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howtodowtle's review against another edition
4.0
Hard to rate. Quite insightful at times. Often repetitive; this is understandable given that this is a largely unedited diary but a bit more editing would have made this more readable (fewer commentaries, more omission, and a longer timeframe covered). Very focused on national (US) economics, surprisingly little personal detail (which I found disappointing); comments on international events were very interesting.
I would recommend reading it, but to mostly skim through the entries. That way, you will automatically make note of the repeating themes.
I would recommend reading it, but to mostly skim through the entries. That way, you will automatically make note of the repeating themes.
howtodowtle's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Hard to rate. Quite insightful at times. Often repetitive; this is understandable given that this is a largely unedited diary but a bit more editing would have made this more readable (fewer commentaries, more omission, and a longer timeframe covered). Very focused on national (US) economics, surprisingly little personal detail (which I found disappointing); comments on international events were very interesting.
I would recommend reading it, but to mostly skim through the entries. That way, you will automatically make note of the repeating themes.
I would recommend reading it, but to mostly skim through the entries. That way, you will automatically make note of the repeating themes.
ereidsma's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed that it didn’t include more stories of life during the depression. A repetitive diary account of the status of the stock market. The investment hindsight to buy low and sell high was not insightful, but after reading this book I was motivated to increase my cash reserves.
misajane79's review against another edition
3.0
Amazing primary source document. When studying the Great Depression, there are plenty of tales of those that lost everything--but what about the professional class that almost lost everything? He really struggled to understand some big economic issues, and it was interesting to follow his learning process.
That said, this book is a rather slow read (though not overly long), so don't tackle unless you already have an interest in this time period.
That said, this book is a rather slow read (though not overly long), so don't tackle unless you already have an interest in this time period.
kochella's review against another edition
5.0
I suspect there are few people who will love this book as much as I did. It is essentially a financial affairs diary kept by an attorney living in Youngstown, Ohio during the Great Depression. As an attorney with a thirsty interest in investment theory and an indecent obsession with all things Great Depression, this book was really right up my alley.
What made this book remarkable was the author's uncanny insight into investment theory. Over the course of a single decade -- the 1930's -- he singlehandedly developed the same theories it has taken professional financial analysts and economists decades to figure out. Quite simply, he *learned* from his (and his clients') experience of living through the great depression and determined the most advantageous ways to invest through high highs and low lows of the economic cycle. I was fascinated to watch his really very simple theories unfold as he observed and evaluated what was happening around him. His bits of wisdom included:
1) People grow their wealth by buying assets when they are CHEAP, not soaring.
2) Therefore, everyone should keep 40-50% of their assets *liquid* (meaning in investment grade bonds or treasuries) and the rest of their wealth in high-quality stocks (for us, think index funds, like S&P 500 index).
3) By keeping some assets liquid, you put yourself in a position that allows you to buy stocks when they are cheap.
4) Stocks will always crash. When stocks crash, bonds soar. When stocks crash, sell some bonds and buy stocks, then hold onto them no matter what.
5) Likewise, when stocks are soaring, bonds are usually dirt cheap. Therefore, when the stock market is setting record highs you should be buying more bonds and fewer stocks. This way, you are always buying assets when they are on sale. This is key.
The author repeatedly lamented that in 1929 people who were invested in the stock market were 100% invested in the stock market -- no one held cash or bonds. Therefore, when the market crashed they lost EVERYTHING. If people had held bonds/cash during the time of the crash, they could have had cash available to buy stocks when they were dirt cheap. The author mentioned a few people he spoke with who did exactly this and basically never had to work again. But it takes enormous patience, levelheadedness, and discipline.
The author also struggled with how to "time" the market. How do we know when it is going to turn? When to buy stocks vs. bonds? Today we know that this problem can be elegantly solved by sticking to a decided and set asset allocation (for instance, "own your age in bonds". If you're 40 years old, own 40% bonds, etc). So, say you own 60% stocks and 40% bonds. The stock market crashes. Stocks go down and bonds go up. Now your portfolio is 60% bonds and 40% stocks. Excellent! Stocks are on sale! Time to rebalance your portfolio by selling bonds and buying stocks so that you reach your 60% stock / 40% bond allocation again. And voila! -- you just bought stocks on sale merely by rebalancing your portfolio. We now know that if you do this rebalancing quarterly, you will do very well indeed. I only wish I could have given the author this missing piece of his puzzle. He had literally everything else figured out on his own.
