Professor Lawrence E. Mitchell's The Speculation Economy: How Finance Triumphed Over Industry


"A fascinating account of the early 20th century emergence of a stock-market-oriented economy."  -BusinessWeek


December, 2007 -- How did the stock market become the center of the American economy? American businesses today are obsessed with the price of their stock, and no wonder. The consequences of even a modest decrease can be so dire that some executives would rather damage their corporation’s long-term health than allow quarterly returns to fall below projections. But how did this situation come about? When did the stock market become the driver of the American economy?

Lawrence E. Mitchell identifies the moment in American history when finance triumphed over industry. He shows how the birth of the giant modern corporation spurred the rise of the stock market and how, by the dawn of the 1920s, the stock market left behind its business origins to become the very reason for the creation of business itself.

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The Speculation Economy: How Finance Triumphed Over Industry.


The Speculation Economy in the News:

The Wall Street Journal  .  December 18, 2007
Mitchell on market trust for Dennis K. Berman's column "The Game."
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The Wall Street Journal  .  November 23, 2007
Mitchell on the history of Wall Street.
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The Washington Post  .  October 4, 2007
Mitchell comments on disputes between GM and the UAW over the health-care retirement fund.
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BusinessWeek  .  July 30, 2007
Mitchell proposes a new capital-gains tax system as one way to help halt 'rapid-fire finance' in this op-ed.
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