Raymond B. Vickers

An examination of certain banking failures in Palm Beach County and Hillsborough (Tampa) County, Florida, in the 1920s. The author dug through a number of long-sealed and long-neglected files to examine bank records, bank records that many states have either destroyed or have still under seal. They reveal a web of corruption and self-dealing that led to the destruction of many banks in Georgia and Florida in the 1920s. My main problem with the book is that it seems to be repetitive in spots; it's almost as if it was written in discrete portions, and then put together, instead of being written as a seamless whole. It might have been better had it been broken up into two or three discrete units, the collapse of the Georgia/Florida chain banks, the collapse of the Palm Beach banks, and other collapses, tied together with the problems inherent in corrupt regulation. That said, it's still an interesting book.… (altro)

On the one hand, a great deal of interesting information as to just how crooked the banking industry was in Chicago, and some of the insane risks the banks took, large and small, that led to an almighty smash in June, 1932. The author dug deep into primary sources that really hadn't been tapped before, including state regulatory records. I did find the book to be hard to parse, at times, because of the use of "Dawes Bank." The author really doesn't do a good job of keeping all the banks straight for a reader, and some material is repeated. It could have used some tightening up, in my view. But overall, interesting for a student of financial history; I'll be getting his companion Florida book, soon.… (altro)