Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “A magisterial work.” —New York Times Book Review “The rich and charming story of the end of the world.” —TIME “Highly readable.” —Financial Times “This absorbing study of the first collective of central bankers is provocative, not least because it is still relevant.” —The Economist 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 that economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades. As we continue to grapple with economic turmoil, Lords of Finance is a potent reminder of the enormous impact that the decisions of central bankers can have, their fallibility, and the terrible human consequences that can result when they are wrong. Read more
Publisher : Penguin Books
Publication date : December 29, 2009
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 576 pages
ISBN-10 : 0143116800
ISBN-13 : 06
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.26 x 8.38 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #17,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Business Ethics (Books) #13 in Banks & Banking (Books) #44 in Economic History (Books)
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Paperback
"Lords of Finance - The Bankers Who Broke the World" by Liaquat Ahamed is an intimate look at the lives of four central bankers and the friendships forged between them. The thesis of the book seems to be that the Great Depression of the 1930's was not caused by a series of converging events but instead was brought about by the decisions made by the "Lords of Finance". Who are these "Lords" you may ask? Germany's Hjalmar Schacht - Head of the Reichbank Benjamin Strong - Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Montagu Norman - Head of the Bank of England Emile Moreau - Head of the Banque de France I have to give kudos to Mr. Ahamed for authoring such an entertaining and interesting look into a subject that some would consider to be dry monetary history or should I say biography seasoned with economic and monetary history. The later description being the secret to the book's entertaining quality. Mr. Ahamed delves into the personal lives of his Lords and focus not only on the economics and policy but also the friendships and animosities. Some people dismiss the book as Keynesian propaganda, since the book doesn't address the financial machinations and manipulation that was going on at the time behind the scenes. Although I sympathize with their criticism, I still believe that the "Lords of Finance - The Bankers who Broke the World" is relevant and insightful, for one should always read opposing views and keep an open mind. For those readers who would like to learn more about the so called "Conspiratorial" point of view, I will recommend some other works following the review. Note: I use the term "Conspiratorial" loosely without the intent of marginalizing that school of thought. I found it revealing that Mr. Ahamed's chose Benjamin Strong "Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York" as the main American Protagonist not any or all of the four individuals who served as "Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors" during the period. The four individuals I refer to are Charles S. Hamlin, William P. G. Harding, Daniel R. Crissinger, and Roy A. Young. I believe Mr. Ahamed's choice of focusing on the private corporation that is Federal Reserve Bank of N.Y. instead of the governmental body called the Federal Reserve Board of Governors was the correct choice. It screams out, true power lies in New York not Washington. The main criticism I've already mentioned above and labeled the "Conspiratorial Point of View" which Mr. Ahamed doesn't address in any significant manner in the book. To give you an example of information ignored by Mr. Ahamed was Congressman Louis McFadden's speech on the floor of the House of Representatives charging the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Secretary of the Treasury with Treason, Unlawful Conversion, Conspiracy, and Fraud. McFadden mentions the funding of Hitler and the Bolsheviks rise to power by the Federal Reserve Banks. The information is out there if you take the time to do the research. To summarize, The "Lords of Finance" is an interesting read the way the story ebbs and flows between the main characters makes for masterwork in writing. I wish most books were this well written. My only issue is with the thesis that a group of bankers mishandled the power of their offices and that lead to the Great Depression, but they didn't intend to cause a depression. I contend that Mr. Ahamed is correct except with respect to intention. To me the evidence shows that at least Montagu Norman and Benjamin Strong and probably Hjalmar Schacht knew that the plan was to cause a depression and they actively worked towards that end in secret. Now for the list of Books: Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution: The Remarkable True Story of the American Capitalists Who Financed the Russian Communists Wall Street and FDR Conjuring Hitler The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve Super Imperialism - New Edition: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominanc Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949 Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time The Memoirs of Cordell Hull (2 Volume Set) The Great Contraction, 1929-1933: (New Edition) (Princeton Classic Editions) Money Creators
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Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2012 by NeoFeudalSerf
Format: Paperback
With almost 470 Amazon reviews (as of the time of this writing), what’s left to add? Presumably by this point the reader of this review knows what this book is about – i.e., how the actions of leaders of the central banks of the U.S., Britain, Germany and France ostensibly brought about the Great Depression of the 1930’s. (But that actually sells the narrative short – read more below.) This book reads like a fascinating novel – but with real-life biographies, and real history, as the background. Ahamed writes for the masses – he does not assume a financial or economic background on the part of the reader. This book is so exceptionally well written that it becomes a page-turner – you just can’t wait to see what happens next! Commendably, the author does not suggest a conspiracy theory among, or incompetence on the part of, the main actors. As indicated below, they were merely further casualties of WWI. Each of the central banks (U.S. Britain, Germany and France) pursued different paths to recovery following the war, and none of them found the right answer. This is probably the result of three main problems: (i) the lack of coordination by the Central Banks in developing a global policy for economic recovery following the war; (ii) a failure on the part of Britain to acknowledge that the global economic landscape had been fundamentally altered by the war; and (iii) a failure on the part of the central actors to understand what was going on. As Maynard Keynes said in 1930 (pg. 374), “We have involved ourselves in a colossal muddle, having blundered in the control of a delicate machine, the working of which we do not understand.” While not a course book on international finance, the author does provide enough details to educate the reader about some of the basics (e.g., the gold standard, international lending, devaluation of currency, and international transfers of capital). As for my 4-star rating, and the title of this review (about the narrative being incomplete), I recommend reading the following in order to gain a broader perspective: “Hidden History” (Docherty and Macgregor), which suggests (with considerable convincing evidence) that the British manipulated France and Russia into war with Germany in 1914 in order to remove Germany as an economic competitor to Britain. My guess is that the architects behind this scheme (Lord Alfred Milner, in particular) had no clue as to what the economic consequences of war would be – they just had a narrow-focused goal of removing a commercial competitor. Thus, the central characters of “Lords of Finance” were probably just historical casualties of those with deeper, and darker, long term motives. Britain sowed the wind leading up to WWI, and the world reaped the whirlwind afterwards (with Britain refusing to acknowledge that there was, in fact, a whirlwind, trying vainly to reestablish their place of prominence in world finance by going back to an unrealistic pre-war gold-based exchange rate). All of the financial machinations (on the part of all parties) to rebuild the world economy after WWI failed to appreciate one fundamental concept – i.e., at some point creditors stop providing credit when they suspect that they might not be able to get repaid. Once credit stops, the economy flops. This holds true unless the creditors have a source they can tap to continue their bad lending practices – see next paragraph. I also gave this book a 4-star review because the author never asks – or answers- the fundamental question, “who eventually pays when central banks bail out other banks and nations who have made poor decisions?” The answer is “individual investors and savers.” Case in point: in 2007 an IRA or 401K worth $1 million likely took a 40% hit – i.e., a $400,000 “tax”. Multiply that by say three million such accounts, and suddenly you have $1.2 trillion gone from people’s retirement accounts. Where did all of that wealth go? Answer: to pay for loans by the Fed to bail out Greece, Spain, and bad real estate loans in the U.S. It was basically just a redistribution of wealth – socialism conducted under the guise of “central banking”. Read “The Creature from Jekyll Island” (regarding the establishment, and workings, of the U.S. Federal Reserve system) and you will have any eye-opening education on the truth behind “central banking”.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2020 by John S. Reid