The best known and most highly regarded book on financial crisesFinancial crises and speculative excess can be traced back to the very beginning of trade and commerce. Since its introduction in 1978, this book has charted and followed this volatile world of financial markets. Charles Kindleberger's brilliant, panoramic history revealed how financial crises follow a nature The best known and most highly regarded book on financial crisesFinancial crises and speculative excess can be traced back to the very beginning of trade and commerce. Since its introduction in 1978, this book has charted and followed this volatile world of financial markets.
Charles Kindleberger's brilliant, panoramic history revealed how financial crises follow a nature-like rhythm: they peak and purge, swell and storm. Now this newly revised and expanded Fourth Edition probes the most recent 'natural disasters' of the markets-from the difficulties in East Asia and the repercussions of the Mexican crisis to the 1992 Sterling crisis.
His sharply drawn history confronts a host of key questions.Charles P. Kindleberger (Boston, MA) was the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT for thirty-three years.
He is a financial historian and prolific writer who has published over twenty-four books. 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 book ha 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 book has become such a classic- it's probably assigned in economics classes all over the world.But a word of caution to the lay-reader: I have an MBA, and a couple of years of economics courses under my belt- and some of the discussion was definitely above my head. You'll definitely need to hit Wikipedia to refresh your macro-economic knowledge- especially at the end of the book, during the discussions of Domestic and International Lenders of Last Resort. Was a bit disappointing,most of the book is about events that happened more than 100 years ago,short coverage of the last 80 years.The book reads like 10 different people wrote parts of itand didn't know what others were writing.Some events are covered multiple times,the south sea bubble has 16 entries, often saying the same thing.Treasury sec Paulson was called Mr. Bailout in 2 separate parts that read the same.I totally disagree that Lehmann bro should have been bailed out.They piled on billio Was a bit disappointing,most of the book is about events that happened more than 100 years ago,short coverage of the last 80 years.The book reads like 10 different people wrote parts of itand didn't know what others were writing.Some events are covered multiple times,the south sea bubble has 16 entries, often saying the same thing.Treasury sec Paulson was called Mr.
Bailout in 2 separate parts that read the same.I totally disagree that Lehmann bro should have been bailed out.They piled on billions of dollars of extra debt the last 10 months trying to become a 'too big to fail' bank.Fuld should have gone to prison for that and other things.The author seems to think 'money flows' were more important thanthe corrupt rating agencies giving AAA to junk bonds. This is a classic book in the financial world, but I was somewhat disappointed with it. Kindleberger uses Hyman Minsky's 'anatomy' of financial crises to discuss commonalities between a number of different financial panics from different countries at different times in history. I had been hoping for more of a straightforward narrative description of each crisis, many of which, after all, occurred in unfamiliar settings.
But in fact, Kindleberger uses the generic 'crisis anatomy' as the structure This is a classic book in the financial world, but I was somewhat disappointed with it. Kindleberger uses Hyman Minsky's 'anatomy' of financial crises to discuss commonalities between a number of different financial panics from different countries at different times in history. I had been hoping for more of a straightforward narrative description of each crisis, many of which, after all, occurred in unfamiliar settings. But in fact, Kindleberger uses the generic 'crisis anatomy' as the structure of the book, touching on each episode only as it relates to a given part of the anatomy. This can be disorienting for the reader who is not already familiar with the episodes, which description I imagine fits virtually all readers.For those interested in the generic anatomy of crises, I think it's better to read Minsky himself, who is pretty accessible. For those looking for detailed descriptions of specific crises, something like Bagehot's 'Lombard Street' is more entertaining. This book ends up being neither here nor there.
A good introductory book to the history of financial cycles, but only for people with some background in economics.I didn't like the style. Many times it felt like an endless list of historical examples that illustrate an idea. The idea that financial crises across the world are connected is repeated ad nauseam. Lehman Brothers didn't deserve its own chapter.It doesn't read as a treatise on the economics causes and consequences of financial cycles, panics, etc., and it doesn't read as an econom A good introductory book to the history of financial cycles, but only for people with some background in economics.I didn't like the style. Many times it felt like an endless list of historical examples that illustrate an idea. The idea that financial crises across the world are connected is repeated ad nauseam.
Lehman Brothers didn't deserve its own chapter.It doesn't read as a treatise on the economics causes and consequences of financial cycles, panics, etc., and it doesn't read as an economic history book. It tries to be both, and it fails at both. I don't like the organization of the content by chapters.I still recommend the book, if you are very interested in the topic.
If you're in a rush and want to get the gist, read the last chapter.I wonder how this compares to 'This time is different.' I will find out this year. This book was referred to by another book I've been reading.
