Panic, Prosperity, and Progress: Five Centuries of History and the Markets

An enthralling journey through five centuries of market history and the people and events that shaped it

Traversing five centuries of financial market history--from Tulipmania in 16th century Holland to the Great Depression, from the Panic of 1893 to the Savings & Loan debacle of 1989, all the way through to today’s sovereign debt crisis--this book brings to vivid life some of the most fascinating and important episodes that have had an impact on the behavior of the financial markets since 1600.

"Entertaining and fair minded towards the craziness of Wall Street and financial markets, Tim Knight takes a historical journey into the conflicts and quirkiness of five centuries of investing. Tim delivers a homerun with insider-like perspective and fun stories."
--Tom Sosnoff, CEO, tastytrade

"The names and places may be different and the investments in question may be unique--but the two ineluctably human variables that never change are basic fear and greed. Tim Knight takes this fact of market history and turns it into an investing lesson you cannot afford to miss."
--Joshua Morgan Brown, author of The Reformed Broker blog and the book Backstage Wall Street

"In an era of high-frequency trading and flash crashes, it might seem impossible that today’s traders have anything to gain from studying history. Yet Tim Knight’s Panic, Prosperity, and Progress makes a compelling argument that just as generals can still win battles by studying ancient wars, today’s traders can profit from the past."
--Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, PhD, Senior Consultant, Strategic Business Insights

"Greed unleashed in speculative bubbles; fear rampant during a market panic; opportunities emerging from technology innovation; valuation shifts created by political and social upheavals--these qualitative impacts on market movements have one characteristic in common: the repetition of history. Investors who are unaware of these predictable market moving trends are damned to suffer from them in the future. Tim Knight’s Panic, Prosperity, and Progress is a must read for investors at a time of historic and previously untested market interventions resulting from one of the most severe economic downturns in modern history. As documented by Tim in his latest book, these current historic market shifts will create opportunities and risks just as similar events have done repeatedly throughout history. Panic, Prosperity, and Progress is an investor guide to identifying and profiting from current market risks that every investor can take advantage of today."
--Lee Barba, Former Chairman and CEO, thinkorswim Group