Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
by Liaquat Ahamed
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"A magisterial work...You can't help thinking about the economic crisis we're living through now." --The New York Times Book Review
It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of that economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades. As yet another period of economic turmoil makes headlines today, Lords of Finance is a potent reminder of the enormous impact that the decisions of central bankers can have, their fallibility, and the terrible human consequences that can result when they are wrong.
Discussion questions for Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
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- 1
How does Ahamed’s characterization of the four main central bankers—Montagu Norman, Benjamin Strong, Émile Moreau, and Hjalmar Schacht—challenge your initial perceptions of the 1920s global financial elite?
- 2
In what ways does the book illustrate the dangerous consequences of central bankers operating in ivory towers, insulated from the real-world human suffering caused by their policies?
- 3
Ahamed argues that the Great Depression was not an unavoidable act of nature, but the result of specific human choices; how does this perspective change the way you view historical inevitability versus individual accountability?
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