Bulls, Bears, Boom, and Bust: A Historical Encyclopedia of American Business Concepts

From Booklist
This fascinating book offers a new spin on business-history encyclopedias. Instead of the usual A-Z scheme, entries are arranged in five chronological groupings, beginning in 1607 and continuing through the present. More than 200 entries define and discuss economic theories, government policies, industrial organization structures, marketing and merchandising strategies, financing, inventions and innovations, companies, and individuals. An additional 160 entries are biographical, covering inventors, entrepreneurs, and business innovators as well as influential politicians and business leaders.

Each chronological section is introduced by a historical review. This is followed by two series of alphabetically arranged entries: "Key Concepts" and "Biographies." Bibliographic references leading to more detailed information are included at the end of each entry. See also references to other relevant topics are provided where applicable. A detailed table of contents lists the entries contained in each chronological section. Additionally, appendix 1 lists the key concepts and biographies alphabetically with their section numbers. Appendixes 2 and 3 break the key concepts and biographies into broad subjects. Finally, a lengthy index provides many additional access points to help reference librarians and users find what they need.

This unique lexicon will provide general readers as well as business students and researchers with an easy introduction to concepts like Indentured servants, Mercantilism, Price control, Shinplasters, andSupply-side economics and help them learn more about the personal histories and the influence of Alan Greenspan, Conrad Hilton, Cyrus Hall McCormick, and Joseph Pulitzer. Recommended for business-history collections in public and academic libraries. Susan Awe

Book Description
Like any other specialized field of endeavor, the world of business in the United States has a language all its own. Understanding those terms and names (idioms and acronyms, companies and institutions, famous figures and events, techniques and policies) is key to grasping both the historical sweep and the current moment of American enterprise.