We discuss the lessons learned and ignored from the powerful central bankers of a century ago. Financial Thought Leader Liaquat Ahamed, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Lords of Finance discusses the differences and similarities between central bank policies today and those leading up to the Great Depression.
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Every once in a while we take a break from analyzing current events and news and try to get a different perspective and a greater understanding of what is affecting our financial lives. That’s what we are doing this week.
Ever since we recommended the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Lords of Finance: The Bankers who Broke the World for our WEALTHTRACK bookshelf several years ago, I have been meaning to get in touch with its author, Liaquat Ahamed, to pick his brain about the four powerful central bankers he profiled, who were basically in charge of the world’s financial architecture coming out of World War One and going into the Great Depression.
They represented the financial centers, largely private, of the four economic powerhouses of the time. There was Montagu Norman of the Bank of England, Emile Moreau of the Banque de France, Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank and Benjamin Strong of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
How powerful were they? How did we go from the roaring twenties to the desperate thirties? Are there lessons to be learned from their experiences and have we absorbed any?
Liaquat Ahamed came to the topic from his own experience in the investment business, including during some financial crises. From 2001-2004 he was Chief Executive Officer of Fischer Francis Trees & Watts, a fixed income investment management firm and subsidiary of BNP Paribas. Before that, he was the firm’s Chief Investment Officer. He was also the Head of the Investment Division of the World Bank.
Ahamed will share his perspective of today’s central bankers as an historian and investor.
As always, if you can’t join us to watch the show on your local public television station, you can view it on WealthTrack.com. If you’d like to see the show before it airs, it is available to our PREMIUM subscribers right now. We also have an EXTRA interview with Liaquat Ahamed, available exclusively on our website.
Have a lovely Passover, a joyous Easter weekend, and make the week ahead a profitable and productive one.
Best Regards,
Consuelo
Expect Periods Of Heightened Volatility In The Bond Markets
- Don’t Panic
- Focus On Long-Term Goals
- Invest With A Seasoned Bond Mutual Fund Manager
Liaquat Ahamed: Troubled Opportunity
Buy Greek assets through private equity firms specializing in distressed assets in Europe
Rising Rate Risks
Pulitzer Prize winning author, Liaquat Ahamed was a bond manager, Chief Investment Office and CEO of a fixed income management firm long before he wrote Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. We asked him for his views of the bond markets today, especially considering the Federal Reserve’s long anticipated interest rate hike.
