Summary of "Lords of Finance" The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed • The Great Depression was an avoidable catastrophe caused by central bankers’ unwise decisions. • Clinging to the gold standard in the 1920s was a crucial mistake. • The immense cost of World War I set the stage for the Great Depression. Governments printed currency to cover expenses. • An unrealistically high reparations bill from Britain and France after World War I led to extreme inflation in Germany. In 1923, a loaf of bread cost 140 billion marks. • Britain suffered deflation, which crippled exports and sent unemployment soaring. • France undercut British and German exports by keeping the franc low. • In 1927, U.S. central banker Benjamin Strong cut interest rates to prop up the British pound – and sparked a U.S. stock market bubble. • The stock market crash in 1929 led to the collapse of U.S. and German banks. • When Britain went off the gold standard in 1931, the U.S. in 1933 and France in 1936, their economies rebounded. • At the time, bankers had little concept of active monetary policy and only a rudimentary understanding of how their decisions would play out. Disclaimer - Video is for educational purpose only. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use.