A history of the global stock market : from ancient Rome to Silicon Valley

The stock market is central to the global economy. Tens of millions of people look to it to provide for a comfortable retirement. Central bankers watch it closely as they set monetary policy. Businesses around the world are forced to adjust the way they operate to meet the demands of equity investors. Yet very little has been written about how the modern global stock market came to be. In A History of the Global Stock Market, B. Mark Smith weaves an entertaining tale that ranges from medieval trading companies and nineteenth-century robber barons to modern theorists and international speculators. Here, Smith debunks the popular myth that the market is inevitably subject to recurring speculative bubbles and discredits the notion that the current "globalization" of the market is something radically different from what has occurred in the past. Informative, entertaining, and written for specialists and non-specialists alike, A History of the Global Stock Market is a worthy read for anyone who wants to understand the role of the stock market in the global economy. Resource Added For The Financial Institutions Management Program 101144. A Financial Revolution -- Bubbles -- The New World -- The Railroads And The Middle Class -- A Global Stock Market -- A New Era -- Crash -- Bretton Woods -- Chaos -- Return Of The Bull -- Volatility -- Emerging Markets -- Contagion -- Stock Market Capitalism. B. Mark Smith. Originally Published: The Equity Culture. New York : Farrar, Straus, And Giroux, 2003. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. INTRODUCTION 3 1. A FINANCIAL REVOLUTION 9 2. BUBBLES 24 3. THE NEW WORLD 47 4. THE RAILROADS AND THE MIDDLE CLASS 66 5. A GLOBAL STOCK MARKET 86 6. A NEW ERA 105 7. CRASH 124 8. BRETTON WOODS 143 9. CHAOS 170 10. RETURN OF THE BULL 193 11. VOLATILITY 221 12. EMERGING MARKETS 242 13. CONTAGION 262 14. STOCK MARKET CAPITALISM 289 NOTES 317 INDEX 331