Panic, Prosperity, and Progress: Five Centuries of History and the Markets

PREFACE

As I suspect the case is with many others, my interest in history did not reveal itself until long after my formal education was complete. A school’s offering of dates, places, and long-forgotten names captures the interest of very few children, and unfortunately it usually snuffs out any latent desire they might have to explore tales of the past that can offer up wisdom, insight, and previously unseen linkages.

For most of my adult life, I have had a deep and abiding interest in two related subject areas: history and financial markets. While the two might seem to be only obliquely related, they are actually engaged in a constant dance, with one informing the actions of the other. Historical events move currencies, stocks, debt, and all other flavors of fiscal instrument, and likewise movements—particularly exaggerated movements—in the financial markets can drive the decisions that shape history in real time.

When I first developed the outline of this book, I tried to gather up what I suspected were the most interesting and market-moving developments of the modern age. To my surprise, some of the events that I thought would have a major impact (such as the Kennedy assassination in 1963 or the London subway bombing of 2005) were, as far as financial markets were concerned, virtually immaterial; it was if they had never even happened. However, other topics I had initially left out, such as the Russian debt crisis of 1998, turned out to be monumentally important.

The completed ...