I recently finished Andrew Ross Sorkin’s 1929. You may recognize the author’s name as the co-host of CNN’s Squawk Box, who also wrote Too Big to Fail, which covers the last financial crisis in 2008. In an interview, Sorkin said that many asked how the now seventeen-year-old financial crisis compared to the famous crash of 1929. Those inquiries prompted him to research and write this current book.

It is hefty at 567 pages (including bibliographies, an index, notes, etc.), meticulously researched and well written.
Looking at it through a sales lens, there are certainly modern lessons to be learned. While Wall Street Banks were selling certain stocks, they were encouraging Main Street bankers to sell those same stocks to common people. The clear moral to the story is to have integrity in what you represent. If you wouldn’t buy it, don’t sell it.

The get-rich-quick ethos of Wall Street ran counter to the then still prevailing Puritan Ethic of work hard and save your money. Many equated Wall Street investing to gambling. The notion of credit was a novel concept until General Motors started to loan money in 1919 in order for common folk to buy cars. Today, loans for cars and houses are second nature.
The hope in 1929 was that the newly created Federal Reserve would rein in Wall Street excesses. Sorkin documents several Wall Street figures who lived in New York City mansions staffed by butlers, chauffeurs, chefs and the like.
The Federal Reserve failed in protecting the American people in 1929 and the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated investment banking from commercial banking, was not signed into law by Roosevelt until 1933.

Comparisons to today are unavoidable. We have a president threatening the independence of the Federal Reserve and a market that is hot while the economy is showing signs of weakening. Further, I am certain some women would be involved in leadership today while none were in 1929. I am confident that women in leadership would lead to a better outcome.
In a 60 Minutes interview, Leslie Stahl asked Sorkin if he thought another crash was inevitable. His answer was yes; he just didn’t know when.

In summary, 1929 is a good read with important implications for 2025 and beyond.