The Equity Culture: The Story of the Global Stock Market (a review)

Abstract

This well-researched, readable, and engaging book traces the stock market's evolution all the way from trading in shares of investor-owned contractors in the Roman republic to the exploits of the Taiwanese stock operators of the 1980s and beyond. In addition, the author tackles several key theoretical issues involving the equity market.

Notes

¹See Joseph Mandel, “The Richest Dynasty in History?” (www.businessweek.com/1998/49/b3607071.htm), a review of The House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets, 1798–1848 by Niall Ferguson.

²See Robert Sobel, Coolidge: An American Enigma (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 1998). What Coolidge actually said—“After all, the chief business of the American people is business” (p. 313)—was merely a statement of his belief that newspapers were better in touch with their readers by virtue of being business enterprises than they would otherwise be.

³Eugene F. Fama, “Random Walks in Stock Market Prices” (September/October 1965), and Fischer Black, “Yes, Virginia, There Is Hope: Tests of the Value Line Ranking System” (September/October 1973).