Eric Weiner is a financial journalist and former columnist for Dow Jones Newswires who shows a knack for getting Wall Street types to let their hair down. This oral history, which starts with the Crash of ’29 and continues to present times, is based on interviews with the men and women who were there or knew the major players. The result is an engaging, first-person narrative that’s hard to put down.
Each chapter documents a pivotal event on Wall Street, such as the rationale behind the creation of Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, the bursting of the Internet bubble, and the 9/11 tragedy. The book also charts the Street’s transformation from a closed-circle men’s club to the relatively open environment with a global scope that it is now. Weiner neatly introduces each chapter to provide context and then allows the “cast of characters” to say the rest.
What Goes Up succeeds in reminding us that, despite the complicated, numerical mumbo-jumbo we often associate with Wall Street, it was created by people with distinct personalities and backgrounds. This account gives us an inside look at the players' lives and, regardless of whether their actions benefited society, we gain a clearer sense of their motivations and desires.