"This book addresses an important issue that deserves wide
readership. It is lucid and clear and deals with some very
important episodes in American history."--Milton Friedman, Nobel
Prize-winning economist
"William Silber has performed two sterling services with this
fascinating and original book. He has illuminated the hitherto
neglected financial crisis of 1914, an event that deserves to be
mentioned in the same breath as the Crash of 1929 in the history of
Wall Street. But he has also come up with some bold and compelling
answers to two burning questions that are of more than purely
historical interest: How should monetary policymakers cope with a
really big and unexpected political shock? And how does one
international reserve currency come to be overtaken by another? I
cannot praise this book too highly. It is rare that one author so
skillfully unites the disciplines of finance and history."--Niall
Ferguson, Harvard University, author of "Colossus"
"A fascinating story that mixes first-rate economic theory with
telling observations about U.S. financial and monetary policy
decisions taken in the midst of an international finance crisis
that were permanently to reshape the international financial
landscape. The book is full of insights about the ideas and the
personalities of the founders of the Federal Reserve System and
other anchors of our financial system today."--Thomas Sargent,
Hoover Institution, coauthor of "The Big Problem of Small
Change"
"Silber tells a compelling tale proving the power of the law of
unintended consequences. The financial crisis of 1914 was a major
turning point in American economic history, an outcome nobody could
have predicted as massiveamounts of gold sailed to Europe, banks
shook at their foundations, and the nascent Federal Reserve System
was only just going into operation. What a story!"--Peter L.
Bernstein, author of "The Power of Gold"
"Silber's book weaves a fascinating historical story about the
shaping of U.S. financial policy during the chaotic years
surrounding World War I. The story centers on William McAdoo, who
as Senator, Treasury Secretary, and first Chairman of the Federal
Reserve System, displayed courage and principles which paved the
way for the success of financial institutions that we take for
granted today. The story of McAdoo's role in securing the dominance
of the U.S. in the world's financial markets will inform a new
generation of students of financial markets."--Robert Shiller, Yale
University, author of "Irrational Exuberance"
""When Washington Shut Down Wall Street" iis political and
financial history at its best. William Silber reminds us that the
U.S., and indeed the world, might easily have suffered a financial
meltdown when World War I began. Instead, largely because of U.S.
Treasury Secretary William McAdoo's leadership skills in staring
down incipient financial crisis, the summer of 1914 became the
panic that didn't happen. By year end, the dollar had become the
world's strongest currency, paving the way for U.S. international
leadership from then to now. Anyone interested in what leadership
is, and how it is gained and retained, will want to read Silber's
fascinating account of 1914."--Richard Sylla, New York University,
President of the Business History Conference
"Silber's financial history of 1914 provides us with a series of
modern lessons. It helps us to understand thepolitical economy of
central bank design and how difficult it can be to establish and
maintain independence. It teaches us that Wall Street was closed in
order to ensure that foreigners did not sell shares, redeem the
proceeds for gold, and then take the gold out of the country. This
would have put America's ability to remain on the gold standard at
risk. And, finally, Silber teaches us about subsidized insurance
during World War I, a case that can be used to help design
government interventions into the terrorism insurance market. We
learn all of this (and more) through a series of stories that are
often told in the words of the participants themselves. Bill Silber
is an incredibly skilled writer who has woven a tale here that is
extremely readable. I started the manuscript one morning and did
nothing else (aside from reading the sports page and watching some
baseball) before I finished."--Stephen G. Cecchetti, Brandeis
University
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