Robert F. Bruner

The panic of 1907 was the last serious economic and financial crisis in the US prior to introduction of the Federal reserve. It is widely known among conservators as the crisis prevented by JP Morgan and as a clear view of dangers of ‘money trust’ among radicals. He authors’ approach is to combine two usual ways of describing the crisis: (1) as a unique event (2) as just another example of booms and busts. They instead both note both generalities and peculiarities.
Each chapter follows the development of a particular firm or action, roughly in chronological order, with notable amount of quotations from contemporary sources. Overall quite interesting read for a wide audience interested in the not only economic but general history of the early XX century.
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I often hear comparisons of the recession/panic of 2008 with the Great Depression redirected to a comparison with the Panic of 1907.In terms of character, duration, and impetus, I would have to agree that the characterization of 2008 as a panic similar to 1907 make sense.This book was released in August 31, 2007 and makes reference [in the Coda] to "oil rising to $100 per barrel" and uncertainty whether credit derivatives would dampen or amplify a panic.The conclusions in the book point to several ingredients in creating a perfect storm for a panic, but also admit to a Keynesian bias in presenting preventative measures and corrective action.The narrative is interesting if [necessarily] dry, and while the construction of the cause thesis is reasonable, the conclusions didn't seem to follow through.This book is available on Audible.… (more)