A fabulous read.
What made this book remarkable was the author's uncanny insight into investment theory. Over the course of a single decade -- the 1930's -- he singlehandedly developed the same theories it has taken professional financial analysts and economists decades to figure out. Quite simply, he *learned* from his (and his clients') experience of living through the great depression and determined the most advantageous ways to invest through high highs and low lows of the economic cycle. I was fascinated to watch his really very simple theories unfold as he observed and evaluated what was happening around him. His bits of wisdom included:
1) People grow their wealth by buying assets when they are CHEAP, not soaring.
2) Therefore, everyone should keep 40-50% of their assets *liquid* (meaning in investment grade bonds or treasuries) and the rest of their wealth in high-quality stocks (for us, think index funds, like S&P 500 index).
3) By keeping some assets liquid, you put yourself in a position that allows you to buy stocks when they are cheap.
4) Stocks will always crash. When stocks crash, bonds soar. When stocks crash, sell some bonds and buy stocks, then hold onto them no matter what.
5) Likewise, when stocks are soaring, bonds are usually dirt cheap. Therefore, when the stock market is setting record highs you should be buying more bonds and fewer stocks. This way, you are always buying assets when they are on sale. This is key.
The author repeatedly lamented that in 1929 people who were invested in the stock market were 100% invested in the stock market -- no one held cash or bonds. Therefore, when the market crashed they lost EVERYTHING. If people had held bonds/cash during the time of the crash, they could have had cash available to buy stocks when they were dirt cheap. The author mentioned a few people he spoke with who did exactly this and basically never had to work again. But it takes enormous patience, levelheadedness, and discipline.
The author also struggled with how to "time" the market. How do we know when it is going to turn? When to buy stocks vs. bonds? Today we know that this problem can be elegantly solved by sticking to a decided and set asset allocation (for instance, "own your age in bonds". If you're 40 years old, own 40% bonds, etc). So, say you own 60% stocks and 40% bonds. The stock market crashes. Stocks go down and bonds go up. Now your portfolio is 60% bonds and 40% stocks. Excellent! Stocks are on sale! Time to rebalance your portfolio by selling bonds and buying stocks so that you reach your 60% stock / 40% bond allocation again. And voila! -- you just bought stocks on sale merely by rebalancing your portfolio. We now know that if you do this rebalancing quarterly, you will do very well indeed. I only wish I could have given the author this missing piece of his puzzle. He had literally everything else figured out on his own.
A fabulous read.
jdove's review against another edition
5.0
Great book for those who like to invest. Best on audio as it is written like a diary.
ryangoodyear's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars not necessarily because it's a must-read, but as a thank-you to the author for taking the time. I've really grown to appreciate the power of a thorough journal. History books are filled with 'resulting' and are skewed by the known outcomes. Reading a journal like this does a way better job of capturing how it actually felt to live through. It includes all the things that one though would happen, but didn't actually happen. Especially cool in this instance is how Roth goes back and annotates his guesses with a "Yep, this was correct" or a "Nope, way off." I think this is a very humbling experience for a person, and it leads to valuable personal growth. I have kept an occasional journal since 2020 and a daily journal since 2022, and this reinforces my belief in the power of doing so. This book really whet my historical appetite.
nghia's review
2.0
It is hard to like a book like this. The flaws seem to vastly outnumber the good parts -- but that gives a somewhat skewed perspective. I didn't "like" this book but I'd still recommend others to read the first 100-150 pages or so, which is the heart of the depression. The remainder of the book is more about the years of the New Deal when things are okay (though not necessarily great) and the (Republican) author mostly complains about Roosevelt's policies. The most interesting parts were about the cavalcade of bank closures and the impacts that had on the communities. It is also surprisingly optimistic. No doubt a large part of that is because the author had a job (even if it didn't always pay well), was never foreclosed, etc. But there's little of the doom & gloom I usually associate with the Great Depression.
