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Wall Street

A History: From Its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron

Charles R. Geisst
Oxford UP, 2004
First Edition: 1997
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Editorial Rating

7

Recommendation

This comprehensive book provides a wealth of detail about the origins and history of the financial institutions, private and public, that underpin Wall Street and the economy of the United States - and therefore, to an extent, much of the rest of the world. Author Charles R. Geisst presents a detailed discussion of the contest between the forces of libertarianism and regulation. Detail is both the strength and the weakness of this book. Often, the author has trouble organizing it all, and the book would have benefited from a stricter editor to help distill the "story" in this history. Despite such problems, however, the factual basis is rich and intriguing. getAbstract believes that readers interested in U.S. financial history, especially those in the investment and financial services industries, will want to read this book.

Summary

Founding the New York Stock and Exchange Board

In their early days, the American colonies had no single, uniform currency. Each coined its own money. In addition, British, French and Spanish currencies were all common, and gold or silver was the medium of exchange in high-risk transactions. Even when the Constitution prohibited state-sponsored currencies, it did not establish a single national currency. Markets were inefficient, with few if any financial institutions. The lack of a stock exchange was among the most noteworthy absences.

Exchanges, called "bourses," had begun operating in Europe as early as the seventeenth century, trading not only commodities but also various forms of financial paper. They enabled governments to tap private capital without raising taxes. The new American nation faced a financial challenge in the form of war debt, yet it had no revenues to use to pay its obligations. When the U.S. government issued its first bonds to retire the war debt, it faced stiff competition from financial trading companies and other institutions, which drove up interest rates. At the time, investors considered the government to be a riskier investment than private...

About the Author

Charles R. Geisst is a professor of finance in the school of business at Manhattan College. He is the author of Wheels of Fortune and Deals of the Century.

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