The Speculation Economy How Finance Triumphed Over Industry [Paperback]

The consequences of even a modest decrease in a business’s stock price have become so dire that some executives would rather damage their corporation’s long-term health than allow quarterly returns to fall below projections. How did this situation come about? Lawrence E. Mitchell shows that the tipping point came in the first years of the 20th century. He explores the legal, financial, economic, and social transformations that led to the birth of the giant modern corporation and how this in turn spurred the rise of the stock market. Mitchell identifies what made traditionally cautious Americans become eager stock speculators, and why the federal government’s attempts to regulate finance completely missed the mark. By the dawn of the 1920s, the stock market had left behind its business origins to become the very reason for the creation of business itself.Preface
Prologue
Chapter One: The Principal of Cooperation
Chapter Two: Sanctuary
Chapter Three: Transcendental Value
Chapter Four: The New Property
Chapter Five: The Complete Whole
Chapter Six: Much Ado About Nothing
Chapter Seven: Panic and Progress
Chapter Eight: The Speculation Economy
Chapter Nine: The End of Reform
Chapter Ten: Manufacturing Securities
Epilogue
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
About the Author“A fascinating account of the early 20th century emergence of a stock-market-oriented economy.”
—BusinessWeek

“The fullest and most persuasive account of the origins of the modern corporate myopic emphasis on the almighty quarterly bottom line, and of the emergence of everyman (and woman) as speculator. Equally valuable are the insights into the early efforts to address the growing power of corporations and the men who dominated them.”
—Maury Klein,Business History Review

“Mitchell has successfully constructed a highly engaging book about a funl7