In the thirty years after the Civil War, the United States blew by Great Britain to become the greatest economic power in world history. That is a well-known period in history, when titans like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan walked the earth. But as Charles R. Morris shows us, the platform for that spectacular growth spurt was built in the first half of the century. By the 1820s, America was already the worlds most productive...

We are living in the most reckless financial environment in recent history. The astronomical leverage at investment banks and their hedge fund and private equity clients virtually guarantees massive disruption in global markets.

Argues that the United States is in the brink of a strong recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis, claiming that such booming new industries as shale-based oil will generate millions of new jobs and tame inherited deficits.