Economic History for Everyone

Cocktail Parties are a thing of the past, but if you've been hanging out at Tommy's or the B. Dog, or just about anywhere where the brakes are off, then I am sure you've heard this months ago: We are headed toward another Great Depression. For damn sure I don't know. I am not an economist, and I am not sure if economists are Scientists, Witch-Doctors or just plain fakes, but I've talked to enough of them over the years to know that at least some of them are smarter than you or me. Here is a book that is neither timely, new, nor controversial -- hey, let Tom Friedman try to prove the earth is flat -- Here is John Kenneth Galbraith going strong (during the same year that brought us TV Dinners and Lord of the Flies) on the causes of the Great Depression -- namely, his 1954 classic The Great Crash -- 1929. This was written when the events he wrote about were no more distant (for us) than the fundraiser Live Aid (1985) -- well okay, I guess that was a long time ago -- lottsa water under the bridge. But while 1984 for most of us is a nearly forgotten novel, and more importantly the beginning of the Stock Market's Long Boom, for Galbraith's audience in 1954, the date 1929 was something else entirely -- Nightmare on Elm Street meets Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman -- and trust me, no one but no one was looking forward to the reruns. Every literature has its classics, and Economics for the Layperson is no exception. If you want to skip Adam Smith, then start with J.K. Galbraith -- you won't regret it. As always -- what you read matters -- Android