Assignment for Age of Greed by Jeffrey Madrick

Assignment

1) In The Age of Greed, Jeffrey Madrick traces the economic history of Wall Street through the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's through to the present excess that led to the crisis in 2008. The first part of the story focuses on the following characters:

a) Lewis Uhler

b) Walter Wriston

c) Milton Friedman

d) Richard Nixon and Arthur Burns

e) Joe Flom

f) Ivan Boesky

g) Ronald Reagan

h) Ted Turner

i) Sam Walton

j) Steve Ross

k) Jimmy Carter

l) Howard Jarvis

m) Jack Kemp

n) Paul Volcker

2) In each section Madrick discusses the impact each of these individuals had on his particular era. Describe how each in his own way contributed to "the age of greed" that Madrick asserts has been a part of the American landscape since the mid-1970s.

3) Find a story/issue in an American newspaper within the last 6 months. Describe how the legacy of the person you discussed above has cast a shadow on the contemporary age as it relates to the story/issue you have found. Do the best you can to draw a cause-effect relationship between what occurred in the past to what is happening in the present.

4) Use MLA parenthetical citation

5) In the conclusion, you may choose to discuss whether historical precedent is all that important in determining the future or whether each age responds to its own unique set of problems and specific environment.

Based on what you have learned about the inside dealings of Wall Street, present one policy that might reform the current practices on Wall Street and argue why this reform has such singular importance.

6) Word Limit = 1400+ words

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