"Speculation--an economic reality for centuries--is a hallmark of the modern U.S. economy. But how does speculation work? Is it really caused, as some insist, by popular delusions and the madness of crowds, or do failed regulations play a greater part? And why is it that investors never seem to learn the lessons of past speculative bubbles? Crash! explores these questions in by examining the rise and fall of the American economy in the 1920s. Phillip G. Payne frames the story of the 1929 stock market crash within the booming New Era economy of the 1920s and the bust of the Great Depression. Taking into account the emotional drivers of the consumer market, he offers a clear, concise explanation of speculation's complex role in creating one of the greatest financial panics in United States history. Crash! explains how post-World War I changes in the global financial markets transformed the world economy, examines the role of boosters and politicians in promoting speculation, and describes in detail the disastrous aftermath of the 1929 panic. Payne's book will help students recognize the telltale signs of bubbles and busts, so that they may become savvier consumers and investors"-- Provided by publisher.

"Most measures of the American economy over the past two centuries or so produce a jagged sine wave--"irrationally exuberant" highs leading to painful lows. Bubbles lead to panics, over and over again. Payne has written a short book on the 1920s to demonstrate to undergraduates how this pattern emerges, especially how the highs get to be so high--specifically during the 1920s, which seem to offer instructive examples of the worst practices and circumstances. This "How Things Worked" volume explains market mechanisms, popular pressures, and the workings or failings of regulation. While every drop in the economy has its peculiar features, that of 1929 has the markings of a classic"-- Provided by publisher.