Topics & People

A series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939 in response to the Great Depression.

Legislation passed in the aftermath of the 1929 crash that separated commercial banking from investment banking. Sorkin reveals its origins were driven by business lobbying as much as by consumer protection.

A defining characteristic of the 1920s financial markets, with no SEC, no prospectuses, and no rules against insider trading or market manipulation, which allowed the speculative bubble to grow unchecked.

Personal debt taken on to purchase goods and services. The concept became widespread in America starting in 1919 with General Motors' program for car loans, fundamentally changing American attitudes towards borrowing.

The Radio Corporation of America, which was the leading technology stock of the 1920s, analogous to Nvidia in the modern era due to its central role in the radio boom.

A breakthrough technology of the 1920s that, like AI today, fueled massive speculation and was seen as a world-changing innovation. It also amplified stories of wealth creation, contributing to the social contagion of investing.

A bank run by Charlie Mitchell that aggressively expanded into lending for stock purchases, becoming a symbol of the 1920s financial boom. It later became part of Citigroup.

An American automotive manufacturer seeking to hire talent out of Meta's workforce academy.

The act of trading in an asset, or conducting a financial transaction, that has a significant risk of losing most or all of the initial outlay, in expectation of a substantial gain. Sorkin argues it is the 'twin of innovation'.

The movement to give ordinary retail investors access to financial markets and private assets previously restricted to institutions.

A US Senator who was a vocal critic of the speculation and financial practices of the 1920s, which he termed 'mitchellism'. He was a key figure behind the Glass-Steagall Act.

The head of National City bank (which became Citigroup) during the 1920s. He was a major proponent of democratizing finance and lending money to the public to buy stocks on margin.