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A Short History of Financial Euphoria
Book

A Short History of Financial Euphoria

Penguin, 1994 more...

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Editorial Rating

10

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

John Kenneth Galbraith’s short, literary book on financial speculation and the inevitability of subsequent economic catastrophe contends that devastating financial collapse is built into the free-enterprise system – an idea as intriguing today as it was when this book debuted in the mid-1990s. The late famous economist ended this treatise with a chilling question: “When will come the next great speculative episode and in what venue will it recur?” Everyone now knows the answer to that question all too well. Alarmingly, according to Galbraith, the travails that capitalist economies are now grimly experiencing will recur over and over. getAbstract suggests that anyone who wants to understand the kinks in the system – and human nature – that will continue to lead to hugely devastating, economic train wrecks should read Galbraith’s book.

Take-Aways

  • Financial collapses are built into the free-enterprise system.
  • As such, they are entirely predictable, yet most people never see them coming.
  • Collapses always revolve around speculation gone haywire.

About the Author

World-famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith taught at Harvard and Princeton, and wrote more than 40 books. He served as U.S. Ambassador to India for President John F. Kennedy. Galbraith died in 2006.