Books like America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve

01

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Michael Lewis · Economics

The Big Short is Michael Lewis's account of the 2008 financial crisis as seen through the eyes of a handful of contrarians who saw the collapse coming, bet against the American housing market, and were right.

A kindred history read.

02

When Genius Failed

Roger Lowenstein · Economics

When Genius Failed is Roger Lowenstein's account of Long-Term Capital Management, the hedge fund that almost took down the global financial system in 1998.

A kindred history read.

03

Liar's Poker

Michael Lewis · Business

Liar's Poker is Michael Lewis's account of his years as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s, the decade when Wall Street stopped being a gentleman's club and became something closer to a casino.

A kindred history read.

04

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

Niall Ferguson · Economics

Niall Ferguson published The Ascent of Money in 2008, with timing that turned out to be acute: the book appeared just as the global financial crisis was unfolding, making its subject matter suddenly urgent for readers who had barely thought about the mechanics of credit default swaps or mortgage securitization.

Both dig into banking.

05

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Peter L. Bernstein · History

Against the Gods is Peter Bernstein's intellectual history of how humanity learned to measure, quantify, and manage risk — a story he traces from ancient gambling in the Mediterranean through the development of modern probability theory, statistics, and financial derivatives.

A kindred history read.

06

American Nations

Colin Woodard · History

American Nations is Colin Woodard's argument that North America is not a single nation but a continent of 11 distinct regional cultures, each founded by different waves of settlers with different values, institutions, and political philosophies, and that understanding those foundational cultures is more useful for explaining American political conflict than the standard red-state/blue-state framing.

Both dig into politics.

07

The Changing World Order

Ray Dalio · History

The Changing World Order is Ray Dalio's attempt to map the long arc of rising and declining empires through a systematic historical framework, with the explicit goal of understanding whether the United States is in decline and what a world with China as a co-dominant power would look like.

Both dig into economic history.

08

Why Don't We Learn from History?

B.H. Liddell Hart · History

Why Don't We Learn from History?

Both dig into politics.

09

A Promised Land

Barack Obama · Memoir

A Promised Land is the first volume of Barack Obama's presidential memoirs, covering his 2008 campaign through the first two and a half years of his presidency, ending with the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

Both dig into politics.

10

American Prometheus

Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin · Biography

Kai Bird and Martin J.

Both dig into politics.

11

Capitalism and Freedom

Milton Friedman · Economics

Capitalism and Freedom was published in 1962, and the ideas it contains had been circulating even longer — the book grew from lectures Friedman gave at a 1956 conference.

Both dig into monetary policy.

12

Free to Choose: A Personal Statement

Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman · Economics

Free to Choose began as a ten-part television series on PBS in 1980, later expanded into the book Milton and Rose Friedman wrote together.

Both dig into monetary policy.