Cloth ISBN: 978-0-7656-0730-0
USD: $399.95
Information: 1364; Vol. I 460; Vol. II 432; Vol. III 472pp. Photographs; bibliography; name, subject, and cumulative indexes; 7 x 10 format; Vol. I From Christopher Columbus to the Robber Barons (1492-1900), 440 pp.; Vol II From J.P. Morgan to the Institutional Investor (1900-1970), 416 pp.; Vol. III From the Age of Derivatives into the New Millennium (1970-2001), 480 pp.
Description: The first comprehensive financial history of the United States in more than thirty years. Accessible to undergraduate level readers, it focuses on the growth and expansion of banking, securities, and insurance from the colonial period right up to the incredible growth of the stock market during the 1990s and the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.
The author traces the origins of American finance to the older societies of Europe and Northern Africa, and shows how English merchants transferred their financial systems to America. He explains how financial matters dominated the founding and development of the colonies, and how financial concerns incited the Revolution. And he shows how the Civil War began the transformation of America from a small economy largely dependent on foreign capital into a complex capitalist society. From the Civil War, the nation's financial history breaks down into periods of frenzied speculation, quiet growth, periodic panics, and furious periods of expansion, right up through the incredible growth of the stock market during the 1990s.
Selected Contents:
VOLUME I : From Christopher Columbus to the Robber Barons (1492-1900)
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. In the Beginning
1. The Antecedents: World Trade Before the Discovery of America
2. The Colonization of America
3. Commerce With the Colonies
4. Trade and Money
5. Revolutionary Finance
Chapter 2. A Nation Is Born
1. Independence
2. The Development of Corporations
3. The Rise of the American Stock Market
4. The Bank of the United States
Chapter 3. Finance Before the Civil War
1. The Bank Fight
2. Stock Exchanges and Railroads
3. The State Banks
4. Insurance in America
5. The Panic of 1857
Chapter 4. The Civil War and Speculation
1. Union Finance
2. Confederate Finance
3. Wartime Speculation
4. The Robber Barons
5. Commodity Markets and the Gold Corner
Chapter 5. The Panics
1. Financial Growth and the Panic of 1873
2. The Panic of 1884
3. Commodity Markets and Bucket Shops
4. Investment Trusts and the Panic of 1893
Chapter 6. Money and Wealth
1. Monetary Issues
2. The Gilded Age
3. Money, Banks and Trust Companies
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index

VOLUME 2 : From J.P. Morgan to the Institutional Investor (1900-1970)
Chapter 1. A New Century
1. The Twentieth Century Begins
2. Insurance, Banking, and Underwriting
3. The Panic of 1907
4. The Federal Reserve and the Money Trust
5. Banking and Securities Before the War
Chapter 2. America Enters the War
1. World War I
2. War and the Stock Market
3. The Futures Markets
4. Banking in the Twenties
Chapter 3. The Crash
1. The Stock Market Expands
2. The Market Surge and Investment Trusts
3. The Stock Market Crash of 1929
4. The Banking Crisis
5. Congress Investigates the Stock Market
Chapter 4. Regulating Finance
1. Monetary Policy and the Depression
2. The Federal Securities Laws
3. Commodity Market Reforms
4. The Market Suffers
5. Investment Companies and Insurance Regulation
Chapter 5. War and the Rebuilding of Finance
1. World War II and Finance
2. After the War
3. Korea and the War on the Investment Bankers
4. The Fed and the 1950s
Chapter 6. A New Era Begins
1. Institutional Investors
2. Banking, Gold, and Trading
3. The Securities Markets
4. Institutions and Paperwork
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index

VOLUME 3 : From the Age of Derivatives into the New Millennium (1970-2001)
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introductions
Chapter 1. Financial Turmoil
1. Interest Rates and Other Concerns
2. Commissions and Scandals
3. New Economic Policy and New York City
4. Derivatives Expand
5. Interest Rates Again
Chapter 2. Markets Merge
1. Derivatives Continue Their Growth
2. Hostages, Repos, and Other Matters
3. Mergers and Insider Trading
4. Banking Woes
5. REITs and Asset-Backed Debt
Chapter 3. Finance Falters
1. The Stock Market Crash of 1987
2. The S&L Crisis and Banking Scandals
3. Stock Markets and Brokers
4. The Crisis in Derivatives
Chapter 4. American Finance Rebounds
1. Markets and Broker-Dealers
2. Insurance Troubles
3. Banking Growth
4. The Market Boom
5. International Finance and Derivatives
Chapter 5. The Century Closes
1. Internet Money and Trading
2. Banking Consolidation
3. Market Ups and Downs
4. Market Bubbles and Changes
5. Into the Millennium
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index
Cumulative Name Index
Cumulative Subject Index
About the Author