Serendipity Talk: 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World

Liaquat Ahamed, 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World
Monday, November 9
3:30-4:30 PM
Online

The subject of Liaquat Ahamed’s new book 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World is the global economic meltdown that began in 1873 and lasted for over 20 years. The book describes how an explosion in borrowing in the bond market fueled an unprecedented economic boom in the global economy in the 1850s and 60s. Though the resulting era of globalization brought enormous benefits in the form of and expansion of trade and capital investments in railroads around the world, it also led to rampant speculation and reckless borrowing. The book traces how, when the bubble burst in 1873, the resulting global financial crisis brought in its wake an era of dark reactionary politics which included the derailment of Reconstruction in the US and the unleashing of virulent antisemitism in Europe.

Liaquat Ahamed spent 25 years in the investment management business, including at the World Bank. His first book, Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, won the Pulitzer Prize for History, the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Gold Medal, and the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year Award. He is a trustee of the Putnam Funds, an adviser to the Rock Creek Group, and the Chair of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.

No registration is required. The Zoom link will be e-mailed to all those subscribed to the OLLI newsletter the morning of the talk. If you do not receive the newsletter and would like to attend, please join the email list at https://www.olli-dc.org/join_email_list.