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The cover of Lords of Finance

Lords of Finance

Liaquat Ahamed

Four central bankers, Norman, Strong, Schacht and Moreau, tried to rebuild a world tied to gold after 1914, and their mistakes helped turn a crisis into the Great Depression.

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24 parts, about 36 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Follow Norman, Strong, Schacht and Moreau from the panic at the outbreak of war through reparations to the gold standard they rebuilt in the twenties
  • See how the gold standard, a straitjacket, carried the crisis from Austria and Germany to Britain and America
  • Learn why Ahamed holds that the Great Depression was no act of God but the product of mistakes by economic policy makers

Who it is for

  • Readers curious about the causes of the Great Depression
  • Students of twentieth century financial and economic history
  • Readers wondering what central banks do in a crisis

What the summary covers

  1. Four bankers and a breakdown2 min
  2. A world that thought war impossible1 min
  3. Norman and the London panic1 min
  4. Schacht, the outsider on the rise1 min
  5. Benjamin Strong1 min
  6. Moreau in Paris1 min
  7. Printing money for the war1 min
  8. Reparations and the ruin of the mark2 min
  9. The War Debt Trap2 min
  10. Deflate or Devalue2 min
  11. Schacht and the Currency Post1 min
  12. Norman, Schacht and the Dawes Plan2 min
  13. Britain Returns to Gold2 min
  14. France Fights for Its Franc1 min
  15. Speculation and Strain, 1926-271 min
  16. Strong's Fateful Rate Cut1 min
  17. The Great Bubble2 min
  18. Crash and Aftermath, 1929-302 min
  19. Magneto Trouble2 min
  20. The Crisis in Central Europe2 min
  21. Gold Fetters2 min
  22. Roosevelt Takes Command2 min
  23. What Became of the Bankers1 min
  24. Blunders, Not Fate1 min

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