Random Walk
Lords of Finance
Santhosh, Nelson
Issue date: 5/14/09 Section: GSB News
The Lords of Finance| All history is biography, said Emerson and it is with this quote that Liaquat Ahamed, former i-banker and World Bank economist, starts off his book about the four Central Bankers who dominated the World of Finance before the Great Depression. In the 1920s, Montagu Norman, Émile Moreau, Hjalmar Schacht and Benjamin Strong ran the Central Banks of Britain, France, Germany and the US, then the financial powerhouses of the world. These men set up the banks, structured the policies and established the standards that nations depended upon and these very men are the central theme of the book. Almost prescient in its timing, the book takes us back to a different era and crisis during which the powerful "Lords of Finance" tried to tame the demons of debt and failed.
Tracing the toxic economic fallout of WW1, Ahamed considers the primary issues that countries faced after the war - the reparations demanded from Germany and repayment of war loans from the Allies to the US. These, combined with the confusion around the Gold Standard, set the stage for the collapse: Germany went down first and everyone else followed. But what is fascinating about this book is not so much the economic theories that laid the ground for the Great Depression but the very human frailties that went hand-in-hand with the policy decisions that were made during those days. Ahamed paints compelling portraits of "the Lords", of their personal and professional lives, of their prejudices, and finally of their decisions - actions that would yield unforgiving economic results and haunt the world for years to come. With Kashyap's "Understanding Central Banks" and some Stiglitz thrown in, this book will make for a combustible mix of history and ideas. "Borrow" it from the University book-store for $30 and return it in 30 days for a full refund - the crisis demands no less. Unless you want to stimulate Amazon with a $21 shot.
The Power of Smart Grids| Lynne Kiesling, a Professor of Economics at Northwestern explores the economic, technological and political implications of Smart Grids. Imagine a legacy electric system with a patchwork of devices, standards and policies; imagine the resultant inefficiencies in power at a time when reserves of power-producing natural resources are dwindling - on top of this electric system, now apply a digital communication network that can use modern technology to optimize generation, minimize transmission losses, detect and automatically repair faults and facilitate "eco-intelligent" devices at homes and offices… that's the potential that the "Smart Grid" technology has!
Tracing the toxic economic fallout of WW1, Ahamed considers the primary issues that countries faced after the war - the reparations demanded from Germany and repayment of war loans from the Allies to the US. These, combined with the confusion around the Gold Standard, set the stage for the collapse: Germany went down first and everyone else followed. But what is fascinating about this book is not so much the economic theories that laid the ground for the Great Depression but the very human frailties that went hand-in-hand with the policy decisions that were made during those days. Ahamed paints compelling portraits of "the Lords", of their personal and professional lives, of their prejudices, and finally of their decisions - actions that would yield unforgiving economic results and haunt the world for years to come. With Kashyap's "Understanding Central Banks" and some Stiglitz thrown in, this book will make for a combustible mix of history and ideas. "Borrow" it from the University book-store for $30 and return it in 30 days for a full refund - the crisis demands no less. Unless you want to stimulate Amazon with a $21 shot.
The Power of Smart Grids| Lynne Kiesling, a Professor of Economics at Northwestern explores the economic, technological and political implications of Smart Grids. Imagine a legacy electric system with a patchwork of devices, standards and policies; imagine the resultant inefficiencies in power at a time when reserves of power-producing natural resources are dwindling - on top of this electric system, now apply a digital communication network that can use modern technology to optimize generation, minimize transmission losses, detect and automatically repair faults and facilitate "eco-intelligent" devices at homes and offices… that's the potential that the "Smart Grid" technology has!
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