This copy as gifted to me by my alma mater at an event where Professor Aliber, the co-author of this edition, spoke.One of the most dense and therefore challenging books I've read. Every paragraph is jammed with facts. I think the book would be better if it had a few graphs and ignored corruption.
There's plenty to digest here without getting into Ponzi, Madoff, or Enron. I also think some more perspective on why credit bubbles get in This book was referred to by another book I've been reading. This copy as gifted to me by my alma mater at an event where Professor Aliber, the co-author of this edition, spoke.One of the most dense and therefore challenging books I've read. Every paragraph is jammed with facts. I think the book would be better if it had a few graphs and ignored corruption. There's plenty to digest here without getting into Ponzi, Madoff, or Enron.
I also think some more perspective on why credit bubbles get inflated would have been helpful. Written by an eminent economic historian, this book outlines what I believe is the standard view of bubbles, crashes and financial panics - three closely related but not identical topics. The author's account goes something like this:From time to time the price of some class of assets starts to rise and people get excited. Often there is some good reason for this - railroads, canals, tech companies and so forth are real productive assets and people realize at some point that they have been pre Written by an eminent economic historian, this book outlines what I believe is the standard view of bubbles, crashes and financial panics - three closely related but not identical topics. The author's account goes something like this:From time to time the price of some class of assets starts to rise and people get excited.
Often there is some good reason for this - railroads, canals, tech companies and so forth are real productive assets and people realize at some point that they have been previously underestimating just how productive. Tulip bulbs with exciting pretty patterns also qualify - a bulb that produces a new kind of flower is a capital asset, since you can produce many such flowers by cutting. The first third of the book documents this process.As speculators pile in, the price of the asset grows higher than can be justified based on future cash flows. In addition to sincere promoters of the new asset, there are incompetents and frauds promising returns they can't reliably deliver, or have no intention to deliver. Insiders notice this and cash out.
At some point the cycle goes into reverse - often due to some prominent failure, sometimes due to simply a lack of new investors. Prices falter and fall. When people notice the decline, there's a feedback loop where everybody wants to sell 'before the crowd' - hence, the crash. The author traces this pattern with examples going back to the tulips, with special emphasis on English, French, and American panics from the South Sea bubble through 1929. Reading the book at the time I did, it was impossible not to think of Bitcoin. The second third of the book describes the crash and shows that it feels remarkably similar whether it's stock in the South Sea Company or a 2000-era Dotcom company.Sometimes, a bubble can burst without drastic effect (e.g., the Dot-com bubble.) But sometimes the bubble is big enough, or has sensitive-enough investors, that it causes larger scale disruption.
In particular, if people or banks had been borrowing against the now-worthless asset, the individual or bank will now be under water. At this point, creditors notice that they need to get their money out before the insolvent party goes bankrupt - and there's a rush to call in loans and de-leverage. This cycle, if it grows big enough, is a panic.
Anybody who was paying attention in the fall of 2008 knows what this looks like.The last third of the book is devoted to discussing responses to panics. The author looks particularly at doing nothing, at declaring bank holidays, central bank cash infusions, and international rescues.
The author notes that 'bank holidays' and their shorter-timescale equivalent, the trading circuit-breakers rarely work - those devices leave investors more anxious to get out quickly, while they still can, the next time. 'Do nothing' is questionable: some problems do go away on their own as investors take their losses and move on; other times, the scale of financial deleveraging does a great deal of unnecessary damage. Rescues (domestic or foreign) do work, but have corresponding challenges - they risk moral hazard, and sometimes the rescuer doesn't have enough money to go through with it. The author at length concludes that we are little advanced over Walter Bagehot, the mid-19th-century economic journalist - it's good to do rescues, when we can, but without being too consistent or predictable about it.The book is written for both a professional-economist and lay readership. The author is at pains to draw contrasts between his view and either Marxists who assert that all investment and money is a sham or radical neoclassical types who assert that there are no bubbles, investors are always rational and things that look like bubbles and crashes are a misreading of the evidence. I found the book generally easy reading though was confused about technicalities at some points.
I read the 1st edition written in 1977, published 1978. I understand that the book has been updated in later editions, the 6th written in 2006. It was written during the height of the California housing bubble which saw Bay-area studio apartment rent go as high as $1000 per month when 3-bedroom home mortgages elsewhere were running in the $400-$500 range. It is an eerie foreshadowing of the true mania that seized the country in 2004 when the government communicated its intent to effectively free I read the 1st edition written in 1977, published 1978. I understand that the book has been updated in later editions, the 6th written in 2006. It was written during the height of the California housing bubble which saw Bay-area studio apartment rent go as high as $1000 per month when 3-bedroom home mortgages elsewhere were running in the $400-$500 range. It is an eerie foreshadowing of the true mania that seized the country in 2004 when the government communicated its intent to effectively free the financial markets of regulatory oversight.
