Wall Street: A History

585 Pages·2018·13.22 MB·English

by  Charles R Geisst

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WALL
STREET
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WALL
STREET
A H I S T O R Y
Fourth Edition
Charles R. Geisst
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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Charles R. Geisst 1997
First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 1997
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1999
Reissued in cloth & paperback by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004
Reissued in paperback by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012
Reissued in paperback by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction
rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Geisst, Charles R., author.
Title: Wall Street : a history / Charles R. Geisst.
Description: Updated edition. | New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017059880 (print) | LCCN 2018002074 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190613556 (UPDF) | ISBN 9780190613563 (EPUB) |
ISBN 9780190613549 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Wall Street (New York, N.Y.)—History. | New York Stock Exchange.
Classifi cation: LCC HG4572 (ebook) | LCC HG4572 .G4 2018 (print) |
DDC 332.64/273—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017059880
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Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
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For Margaret and Meg
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Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xi
One The Early Years (1790– 1840) 1
Two The Railroad and Civil War Eras (1840– 70) 29
Three The Robber Barons (1870– 90) 58
Four The Age of the Trusts (1880– 1910) 93
Five The Money Trust (1890– 1920) 120
Six The Booming Twenties (1920– 29) 149
Seven Wall Street Meets the New Deal (1930– 35) 200
Eight The Struggle Continues (1936– 54) 247
Nine Bull Market (1954– 69) 276
Ten Bear Market (1970– 81) 302
Eleven Mergermania (1982–9 7) 330
Twelve Running Out of Steam (1998– 2003) 377
Thirteen The Cataclysm (2004–0 8) 404
Fourteen The Great Recession (2009– 2013) 445
Fifteen Recovery, Tapers, and Tantrums (2014– ) 471
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viii Contents
Notes 499
Bibliography 519
Index 529
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Preface
The recent fi nancial crisis has brought Wall Street history almost full
circle. The freewheeling days of the nineteenth and early twentieth cen-
turies were brought to an end by Depression-e ra laws designed to protect
the public from fi nancial excesses that ended in bank failures and sharp
turns in economic cycles. The prosperity brought by a growing economy
and a strong dose of hubris on Wall Street caused pressure, and those
regulations were eventually jettisoned in the 1990s by deregulation that
brought back the good old days of fi nancial excess.
Twenty years have passed since the fi rst edition of this book appeared.
Since then, four new chapters in several editions have been added to
chronicle the tumultuous events since the late 1990s, including the dot.
com crisis, the demise of the Glass-S teagall Act, Enron, the housing boom
of the early 2000s, widespread changes in trading equities, new fi nancial
products, and fi nally the credit crisis of 2008. The most recent chapter
covers events as the worst days of the Great Recession ended and a slow
recovery began. Some new material has been added on the fi rst mortgage
securities crisis in the 1880s and credit market conditions leading to the
Crash of 1929.
Oradell, New Jersey
September 2017
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