Lombard Street [Project Gutenberg ebook] from 1873, by Walter Bagehot (editor of the Economist of London) is the best overview of the modern emergent financial system. If the student then reads Charles Kindleberger’s contemporary Manias, Panics and Crashes he or she will have a background or “pedagogic overview” for finance.
About the Author
Walter Bagehot is one of the most celebrated finance writers ever. One of the most lucid and discerning critics of his time, Bagehot was the editor of the highly regarded Economist. Widely acknowledged as an expert on banking and finance, he was frequently consulted by Parliament.
Table of Contents
- A General View of Lombard Street.
- How Lombard Street Came to Exist, and Why it Assumed Its Present Form.
- The Position of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Money Market.
- The Mode in Which the Value of Money is Settled in Lombard Street.
- Why Lombard Street is Often Very Dull, and Sometimes Extremely Excited.
- A More Exact Account of the Mode in Which the Bank of England has Discharged Its Duty of Retaining a Good Bank Reserve, and of Administering it Effectually.
- The Government of the Bank of England.
- The Joint Stock Banks.
- The Private Banks.
- The Bill-Brokers.
- The Principles Which Should Regulate the Amount of the Banking Reserve to be Kept by the Bank of England.
- Conclusion.
- Appendices.