Sources: The 100 Most Important American Financial Crises: An Encyclopedia of the Lowest Points in American Economic History

The 100 Most Important American Financial Crises: An Encyclopedia of the Lowest Points in American Economic History. By Quentin R. Skrabec Jr. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2015. 337 pages. Acid free $89 (ISBN: 978-1-4408-3011-2). Ebook available (978-1-4408-3012-9), call for pricing.

The story of the United States is tied inexorably to the highs and lows of its economy. This single-volume encyclopedia brings together what the author feels are the one hundred most important financial crises that occurred from Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 to the Detroit bankruptcy in 2013. There is also an appendix which includes textual reproductions of some of the events covered in the book, along with a robust bibliography and index. Topics are 2–3 pages long. Individual entries consist of a condensed narrative of events, followed by a “see also” section pointing readers to other entries the author finds similar or connected and, finally, a list of two or three recommended readings. Some entries provide illustrations or photographs but no charts or graphs are used. The format remains consistent throughout.

Quentin R. Skrabec Jr. holds multiple advanced degrees in business and engineering as well as a PhD in manufacturing management. Currently, he is a professor of business at the University of Findlay. Skrabec is the author of many works, though this book is heavily inspired by one of his previous: The 100 Most Significant Events in American Business: An Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2012). The similarity is not the titles but that the entries in these works read more like discrete historical narratives than what one might expect from an economics resource. Of course, my critical lens has been colored by hundreds of hours spent in history classrooms.

This narrative approach makes the work more accessible to general readers; however, it also creates some minor issues. On the positive side, Skrabec is conscious of the importance of providing context to the events he covers. At other times, unfortunately, the author chooses narrative flow over explicitness. For example, the section “1929—Wall Street Crash and Great Depression” mentions several of the specific steps that Roosevelt took but fails to mention the highly important Bank Act of 1933, instead simply calling it “new banking regulations” (149). Recently, the Bank Act, also known as Glass-Steagall, was also a major point of contention. He also did not to mention it in “2008—Banking and Subprime Mortgage Crisis,” though both sides of the argument make strong cases for and against its effect. That the author chose not to mention this suggests that either he does not believe the Bank Act of 1933 is important or, more likely, that the author was forced to make difficult choices to include so much material in a single volume. Either reality could prove problematic. Another issue which hurts the accessibility provided by the narrative format is that Skrabec assumes a level of understanding not common to all readers. It is difficult to understand the statement, “Corporate investment was negative, and capital investment was below the level of depreciation” (146). Somebody with knowledge of business or economics may understand, but general readers may require additional help.

The 100 Most Important American Financial Crises is a unique reference resource that straddles a difficult line. While not as comprehensive as similar multivolume sets like The New Palgave Dictionary of Economics (Palgrave MacMillan, 2008), it is, however, more accessible to general readers. The language can sometimes become too technical but in no way insurmountable. Because of these hurdles this work is recommended for college-age readers. It would make a good addition to large libraries with similar items in their stacks or for smaller institutions looking for an affordable treatment on the topic usable by students in many disciplines.—Edward Anthony Koltonski, Graduate Student Reference Assistant, Kent State University Libraries, Kent, Ohio