Lessons From 'The Panic of 1907'

Even the first item highlighted by the authors as a stage setter for panic -- "system-like architecture" -- an interconnectedness of financial institutions must be seen in more complex terms today when international businesses and investors are probably the major cause of the U.S. economic system not falling into liquidity crisis.

This is a lot of criticism for a book I highly recommend, and I won't even let the writing off scot-free. Though good by business book standards, The Panic of 1907 can be a bit wooden, with awkwardness that jumps out at you in spots.

Bruner and Carr actually include this stiff advertisement for themselves two-thirds of the way through the book, in the section on how dispersing information accurately can help to avert economic crisis. Write the authors: "In-depth case studies, such as our history of the events of 1907, can illuminate the behavior of financial systems in crisis."

Thing is, they are right -- even if annoying. But stick to reading the actual story of the panic and, in the end, do yourself the favor of drawing your own conclusions about what does and does not lay the framework for financial crisis.