Rating: 
Summary: Superficial and unsatisfying
Review: The US has produced, by far, the greatest number of Nobel laureates in economics. Galbraith is not one of them, although some of them might agree with certain points in this book. While reading this (or any) book, the reader should bear in mind the author's prejudices. Galbraith has many, several of which are displayed in this book: 1) there is no positive economic phenomena that could possibly legitimize the free market, 2) there is no negative economic or financial event that isn't proof of the failure of the free market, and 3) nothing works as well as ever-increasing government control of the economy - particularly if the Head Controller is Galbraith. In fact, this is a pretty fair summation of the theme of nearly all Galbraith's works. Lack of confidence in his own knowledge is not one of Galbraith's traits.While the US had stock market crashes before and since 1929, the ensuing 10-15 year long Great Depression makes the 1929 crash unique. It would have been interesting if Galbraith had examined several other crashes and discussed that uniqueness. No such luck. With the exception of holdouts like Galbraith, nearly all economists of every school of thought recognize that the Crash and the Great Depression were at least partly the result, not of government neglect but of fatally flawed government policies. Yet, Galbraith persists in advocating those very same policies as his prescription for curing what he perceived caused the Crash. Galbraith's basic thesis is that the Crash was due to hysterical speculation and overextended credit on securities, which occurred because the government had a hands-off policy. However, despite providing example after example of the failure of governmental meddling (which enabled many of the abuses he mentions) Galbraith illogically insists that the government didn't do enough! One of the reviewers below claims that laissez-faire advocates wax apoplectic over Galbraith because he "mercilessly punctures their myth of permanent economic expansion." I believe that the earlier reviewer may have confused touts of ever-onward-and-upward stock prices for laissez-faire advocates. Furthermore, this reviewer does keep track of such things and is certain that had economic growth actually ended, it would have made the newspapers by now. It seems to this reviewer that in the years since the nation's founding, economic growth has been endless - although it has been better in some periods than others. I guess everyone embraces the myth that most comforts them. However, when analyzing economics, data work much better than myths. Economic data can't really be analyzed without at least a basic framework of economic understanding. Without that framework, one is ill-suited to determine if what Galbraith says is true or not. Just because Galbraith or any author says something that happens to resonate with our own philosophy or prejudices, the fundamental question should be, "Does it line up with the facts or with reason?" Unfortunately, Galbraith's conclusions too often do not. This book has been in print since its publication, and is often referred to as definitive by many people, although it invariably is the only book on the subject most of those people have read. It is at best a superficial and ultimately unsatisfying discussion of the Crash. Galbraith is a good writer who is able to make his points clearly and has a good command of anecdotes of that time; but by all means, read as many other books on the subject as you can, and you will see that he brings very little that is convincing to the discussion.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read !
Review: This book a must for those interested in the "...this time is different..." phenomenon. It is very well written and not too technical. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: An obligation for today
Review: This book contains a great explanation abouth the 1929 crash. But, under my point of view, the most important aspect is that most of the features described in the book can be seen nowadays in the 90s financial crisis (speculation, asssets bought at a very high price over their real value, like a financial bubble). The book reviews most of the posible explanations economists have given to understand the causes of the 1929 crash and demonstrates that the real cause was speculation. The book would may one think about a cycles and financial crisis -maybe quite similar to what H. Minsky describes.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointingly sarcastic; missing A LOT of useful stuff
Review: This book does a poor job of explaining what caused the depression. It gives a sarcastic narrative of some of the bad practices leading up until 1929, and the sarcasm is amusing. After the sarcasm, in about february of 1930, it stops and draws unjustified and unsupported conclusions. The narrative comes mainly from reading the New York newspapers. A description of what happened in rural areas and at small banks is not included. You will not understand what a run on a bank is, and how small banks were leveraged and destroyed by the depression. You will hear nothing about the propensity of the federal reserve to keep interest rates too high from 1929 - 1933, and will not know how much they should have been lowered, or if lowering them would have been ineffective. You will not learn how to draw your own economic conclusions by reading this book. Because the book is 100% text, a large opportunity is missed to explain some of the economic history through pictures. I think the book is popular because it was written by a Harvard Professor. I have read several books on the depression and this one, because of the hype, was the greatest disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointingly sarcastic; missing A LOT of useful stuff
Review: This book does a poor job of explaining what caused the depression. It gives a sarcastic narrative of some of the bad practices leading up until 1929, and the sarcasm is amusing. After the sarcasm, in about february of 1930, it stops and draws unjustified and unsupported conclusions. The narrative comes mainly from reading the New York newspapers. A description of what happened in rural areas and at small banks is not included. You will not understand what a run on a bank is, and how small banks were leveraged and destroyed by the depression. You will hear nothing about the propensity of the federal reserve to keep interest rates too high from 1929 - 1933, and will not know how much they should have been lowered, or if lowering them would have been ineffective. You will not learn how to draw your own economic conclusions by reading this book. Because the book is 100% text, a large opportunity is missed to explain some of the economic history through pictures. I think the book is popular because it was written by a Harvard Professor. I have read several books on the depression and this one, because of the hype, was the greatest disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: A 50% history book to record the Great Depression !!
