Just added a post on John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Great Crash to the Bookshelf feature. It opens:
In the quarter century from 1983 though 2008, Americans witnessed three stock market crashes: 1987, 1990 and 2000.
The first of those crashes represented the sharpest one-day drop in the history of the New York Stock Exchange. Comparisons to 1929 obviously suggested themselves. But when no recession materialized – and the market quickly reversed itself – the investors of the 1980s took a very different lesson from their grandparents: a crash is a time to buy.
In 1990 and 2000, stock market declines were followed by recessions, but mild and brief recessions. Again the markets recovered in impressively short order – and again the 1929 comparison receded into historical remoteness.
But now, Depression economics again demands attention.
1 response so far
1 ottovbvs // May 26, 2009 at 5:35 am
It’s a great book, full of insights and beautifully written. And by a fellow Canadian. Galbraith wasn’t always right, which economist is, but his batting averages were pretty good. Some of his essays are delightful….I particularly remember one called “Farming a bankrupt farm in Vermont” on the perils of “improvement.”
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