Manias, Panics and Crashes (PDF)

CHARLES P. KINDLEBERGER was the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT for 33 years. He was a financial historian and prolific writer who has published 30 books.

ROBERT ALIBER is a professor of International Economics and Finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he has been a faculty member since 1965.

'Charles Kindleberger has written, with great polish and style, an analysis of the stages of financial crises over the last two and a half centuries.' - Patrick Minford, Economic Journal

'Manias, Panics and Crashes is a scholarly account for the way that mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries.' - Richard Lambert, Financial Times

'Professor Kindleberger has the welcome gifts of carrying lightly an immense weight of learning and of always using his imagination in deciding how to deploy it. These gifts are as evident as ever in his latest book.' - W.Ashworth, Economic History Review

'Underneath the hilarious anecdotes, the elegant epigrams, and the graceful turns of phrase, Kindleberger is deadly serious. The manner in which humans beings earn their livings is no laughing matter to him, especially when they attempt to do so at the expense of one another. As he so effectively demonstrates, manias, panics, and crashes are the consequence of an economic environment that cultivates cupidity, chicanery, and rapaciousness rather than a devout belief in the Golden Rule.' - Peter L. Bernstein

'Robert Aliber has produced superb update of the classic book by Charles Kindleberger which remains as relevant as ever.' - Martin Wolf, Financial Times

' if what you're after is a comprehensive guide to financial crises since the dawn of the modern era, buy Charles Kindleberger's Manias, Panics and Crashes: a History of Financial Crises an excellent read.' Edmund Conway, The Telegraph