From Publishers Weekly
During the era that saw Japan's productivity dramatically increase, certain economic conditions in the U.S. (later enhanced by Reaganomic decontrol) undermined the financial stability of domestic corporations as hostile takeovers gutted their acquisitions of assets. Displays of short-term profits and remarkably high commissions ($126,582/hour in one case) masked over-leveraged buyout bankruptcies. These phenomena, responsible for transforming the "courtesy-before-commission" Wall Streeters into aggressively greedy wheeler-dealers, had their first documented success in 1974, triggered by the decrease in the profitability of securities underwriting; it was sustained with junk-bond financing. Fluctuating financial passions are detailed decade to decade in this genial survey with a historical perspective. Naming names, games, nomenclature and numbers, Brooks (Once in Golconda, etc.) sprinkles anecdotes throughout in a manner reminiscent of baseball's play-by-play recaps. A fair narration of the events corrupting genteel standards in the interests of doing dirty business.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Brooks traces the evolution of investment banking from an era when the banks resembled gentlemen's clubs to the present organizations that seek profits in ways unimagined by the old timers. Underwriting securities with questionable debt, risk arbitrage, high stakes merger and acquisition deals, and trading have flourished in the Eighties. Brooks attempts to assess the consequences of these radical changes, but the ambitious scope of the book allows little time for reflecting on their impact. Though Brooks is not the first to observe that the Eighties are watershed years in the financial industry, the decade needs to come to a conclusive end before its history can be written. Meanwhile, this book gives some clues, and libraries serving specialists and informed lay readers will want it. Jospeh Barth, U.S. Military Academy Lib., West Point,
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
