Synopsis
The Definitive story of the Big Bang and the subsequent Great Storm of 1987 and the ensuing Stock Market Crash.By understanding, and appreciating the history, then one can see the similarities taking place today, with perhaps the LIBOR reforms taking the role of the Big Bang, and Brexit in place of the Great Storm, or vice versa.The 80’s were the defining decade of the 20th Century, and everything that took place during this time changed Britain forever, and the repercussions are still keenly felt today.To understand the environment we inhabit today, it is necessary to see first how it was before, and only then, can one appreciate the enormity of the changes and how they therefore transformed British culture, both popular and business, into what it is today.Bang, wallop, crash is the story of the most influential years of this evolutionary period, told through the eyes of several protagonists, caught up in the maelstrom.It starts with Bill, who is now the Senior Partner of a small to medium sized stockbroker, and having bought his way in, he now has to adapt to what being a broker in this particular moment in time means.He also has to establish himself with his peers and, at the same time, work his way into their culture, essentially by becoming a member of a Livery Company.Here he see’s first hand exactly what the Big Bang actually meant to everyone in the industry, and how it might affect them.Although, The City of London, is the focal point, it is only used as it is the fulcrum at which everything that was going on in Britain, and the rest of the world, was experienced and acted on and upon.Once Big Bang had happened, the ramifications and knock-on effects are related through not only Bill’s eyes, but also several other market practitioners.All of this, while explanatory, is also necessary, to set the scene, through the rise of compliance, technology and options, the mergers then take-overs, though to how everything was left for the Great Storm to have its enormous impact, and the subsequent Crash.And, although, London only experienced relatively minor falls, they still rank as the top two daily market collapses of all time, whereas Wall Street’s fall is still the biggest of all time.These were extraordinary times, and extraordinary events, none of which have been accurately and definitely documented, until now.Topics covered include The Guilds of London, a typical dealing room, how VAT started, popular culture of the day including TV and music, how the bonus culture was created as well as how the financial conglomerates came into being, the beginning of information as a revenue stream, the beginning of computers and hence email, as well as mobile telephony. But above all else it is a story about how the anatomy of the biggest crash in history was created, from infrastructure, or the lack thereof due to the biggest storm ever to hit the UK, through to the geopolitical events at the time (or the start of the conflicts as we know them today) including the ramifications of the latest in a string of privatisations, the BP flotation, also revealing the surprising role of the just created options market and insurance. The comparisons to markets as we know them today, apart from creating the foundation of them, are just too obvious to ignore, and every current market practictioner or student should know, or at least be aware of, this history. Apart from all this, it is also a good story full of characters and anecdotes of a time gone by. Enjoy.
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