The Story of Silver

William L. Silber

Published by Princeton University Press 2019

The Story of Silver

How the White Metal Shaped America and the Modern World

William L. Silber

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691184517

Overview
Contents

About this book

A history of the world’s second-most precious metal, with a focus on its transformation from soft money during the nineteenth century to hard asset today, and the role manipulations of silver have played in altering the course of American history.

How silver influenced two hundred years of world history, and why it matters today

This is the story of silver’s transformation from soft money during the nineteenth century to hard asset today, and how manipulations of the white metal by American president Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s and by the richest man in the world, Texas oil baron Nelson Bunker Hunt, during the 1970s altered the course of American and world history. FDR pumped up the price of silver to help jump start the U.S. economy during the Great Depression, but this move weakened China, which was then on the silver standard, and facilitated Japan’s rise to power before World War II. Bunker Hunt went on a silver-buying spree during the 1970s to protect himself against inflation and triggered a financial crisis that left him bankrupt.

Silver has been the preferred shelter against government defaults, political instability, and inflation for most people in the world because it is cheaper than gold. The white metal has been the place to hide when conventional investments sour, but it has also seduced sophisticated investors throughout the ages like a siren. This book explains how powerful figures, up to and including Warren Buffett, have come under silver’s thrall, and how its history guides economic and political decisions in the twenty-first century.

Author information

William L. Silber is the Marcus Nadler Professor of Finance and Economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. His many books include When Washington Shut Down Wall Street (Princeton) and Volcker (Bloomsbury). He lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Reviews

"A page-turner of a financial-political multi-generational thriller worthy of, say, John Grisham, filled with larger-than-life speculators, businessmen, manipulators, crooks and politicians."---Peter Gordon, Asian Review of Books

"The Story of Silver is the biography of America's first monetary metal. Biography is the word, as William Silber's colorful narrative is one of personalities as much as it is of ideas and events. Like gold, silver can preoccupy its fans to the point of obsession, as it did the Hunt brothers, Texas inflation-phobes who lost a fortune in 1980 by betting on silver and therefore against Paul Volcker, then chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Mr. Volcker's sky-high interest rates."---James Grant, Wall Street Journal

"Deeply researched and authoritative. . . . A well-informed history of silver's allure."

"This is an enjoyable book, combining political and economic history, unlikable people, lucid explanations and an authorial tone that is sometimes firmly tongue-in-cheek."---Kathleen Burk, Literary Review

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
From the Author Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Main Characters Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
Introduction. Obsession Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER 1. Hamilton’s Design Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
CHAPTER 2. Solving the Crime of 1873 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
CHAPTER 3. Free Silver Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
CHAPTER 4. Seeds of Roosevelt’s Manipulation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
CHAPTER 5. FDR Promotes Silver Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
CHAPTER 6. Silver Subsidy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
CHAPTER 7. China and America Collide Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
CHAPTER 8. Bombshell in Shanghai Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
CHAPTER 9. Silver Lining Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
CHAPTER 10. Costly Victory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
CHAPTER 11. JFK’s Double Cross Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
CHAPTER 12. LBJ Nails the Coffin Shut Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
CHAPTER 13. Psychiatrist’s Meltdown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
CHAPTER 14. Battle Lines Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
CHAPTER 15. Nelson Bunker Hunt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
CHAPTER 16. Heavyweight Fight Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
CHAPTER 17. Saudi Connection Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
CHAPTER 18. Silver Soars Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
CHAPTER 19. Collapse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
CHAPTER 20. The Trial Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	224
CHAPTER 21. Buffett’s Manipulation? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	236
CHAPTER 22. Message from Omaha Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
CHAPTER 23. The Past Informs the Future Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Note Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	317
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
Illustration Credits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	329
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331