Synopses & Reviews
Selected as one of the best investment books of all time by the Financial Times, Manias, Panics and Crashes puts the turbulence of the financial world in perspective. Here is a vivid and entertaining account of how reckless decisions and a poor handling of money have led to financial explosions over the centuries. Covering topics such as the history and anatomy of crises, speculative manias, and the lender of last resort, this book has been hailed as "a true classic . . . both timely and timeless." In this new, updated sixth edition, Kindleberger and Aliber expand upon the ideas presented in the previous edition to bring the history of the financial crisis up-to-date. It now includes two new chapters that provide an in-depth analysis of the causes, consequences and policy responses to the first global crisis of the 21st century, the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008. In addition, these new chapters also cover significant crises of the last fifteen years. The authors offer valuable lessons that will allow the reader to successfully navigate the financial crises of today and ones that lie ahead.
Review
"Robert Aliber has produced superb update of the classic book by Charles Kindleberger which remains as relevant as ever." —Martin Wolf,
Financial Times "Underneath the hilarious anecdotes, the elegant epigrams, and the graceful turns of phrase, Kindleberger is deadly serious. The manner in which humans beings earn their livings is no laughing matter to him, especially when they attempt to do so at the expense of one another. As he so effectively demonstrates, manias, panics, and crashes are the consequence of an economic environment that cultivates cupidity, chicanery, and rapaciousness rather than a devout belief in the Golden Rule." —Peter L. Bernstein "Professor Kindleberger has the welcome gifts of carrying lightly an immense weight of learning and of always using his imagination in deciding how to deploy it. These gifts are as evident as ever in his latest book." —W. Ashworth,
Economic History Review "
Manias, Panics and Crashes is a scholarly account for the way that mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries." —Richard Lambert,
Financial Times"Charles Kindleberger has written, with great polish and style, an analysis of the stages of financial crises over the last two and a half centuries." —Patrick Minford, Economic Journal
"Alas, both the need for a book such as Manias, Panics and Crises, and the scale and coverage of its material, keep on increasing, almost exponentially. So much has happened in the last few years that this is now Bob Alibers book, as much as, perhaps more, than Charles Kindlebergers. Aliber has maintained, indeed, enhanced, the prior high standards that Kindleberger set. The analysis, (giving pride of place to Minsky and to the role of credit expansion in driving asset price bubbles), and the judgement (that allowing Lehman Bros to fail was a disaster and that harping on the cliché of ‘too big to fail obscures proper assessment) are both first class. This is an entertaining and easily accessible book, filled with fascinating historical vignettes, and one that everyone from the experts to newcomers to the field should read and would profit greatly by doing so." —Charles Goodhart, London School of Economics
Synopsis
Manias, Panics and Crashes, Sixth Edition is a vivid and entertaining account of the way that mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries.
Synopsis
Manias, Panics and Crashes, is a vivid and entertaining account of the way that mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries. Covering such topics as the history and anatomy of crises, speculative manias, and the lender of last resort, this book has been hailed as 'a true classic...both timely and timeless.' In this new, updated fifth edition, Kindleberger and Aliber expand upon the ideas presented in the previous edition, and include two new chapters on the real estate price bubble that occurred in Norway, Sweden and Finland at the end of the 1980s, and the three asset price bubbles that occurred between 1985 and 2000 in Japan and other Asian countries. Selected as one of the best investment books of all time by the Financial Times, Manias, Panics and Crashes puts the turbulence of the financial world in perspective.
About the Author
Charles P. Kindleberger (1910 - 2003) was the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT for 33 years. He was a financial historian and prolific writer who has published 30 books. Robert Aliber is Professor Emeritus of International Economics and Finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he has been a faculty member since 1965. His books include The New International Money Game, (Palgrave Macmillan) now in its seventh edition, as well as the book Your Money and Your Life.
Table of Contents
Financial Crisis: A Hardy Perennial * Anatomy of a Typical Crisis * Speculative Manias * Fuelling the Flames: The Expansion of Credit * The Critical Stage: Pricking the Bubble * Euphoria and Economic Booms * International Contagion * Bubble Contagion: Tokyo to Bangkok to New York * Swindles and Theft and Bad Manners * Policy Responses: Letting it Burn Out * Lenders of Last Resort: The Domestic Responses * The International Lender of Last Resort * Conclusion: The Lessons of History