This is a book about politics and banks and history. Yet politicians who read it will see that the author is not a politician, bankers who read it will see that he is not a banker, and historians that he is not an historian. Economists will see that he is not an economist and lawyers that he is not a lawyer. With this rather cryptic and exhaustive disclaimer, Bray Hammond began his classic investigation into the role of banking in the formation of American society. Hammond, who was assistant secretary of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1944 to 1950, presented in this 771-page book the definitive account of how banking evolved in the United States in the context of the nation's political and social development.Hammond combined political with financial analysis, highlighting not only the influence politicians exercised over banking but also how banking drove political interests and created political coalitions. He captured the entrepreneurial, expansive, risk-taking spirit of the United States from earliest days and then showed how that spirit sometimes undermined sound banking institutions. In Hammond's view, we need central banks to keep the economy on an even keel. Historian Richard Sylla judged the work to be "a wry and urbane study of early U.S. financial history, but also a timeless essay on how Americans became what they are. "Banks and Politics in America" won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1958.
This is a book about politics and banks and history. Yet politicians who read it will see that the author is not a politician, bankers who read it will see that he is not a banker, and historians that he is not an historian. Economists will see that he is not an economist and lawyers that he is not a lawyer.
With this rather cryptic and exhaustive disclaimer, Bray Hammond began his classic investigation into the role of banking in the formation of American society. Hammond, who was assistant secretary of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1944 to 1950, presented in this 771-page book the definitive account of how banking evolved in the United States in the context of the nation's political and social development.
Hammond combined political with financial analysis, highlighting not only the in.uence politicians exercised over banking but also how banking drove political interests and created political coalitions. He captured the entrepreneurial, expansive, risk-taking spirit of the United States from earliest days and then showed how that spirit sometimes undermined sound banking institutions. In Hammond's view, we need central banks to keep the economy on an even keel. Historian Richard Sylla judged the work to be "a wry and urbane study of early U.S. financial history, but also a timeless essay on how Americans became what they are." Banks and Politics in America won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1958.
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总而言之,这本书提供了一扇独特的窗口,让我们得以窥见美国政治基因中对于金融权力的永久性焦虑是如何被塑造和固化的。它探讨的不仅仅是银行的兴衰史,更是关于信任、契约和政府角色的根本性争论。从华盛顿政府时期对建立国家信用体系的初步探索,到杰克逊时代对中央集权的激烈反弹,作者脉络清晰地勾勒出了一条充满矛盾与反复的道路。读完之后,我对“林肯时代的金融政策”为何会那样发展,有了更为深刻的背景认知——那些在内战前夕积累的经验教训、未竟的改革与遗留的矛盾,都在这本书中留下了清晰的印记。它是一部扎实的、具有里程碑意义的美国早期经济史研究。
评分这本书的文笔有一种古典的、沉稳的力量,读起来就像是沉浸在一段厚重的历史长河中。它成功地避开了将早期政治家理想化或妖魔化的陷阱,而是将他们置于那个特定时代的局限性中进行审视。例如,书中对那些试图在缺乏成熟法律框架下建立信用体系的努力所持有的同情理解,与对他们无视社会底层疾苦的指责,形成了富有张力的平衡。我尤其喜欢作者在描述不同地域(比如新英格兰的商业精英与西部的土地投机者)之间经济利益冲突时所采用的富有画面感的语言。那些关于农业歉收、债务危机如何迅速演变成政治骚乱的段落,充满了戏剧性的张力,让你真切地感受到,在那个年代,经济的稳定与否直接关系到国家的存亡和个体的命运。
评分这是一本需要时间去细细品味的学术力作,它要求读者不仅对美国历史有基本的了解,更要对早期资本主义的运作逻辑有所涉猎。对于普通读者来说,可能初读时会对一些涉及货币术语和复杂的金融工具的描述感到有些晦涩,但这恰恰是其价值所在——它强迫你直面那个时代金融构建的复杂性。作者对“民主”概念在经济领域的早期辩论,如“金钱的贵族化”与“劳动者权利”之间的对立,进行了极具洞察力的分析。它清晰地展示了,每一次关于银行法案的投票,背后都是对美国未来社会结构和财富分配蓝图的根本性投票。这种将意识形态斗争与货币政策紧密捆绑的叙事方式,是本书最令人难忘的贡献之一。
评分这本书的叙事张力着实令人着迷,它巧妙地将宏大的国家金融政策演变与那些在幕后推动历史的车轮的政治角力编织在一起。作者对于早期美国银行体系建立初期那些充满争议的辩论着墨颇多,特别是关于联邦权力边界的拉扯,那种硝烟味十足的争论仿佛就在耳边。我特别欣赏作者对于不同派系——无论是坚定的汉密尔顿主义者,还是杰斐逊式的农业共和国拥护者——其核心经济哲学和道德信念的细致剖析。阅读过程中,我仿佛能亲眼目睹那些早期的银行家、政治家是如何在“发展”与“保守”之间艰难抉择的。他们对于货币稳定性的追求,以及由此引发的关于贫富差距和社会公平的深刻忧虑,在今天的语境下读来,仍然具有强烈的现实意义。书中对早期票据信用的波动、地方性金融机构的野蛮生长,以及随后联邦政府试图进行监管的笨拙尝试,都描绘得淋漓尽致,展现了一个充满活力却又极度脆弱的金融试验场。
评分我对这本书的学术严谨性印象深刻,它绝非一本泛泛而谈的历史概述,而是深植于原始文献和档案之中的精细研究。作者在梳理从革命后到内战前这段漫长时期内,美国金融思想流变时,所展现出的专业深度令人叹服。尤其是关于第二次合众国银行(Second Bank of the United States)存废之争的章节,作者不再停留在简单的“杰克逊击败了银行”的叙事层面,而是深入探讨了州权派与国家权力派在经济主权问题上的根本分歧。书中对诸如财政部长关于贷款标准、分行选址的决策过程,甚至是对特定商业利益集团游说的细节,都有着令人咋舌的追踪。这种对微观决策的关注,极大地丰富了我们对宏观经济史的理解,它揭示了政策制定往往是无数次妥协、误判和个人野心的复杂混合体,而非某种清晰的“历史必然性”。
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