Historically speaking Wall Street banks are indeed being stifled by burdensome regulations in the aftermath of the 2008 crash, but the kinks will eventually be worked out, said Richard Farley, author of ‘Wall Street Wars: The Epic Battles with Washington that Created the Modern Financial System.’ Farley added that another crash will indeed happen again because it is impossible to control irrational exuberance when it is coupled with huge amounts of capital. He said the parallels between the Pecora Commission of 1932 has tight parallels to the hearings held in the wake of the Great Recession because in both cases unknowing politicians were blamed for the financial disaster.
Wall Street Wars: The Epic Battles with Washington that Created the Modern Financial System
In the depths of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration set out to radically remake America’s financial system—but Wall Street was determined to stop them.
In 1933, the American economy was in shambles, battered by the 1929 stock market crash and limping from the effects of the Great Depression. But the incoming administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected on a wave of anxiety and hope, stormed Washington on a promise to save the American economy—and remake the entire American financial system. It was the opening salvo in a long war between Wall Street and Washington.
Author Richard Farley takes a unique and detailed look at the pitched battles that followed—the fist fights, the circus-like stunts, the conmen and crooks, and the unlikely heroes—and shaped American capitalism. With a disparate cast of characters including Joseph P. Kennedy, J.P. Morgan, Huey Long, Babe Ruth, and Henry Ford (who refused to bail out his son’s bank, thus precipitating the meltdown of the entire banking system), Farley vividly traces the history of modern American finance and the establishment of a financial system still bitterly debated on Capitol Hill.
said Richard Farley, author of ‘Wall Street Wars: The Epic Battles with Washington that Created the Modern Financial System.’ Farley added that another crash will indeed happen again because it is impossible to control irrational exuberance when it is coupled with huge amounts of capital. He said the parallels between the Pecora Commission of 1932 has tight parallels to the hearings held in the wake of the Great Recession because in both cases unknowing politicians were blamed for the financial disaster.
Wall Street Wars: The Epic Battles with Washington that Created the Modern Financial System Review
“Richard Farley has written a comprehensive and entertaining account of the battles with Wall Street during the Depression that gave birth to the FDIC, the SEC, and the basic depositor and investor protections that we too often take for granted today. The conflicts and combatants chronicled in Wall Street Wars are similar in so many ways to those we fought during and after the 2008 Financial Crisis. This is required reading for a true understanding of why our financial system has come to work the way it does, and why we must be ever-vigilant to maintain these hard-fought protections.” (Shelia Bair, former US FDIC Chairperson)
About the Author
Wall Street Wars: The Epic Battles with Washington that Created the Modern Financial System
