Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize Winner) Paperback – Illustrated, December 29, 2009

"Lords of Finance - The Bankers Who Broke the World" by Liaquat Ahamed is an intimate look at the lives of four central bankers and the friendships forged between them. The thesis of the book seems to be that the Great Depression of the 1930's was not caused by a series of converging events but instead was brought about by the decisions made by the "Lords of Finance". Who are these "Lords" you may ask?Germany's Hjalmar Schacht - Head of the ReichbankBenjamin Strong - Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New YorkMontagu Norman - Head of the Bank of EnglandEmile Moreau - Head of the Banque de FranceI have to give kudos to Mr. Ahamed for authoring such an entertaining and interesting look into a subject that some would consider to be dry monetary history or should I say biography seasoned with economic and monetary history. The later description being the secret to the book's entertaining quality. Mr. Ahamed delves into the personal lives of his Lords and focus not only on the economics and policy but also the friendships and animosities.Some people dismiss the book as Keynesian propaganda, since the book doesn't address the financial machinations and manipulation that was going on at the time behind the scenes. Although I sympathize with their criticism, I still believe that the "Lords of Finance - The Bankers who Broke the World" is relevant and insightful, for one should always read opposing views and keep an open mind. For those readers who would like to learn more about the so called "Conspiratorial" point of view, I will recommend some other works following the review.Note: I use the term "Conspiratorial" loosely without the intent of marginalizing that school of thought.I found it revealing that Mr. Ahamed's chose Benjamin Strong "Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York" as the main American Protagonist not any or all of the four individuals who served as "Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors" during the period. The four individuals I refer to are Charles S. Hamlin, William P. G. Harding, Daniel R. Crissinger, and Roy A. Young. I believe Mr. Ahamed's choice of focusing on the private corporation that is Federal Reserve Bank of N.Y. instead of the governmental body called the Federal Reserve Board of Governors was the correct choice. It screams out, true power lies in New York not Washington.The main criticism I've already mentioned above and labeled the "Conspiratorial Point of View" which Mr. Ahamed doesn't address in any significant manner in the book. To give you an example of information ignored by Mr. Ahamed was Congressman Louis McFadden's speech on the floor of the House of Representatives charging the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Secretary of the Treasury with Treason, Unlawful Conversion, Conspiracy, and Fraud. McFadden mentions the funding of Hitler and the Bolsheviks rise to power by the Federal Reserve Banks. The information is out there if you take the time to do the research.To summarize, The "Lords of Finance" is an interesting read the way the story ebbs and flows between the main characters makes for masterwork in writing. I wish most books were this well written. My only issue is with the thesis that a group of bankers mishandled the power of their offices and that lead to the Great Depression, but they didn't intend to cause a depression. I contend that Mr. Ahamed is correct except with respect to intention. To me the evidence shows that at least Montagu Norman and Benjamin Strong and probably Hjalmar Schacht knew that the plan was to cause a depression and they actively worked towards that end in secret.Now for the list of Books:Wall Street and the Rise of HitlerWall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution: The Remarkable True Story of the American Capitalists Who Financed the Russian CommunistsWall Street and FDRConjuring HitlerThe Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal ReserveSuper Imperialism - New Edition: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World DominancTrading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our TimeThe Memoirs of Cordell Hull (2 Volume Set)The Great Contraction, 1929-1933: (New Edition) (Princeton Classic Editions)Money Creators

I've been interested in the history of the first half of the 20th century and found this a well written and very readable account of that period from a central banker's perspective. Its starts out with the introduction of four of the main players of the book,the heads of the central banks of the leading powers of that time,France,Germany,Great Britain,and the United States. Well done portraits of each those bankers as the point of view switches back and forth so that by books end they feel like well known figures. Each was gifted, brilliant,driven and seemingly honorable and each was quite different,none was by any means the gray bland money counter stereotype popular in the media. All had powerful positions with the job of overseeing the value of our money and smoothing over financial crisis. In the end they all failed. It is only a small exaggeration to say that to bankers of that time the gold standard which currency values were tied to was little short of their god. This is an account of how that god turned on them through human mismanagement and ill intentions as they held to that standard thru a ruinous WW I's debt financing that created an imbalance that was not resolved in the war's aftermath. This eventually brought about the conditions for WW II. Gold became an albatross around the neck of the world's economies every step of that path as those bankers held to it tenaciously. The phrase "blind faith" comes to mind. If there was a person that was able to see beyond the group think of the era it was John Maynard Keynes,perhaps the finest economic mind of his time. By the time Keynesian monetary policy became the new group think it was too late and WW II was a done deal. Note:Very roughly Keynesian dogma says that in times of recession the government pumps money into the economy lowering interest rates, in boom times when things such as stock market speculation are getting too wild the government takes money out of the economy raising interest rates. The money added and subtracted by the government can be backed by other financial instruments or nothing beyond the good faith of the issuer(its OK to smile here). In contrast a gold standard ties money's value to the actual amount of physical gold in existence and more specifically to gold in the possession of the issuer. This makes for a more stabile society whereas to date Keynesian economics seems to have allowed for a wider sharing of prosperity. The author makes a strong case on the fallibility of relying on gold to 'auto regulate' the financial system whereas his argument for the superiority of Keynesian policies is not as convincing. In the final analysis they are both just systems. Both the gold standard and Keynesian system are capable of being gamed or succumbing to mistakes by the bankers behind them. And in the long run those bankers remain more important than the system(IMHO). A good man in a mediocre system seems preferable to an incompetent in a superb system. The book hits the correct amount of detail with in depth portraits of each of the players drawn with compassion so they become flesh and blood not the dry as dust personages that you would think most bankers would be. Combined with the world changing drama of those times this makes an exciting read(good history does that to me). Skilled craftsmanship by the author makes history that formed the world we live in engaging and accessible to the average well informed person.P.S. Having found the history of the era depicted in Lords of Finance fascinating I have been carrying on. I just finished A Rabble of Dead Money: The Great Crash and the Global Depression: 1929-1939 and found that while it had limited coverage of the background detail of major financial institutions leading up to the Great Depression it excelled in capturing the spirit of the times. I'm reading Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (Oxford History of the United States) next. It looks promising for coverage of the 1920's and 30's. If anyone has a recommendation for well done history of that era please leave a comment