Review: This book is very descriptive and fruitful to tell the readers what the whole picture before the Great Crash is. You can understand the overall process flow and what the speculators' mood change. It is somewhat disappointed that there are no more pages to describe the Great Depression. A brief summary about this book is as follows : There is a property boom in Florida and easy credit is flooding in anywhere. The atmosphere of margin is terrific. Even the Fed. is pushing the interest rate up, it is surely not a gate to stop the investors / speculators' madness. The holding companies and investment trusts are welcomed by every investor due to insufficient supply of securities. However, behind this irrational exurberance, the uptrend has reached its peak. Uneven distribution of income, bad corporate policy, delayed capital investment from businesses, dubious foreign balance of account, fragile banking structure and poor economic policy are eroding the economy of States. It results in a well-known 'Great Depression in 1929'
Rating: 
Summary: Quick, enjoyable, insightful read.
Review: This book offers an explanation of the market dynamics during the late 1920's; and helps the reader understand how people may have gotten swept up in the speculative frenzy that lead to the 1929 crash. It also covers the aftermath that ensued. Quick enjoyable read. Recommended. Particularly interesting to read while one can watch our own financial markets exhibit seemingly speculative behaviors.
Rating:
Summary: Well written but Poor Economics & Very Biased
Review: This is the analysis of what went wrong according to the New Dealists & Liberals. JKG is incredibly biased, but then HE was the liberal economist during the go-go 60's & the building up the the Great Sociiety. JKG speeds over the 2 REAL causes: The Tariff imposed by a Democratic on a still mainly agrarian society & the float of spurious stock certificates which flooded the market for redemption after the great Ponzi scheme of the Fla land market fell ( a week earlier) as the crooks knew that they would soon be caught. If you read it ignore the last part with his analysis. Better yet, get von Mises' The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays (also with Amazon at 9.95) & see JKG for what he is: a liberal apologist. Either way, NEVER believe that the Great Crash & the Great Depression had anything in common ; again Liberal dogma. PS A lot the market take is wrong: his understanding of arbitrage, leverage, stock buybacks (real bad, he he he) & mergers. If the first 2 causes were as little to blame as JKG says, today's market should crash for in the boom economy of the go-go 90's leverage (people taking out equity loans to buy Amazon.com etc), Federal Reserve arbitrage (the Savings & Loan averted debacle)& stock buybacks (IBM, Microsoft etc) are causing NEW highs as they are rightly perceived as knowledgeable support. It is unfortunate that JKG lets his political ideas get in the way of economic facts; he is a gifted writer.
Rating:
Summary: A Very interesting book
Review: Want to know how the unthinkable could happen? Fear not this book exposes the overoptimistic attitude of the average american investor circa 1929, with amazing parallels to the dutch tulip boom the entire world market was sunk. How it happened and how we can avoid a repeat lie awaiting the reader
Rating:
Summary: The most lucid explanation of the 1929 Crash
Review: Why do the laissez-faire apologists wax so apoplectic about John Kenneth Galbraith? Because he punctures the myth of permanent economic expansion with such merciless glee. This work offers incredible insight into the social psychology that tempted so many Americans to bet their all on a quick fortune in the stock market during the 1920s -- and the blind panic that drove the market into a headlong freefall when thousands of suckers realized, too late, that they'd been had. You have one guy, posting under different names, who has gone through Galbraith's entries on this site, trying to trash the man's reputation through innuendo and outright lies. Read his works for yourself. I think you'll find that Galbraith outclasses the dead apologists for the Hapsburg empire (Von Mises and Hayek)and their modern-day apostles, whose fury rises higher and higher as more people reject their mindless, far right-wing propaganda.
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