Securities Markets in the 1980s: New Regime, 1979-84 v.1: New Regime, 1979-84 Vol 1 Book

This book is the first of two volumes that provide a uniquely comprehensive history of stock, bond, and merger markets in the 1980s. This volume analyzes the dramatic recovery in the stock and bond markets and the surge in merger activity in the first half of the 1980s, following the dismal record of the 1970s. It expertly relates these changes to the new policy regime created by the Reagan administration, Federal Reserve monetary policy, falling oil prices, and the strong dollar. Although the securities markets, the economy, and inflation were performing favorably by mid-decade, this book reveals the stress and pain that were required to position them so favorably--contrary to rational expectations theory. Stocks and bonds reached their nadir in 1982, there were persistent financial crises that had to be surmounted, and many capital goods and commodities industries contracted permanently. With a practitioner's eye for important inter-relationships, Wigmore reveals the impact of the Reagan administration on investor optimism and sorts out the influence of the Federal Reserve and the budget deficit on interest rates. The crises that had to be surmounted in international and domestic finance spring to life. He provides unique insight into the role of antitrust policy, lower bank lending standards, and junk bonds in the merger boom. He also describes the roots of some of the decade's later speculative excesses in treasury bond trading, the futures markets, mortgage-backed securities, and the junk bond market.Read More