Table of Contents
List of Figures xii
Foreword xv
Prelude 1
Part 1 America Discovers the Modern 17
I The Jazz Age 19
II Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and Insull 24
III And Then Came Ford 30
IV Transformations: New York City 40
V The View from Below: Muncie, Indiana 50
VI Dislocations 58
Part 2 "One Heckuva Boom" 67
I Trickle-down Economics 69
II From War to Prosperity 72
III Electrifying Chicago 78
IV David Buick, Billy Durant, Alfred Sloan, and the Modern Car Industry 84
V What Happened to Ford? 92
VI A Productivity Bonanza 97
VII Spinoffs 100
VIII Laggards: Agriculture 103
IX Laggards: Real Estate 106
X On the Eve of the Crash 110
Part 3 The Crash in the United States 117
I New York Stock Exchange 119
II The Rise of Herbert Hoover 124
III Charting the Fall 130
IV The Worm's Eye View 137
V The Banking Crises of the Great Depression 149
VI The Twilight of the Gods I: Insull 155
VII The Twilight of the Gods II: Kreuger 167
Part 4 Blood, Cold, and Unpaid Debts 179
I Entanglements 181
II The Gold Standard 182
III Germany, 1919-1925: Vengeance, Reparations, and War Debts 189
IV The Dawes and Young Plans 196
V England, 1919-1925: Churchill (Sort of) Chooses Resumption 206
VI The French Rollercoaster 217
VII The End of Cooperation 221
VIII Germany Unravels 225
IX The Golden Jihad 231
X Getting What You Wish For 234
Part 5 Roosevelt, Reflation, and Recovery 241
I World Monetary & Economic Conference 243
II Devaluing the Dollar 246
III Creating the "New Deal" 257
IV The New Deal in Overview 262
V The New Deal in Detail 266
VI The Rest of the New Deal: A Roundup 271
VII Econometric Analyses 274
VIII Catastrophe 279
IX The Unemployment Conundrum 287
X The Great Leap Forward 298
Part 6 The Geology of the Collapse 301
I The Legacy of War 303
II The Big Picture 306
III The Details 313
IV A Postscript to the Reader 319
Acknowledgments 323
Photo Credits 325
Appendix: Milking the Insull Structure 327
Notes 335
Index 365