It is one man's diary -- with an exclusive focus on financial stuff -- over the course of a decade. It gets repetitive. It doesn't start until 1931 -- a full year and a half after the crash, so it misses some of the best part. It is also missing 1935 -- that part of the diary was lost -- which was when some of the biggest parts of the New Deal went into effect. Both of those are very unfortunate omissions.
It is curiously antiseptic. There's surprisingly little feeling conveyed of the pain of the depression. The author will occasionally mention statistics -- how 30,000 people in his hometown are on government assistance -- but it never really has much feeling behind it. The few emotions that come through often feel a bit selfish -- about how "the professional man" (i.e. him) is being left behind while laborers and farmers are being helped.
It is quite repetitive. Lots of "I wish I had some spare cash because I could make a killing by investing now". Lots of "my business isn't going well". It is surprisingly lacking any insight into the author's personal or family situation other than the generic complaints about his business not going well. For instance, I don't think his wife is mentioned a single time. How did they manage to survive all those years if his business was so poor? With all those bank closures, did it ever affect any of his cash? Or was he a hoarder?
There is no real plot to keep the reader engaged. Despite the author saying the depression was like a post-graduate course in finance, there's no real sense that he learned much or was changed by the experience. He started as a staunch conservative Republican and everything he saw is interpreted as confirmation of his previously held views. One line that really struck me was his profound belief that the depression should be left to "work itself out naturally" instead of having any government help at all; an easy position to take when he wasn't one of the 13 million unemployed and never had his house foreclosed. It was also interesting to see perennial talking points appearing in the distant past. The unshakeable belief in the trust of the government when it comes to government bonds ("we can only trust the government") paired with deep skepticism of government programs. Constant cries that massive inflation is right around the corner any day now. Constant cries that "massive" government debt is going to destroy America.
It was written as a personal diary, so I can hardly fault these short comings. It isn't written to be academic, to explain why the author believes what he does, or to convince you to believe the same things. But all of those things also made it hard to keep reading, which is why I recommend: don't force yourself to be a completionist with this book. Read the first 100 pages or so, which is the best part. Then move on to something else to read.
It is one man's diary -- with an exclusive focus on financial stuff -- over the course of a decade. It gets repetitive. It doesn't start until 1931 -- a full year and a half after the crash, so it misses some of the best part. It is also missing 1935 -- that part of the diary was lost -- which was when some of the biggest parts of the New Deal went into effect. Both of those are very unfortunate omissions.
It is curiously antiseptic. There's surprisingly little feeling conveyed of the pain of the depression. The author will occasionally mention statistics -- how 30,000 people in his hometown are on government assistance -- but it never really has much feeling behind it. The few emotions that come through often feel a bit selfish -- about how "the professional man" (i.e. him) is being left behind while laborers and farmers are being helped.
It is quite repetitive. Lots of "I wish I had some spare cash because I could make a killing by investing now". Lots of "my business isn't going well". It is surprisingly lacking any insight into the author's personal or family situation other than the generic complaints about his business not going well. For instance, I don't think his wife is mentioned a single time. How did they manage to survive all those years if his business was so poor? With all those bank closures, did it ever affect any of his cash? Or was he a hoarder?
There is no real plot to keep the reader engaged. Despite the author saying the depression was like a post-graduate course in finance, there's no real sense that he learned much or was changed by the experience. He started as a staunch conservative Republican and everything he saw is interpreted as confirmation of his previously held views. One line that really struck me was his profound belief that the depression should be left to "work itself out naturally" instead of having any government help at all; an easy position to take when he wasn't one of the 13 million unemployed and never had his house foreclosed. It was also interesting to see perennial talking points appearing in the distant past. The unshakeable belief in the trust of the government when it comes to government bonds ("we can only trust the government") paired with deep skepticism of government programs. Constant cries that massive inflation is right around the corner any day now. Constant cries that "massive" government debt is going to destroy America.
It was written as a personal diary, so I can hardly fault these short comings. It isn't written to be academic, to explain why the author believes what he does, or to convince you to believe the same things. But all of those things also made it hard to keep reading, which is why I recommend: don't force yourself to be a completionist with this book. Read the first 100 pages or so, which is the best part. Then move on to something else to read.