Manias Panics & Crashes A History of Financial Crises

Finance

"Underneath the hilarious anecdotes, the elegant epigrams, and the graceful turns of phrase, Kindleberger is deadly serious. The manner in which human 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."

—from the Foreword to the Fourth Edition by Peter L. Bernstein,

author of Against the Gods and The Power of Gold

Praise for previous editions of Manias, Panics, and Crashes

"Classic...Manias, Panics, and Crashes is a durable guide to meditation: wise, witty, and practical. It is a template against which to measure the latest financial crisis—whatever and whenever that happens to be."

—David Warsh, The Boston Globe

"Definitive."

—Floyd Norris, The New York Times

"[Manias, Panics, and Crashes] is a scholarly account of the way that mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries."

—Richard Lambert, Financial Times

"What long has been the best history of financial pathologies is now even better. The reader who absorbs Kindleberger's lessons will be prepared to foresee and navigate the financial crises that surely lie ahead. Like a true classic, Manias, Panics, and Crashes is both timely and timeless."

—Richard Sylla, Kaufman Professor of Financial History

Stern School of Business, New York University

Financial 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.

The classic on crashes and financial crises

Manias, Panics, and Crashes, Fifth Edition is a scholarly 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 10 best investment books of all time by the Financial Times, Manias, Panics, and Crashes puts the turbulence of the financial world in perspective.

Charles P. Kindleberger 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 (Chicago, IL) is a professor of international economics and finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he has been a faculty member since 1965.

Manias, Panics, and Crashes, Fifth Edition is an engaging 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 puts the turbulence of the financial world in perspective. The updated fifth edition expands upon each chapter, and includes two new chapters focusing on significant financial crises of the last fifteen years.

Charles P. Kindleberger was the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT for thirty-three years. He is a financial historian and prolific writer who has published over thirty books. Manias, Panics, and Crashes is his most popular book.

ROBERT ALIBER is a Professor of International Economics and Finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he has been a faculty member since 1965.

Foreword by Robert M. Solow.

1. Financial Crisis: A Hardy Perennial.

2. Anatomy of a Typical Crisis.

3. Speculative Manias.

4. Fueling them Flames: The Expansion of Credit.

5. The Critical Stage.

6. Euphoria and Economic Booms.

7. International Contagion.

8. Bubble Contagion: Tokyo to Bangkok to New York.

9. Frauds, Swindles, and the Credit Cycle.

10. Policy Responses: Letting It Burn Out, and Other Devices.

11. The Domestic Lender of Last Resort.

12. The International Lender of Last Resort.

13. The Lessons of History and the Most Tumultuous Decades.

Appendix.

Notes.

Index.