Manias Panics And Crashes Pdf
Given the events of the last 10 years, which so closely mapped to the de-emphasis of financial regulation by President Bush and the resulting toxic mortgage derivative scams that triggered both the mania of 2004-2006 and the panic that culminated in US financial collapse in 2008-2009, I seriously doubt that Kindleberger’s conclusions could have changed, as the model he revealed matches the current events with surreal accuracy.All of his conclusions are drawn from analysis of historical events dating back to 1720, and give a clear and consistent picture of how bubbles and crashes work. I mention events of the past 10 years because Kindleberger could not have foreseen the changes in the financial practices that lead to what has happened, but it has clearly followed his model as if he had been writing today.I gave him 4 stars because some of the historical stuff (especially in chapter 8) got into plain list mode, without enough explanation, as if he felt he was part of a larger discussion the reader was not privy too. Otherwise I would have given 5 stars. Kindleberger's 'Manias, Panics and Crashes' is a must read for anyone active in the markets. If you want to learn how to identify downcycles early, and to understand their progression and eventual end, look no further than Kindleberger's work.While other worthy tomes, such as 'History of Financial Disasters in 3 Volumes' cover much of the same material, the original organization of Kindleberger's work is what commends it. He disentangles the narrative of many financial disasters into their compo Kindleberger's 'Manias, Panics and Crashes' is a must read for anyone active in the markets. If you want to learn how to identify downcycles early, and to understand their progression and eventual end, look no further than Kindleberger's work.While other worthy tomes, such as 'History of Financial Disasters in 3 Volumes' cover much of the same material, the original organization of Kindleberger's work is what commends it.
He disentangles the narrative of many financial disasters into their component parts, then works to educate the reader how to identify which phase of the financial cycle the reader finds himself. It is a remarkable feat of simplification.I remember very vividly loaning my copy to a friend one evening, noting the chapter title 'The Emergence of Swindles' as a cautionary tale for us to expect the revelation of a major financial fraud, only to see the very next day the emergence of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. My friend was amazed at the power of this book, and you should be too. But Kindleberger had done the work and knew what was next. And he was right!If there was only one book I could recommend on how to understand and navigate financial crises, it would be this book.
Ignore it at your peril. Begin your journey here to better knowledge of financial crises.
Anyone who picks up this book hoping it may help make sense of what's going on in the world and the economy would be bitterly disappointed. Majority of the text reads as one long list of historic events that author doesn't even recount, but simply refers to. If you haven't read extensively on the history of the events in question it probably would make very little sense and a rather tedious reading. Moreover, any trace of analysis, opinion and conclusions postponed till the very last chapter and Anyone who picks up this book hoping it may help make sense of what's going on in the world and the economy would be bitterly disappointed. Majority of the text reads as one long list of historic events that author doesn't even recount, but simply refers to.
If you haven't read extensively on the history of the events in question it probably would make very little sense and a rather tedious reading. Moreover, any trace of analysis, opinion and conclusions postponed till the very last chapter and here it is (big spoiler) 'Lender of last resort is a necessary evil'. So don't get any ideas. The book also produces an impression of being hopelessly dated, as neither NASDAQ boom-bust of 2000s neither global crisis of 2008 are included.
One overall message that seems clear is that borrowing-lending leads to speculation and bubbles in real estate, stocks and some weirder assets again and again, there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason for the insanity to stop either now or any time in the future. The financial systems developed in the wake of the crisis will perpetuate the crisis while pretending to deal with aftermath and pretending to exercise some preventive measures. A thoroughly depressing script. There have been many attempts to explain the GFC – greed, irrational behaviours, bell curve, derivatives, excessive leverage, failures by rating agencies, regulatory failure, etc, which all can be groups as a demand side shock.This book artfully presents (or had presented) another factor, excess capital floating around in the world built by the current account surpluses from the economic imbalance since 60’s. This is more of a supply side shock, which no one has control over after the collapse There have been many attempts to explain the GFC – greed, irrational behaviours, bell curve, derivatives, excessive leverage, failures by rating agencies, regulatory failure, etc, which all can be groups as a demand side shock.This book artfully presents (or had presented) another factor, excess capital floating around in the world built by the current account surpluses from the economic imbalance since 60’s. This is more of a supply side shock, which no one has control over after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. We don’t even know the volume of this excess capital, let alone the movement.
