, he tends to pick a feature, then run through ten or twenty examples of how that feature worked during past bubbles. That leads to a lot of repetition, but by the end of the book, you definitely get a clear sense of how the Minsky model views bubbles. I think that's the reason the boo...more
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Read in February, 2009
This was interesting book that reads like several essays made into a thesis, i.e., a bit hard to read for the lay reader. It did give valuable insight to how bubbles and crashes happen and a solution to crashes. Some of the interesting points to the book were how it is very difficult to avoid a bubble (even if you are on the good standard, those financial types can be very creative apparently) and when you are not able to stop a bubble (perhaps because you don't recognize it for what it is or ...more
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Read in March, 2009
Perhaps too technical. It specifically indicates that the current international lender of last resort is, up to a point the IMF, with the USA as proxy, implying that no scenario has been analyzed in which the USA is crashing down. And the previous time the USA was in a crisis, its importance with respect to the world economy was much smaller (with other economies, such as london, in a good position to serve as international lenders of last resort).
Interesting times.
Interesting times.
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Read in December, 2008
I've been wanting to read this book for years; if only I'd read it sooner. It astounds me to think that the geniuses on Wall Street could have ignored this book when it was first published in 1978!!! With a prescience almost scary in its applicability to today's credit mess, Kindleberger outlines the stages of financial panics throughout history. Beginning with the Dutch tulip bulb mania of the 17th century, the author shows that the more things change, the more they remain the same: assets beco...more
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This is a fascinating subject, and the author definitely knows his stuff. However, the writing is sub par: sentences are chopped and broken, and there is often no flow to paragraph structure, which makes for rough reading.
But if you can get past these flaws, there is a wealth of information inside. For instance, the connection between bubbles in stock markets and real estate is explained, the rise of fraud and euphoria in economic booms is made evident, and the roots of bubble conta...more
But if you can get past these flaws, there is a wealth of information inside. For instance, the connection between bubbles in stock markets and real estate is explained, the rise of fraud and euphoria in economic booms is made evident, and the roots of bubble conta...more
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Read in December, 2008
This book has not been updated to explain the current crisis, but it doesn't really need to be. It seems that all crashes have some similar elements. This book is not easy to read, but it is a great analysis of several economic crashes throughout history (from the Holland Tulip crisis to the dot com bust) and explains what happens to the markets and people. Very interesting. Wish I had read it a few years ago.
Read in February, 2009
Good historical summary of what the title says. Discussion of specific episodes takes over parts of the book, which I found to be of less interest than the main thesis which was easy to understand after a few chapters.
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Read in June, 2009
This book is presented as if it is for the layman, but it really isn't. If you aren't an economist or an investment banker, you should only attempt reading this if you have a stimulant addiction.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2008
This is a fantastic book. If you want to have a perspective on today's economic issues, you need to understand the financial panics of the past and this book covers them all. From the Tulip Craze in the 1600s to the Asian financial crisis. This book covers many of the financial panics that have occurred in the last 400 years, and discusses what governments and central banks did right or wrong to return the economies to normal.
This is the perfect book to buy for that finance wonk...more
This is the perfect book to buy for that finance wonk...more
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One of the classic "must reads" for anyone interested in investing. The cycles of boom/bust and greed/fear are constantly renewing and re-inventing themselves, but the basics remain the same. This book spells these concepts out clearly and forcefully. Before you invest in any asset class (again) do yourself a favor and read this gem.
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
people who like meaningless laundry lists
gave up listening to an audio version of this text about a third of the way in. it is flabergasting to me how an author could devise such a dull treatment of such a fascinating subject.
okay between this and the movie 1408 i now know to avoid any book/movie recommendations by russ winter..
okay between this and the movie 1408 i now know to avoid any book/movie recommendations by russ winter..
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05/20/08
Ellis
added it
I can't really give this book a rating, because my mind wandered so much during parts of it. Normally I chalk that up to the book being terrible, but in this case I think it may have been more my problem than the book's.
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Read in January, 2007
A good intro to the history of financial manias...etc.
I've been advised to stay away from gloom and doom books.
I've been advised to stay away from gloom and doom books.
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Read in January, 2000
This is a classic on financial crises and goes into much more depth than Galbraith's book.
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