This indicates, the next financial crisis will occur where this excess capital ends up triggered by whatever the demand side shock mentioned above meaning as long as there is this excess capital, another crisis is inevitable.There may be a way to track the flows of this capital but the financial transaction tax being largely rebuffed by free market capitalists, there does not appear to be any other means to predict or curtail the next crisis but just wait it to happen. This is not the easiest book to read without some prior knowledge of economic history. That said it is probably the most complete book on the history and causes of economic upheavals from the 17th century to 2010 available to the non-economist.In particular the authors have identified what they call the 4 waves of international financial disaster in the last 40 years. Perhaps the most striking conclusion one can draw from their study is how similar the causes of each wave has been. If you take t This is not the easiest book to read without some prior knowledge of economic history. That said it is probably the most complete book on the history and causes of economic upheavals from the 17th century to 2010 available to the non-economist.In particular the authors have identified what they call the 4 waves of international financial disaster in the last 40 years.
Perhaps the most striking conclusion one can draw from their study is how similar the causes of each wave has been. If you take the time to work your way through this book you will come away with a more sophisticated understanding of words such as 'credit', 'liquidity' and 'asset prices' and how they are interrelated. You will also come to understand how basic human nature rather than complex financial strategies underlie decisions which repeatedly cycle from beneficial to disastrous consequences for humanity.
I enjoyed this book first as an economics student in my undergraduate college course of study. It was read back then as a means to achieving a passing grade on a section test in the economics class. I recently had cause to re-read this book, and was surprised to be able to observe the connections between historical financial crises and economic events in our current economy.
With all of the talk about stock market manipulation, derivative fraud, and the imminent collapse of the global economic s I enjoyed this book first as an economics student in my undergraduate college course of study. It was read back then as a means to achieving a passing grade on a section test in the economics class. I recently had cause to re-read this book, and was surprised to be able to observe the connections between historical financial crises and economic events in our current economy. With all of the talk about stock market manipulation, derivative fraud, and the imminent collapse of the global economic system, this book rings with the reverberation of truth understood over the long-term.If you want to understand more about today's current economic events in Cypress and Greece and what these mean to the US, Chinese and Russian economies, you should study Kindleberger's book. The 2000 edition reads like a playbook for the collapse and bailout of of 2008.
Both the descriptions and proscriptions of this book, especially its focus on the lender of last resort, seem to be amazingly prescient though it probably just that this iconic text was on the bookshelf of every major player in the fed at the time.The book is not written for a general audience and some of the econ jargon gave me trouble as a non-specialist but it's not insurmountable. It is a historical and non-quan The 2000 edition reads like a playbook for the collapse and bailout of of 2008. Both the descriptions and proscriptions of this book, especially its focus on the lender of last resort, seem to be amazingly prescient though it probably just that this iconic text was on the bookshelf of every major player in the fed at the time.The book is not written for a general audience and some of the econ jargon gave me trouble as a non-specialist but it's not insurmountable.
It is a historical and non-quantitative book so it's still a very interesting overview of the many global financial crises since 1600. This book was incredibly dense and difficult to read.
While Kindleberger knows his stuff, he fails to organise it in a way that is accessible or comprehensible. There are one or two chapters that are (relatively) easy to follow, but the majority leap from historical crisis to crisis with little in the way of context or explanation. This reads like an academic treatise written exclusively for tenured professors in their ivory towers, rather than a book that I can recommend to a lay person interes This book was incredibly dense and difficult to read. While Kindleberger knows his stuff, he fails to organise it in a way that is accessible or comprehensible.
There are one or two chapters that are (relatively) easy to follow, but the majority leap from historical crisis to crisis with little in the way of context or explanation. This reads like an academic treatise written exclusively for tenured professors in their ivory towers, rather than a book that I can recommend to a lay person interested in financial crises and their causes. “This book is an essay in what is derogatorily called 'literary economics,' as opposed to mathematical economics, econometrics, or (embracing them both) the 'new economic history.'
A man does what he can, and in the more elegant - one is tempted to say 'fancier' - techniques I am, as one who received his formation in the 1930s, untutored. A colleague has offered to provide a mathematical model to decorate the work. It might be useful to some readers, but not to me. Catastrophe mathematics, dealing with such events as falling off a height, is a new branch of the discipline, I am told, which has yet to demonstrate its rigor or usefulness. I had better wait.
Econometricians among my friends tell me that rare events such as panics cannot be dealt with by the normal techniques of regression, but have to be introduced exogenously as 'dummy variables.' The real choice open to me was whether to follow relatively simple statistical procedures, with an abundance of charts and tables, or not. In the event, I decided against it. For those who yearn for numbers, standard series on bank reserves, foreign trade, commodity prices, money supply, security prices, rate of interest, and the like are fairly readily available in the historical statistics.”—.