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"Friedman, Walter A., 1962-"
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Fortune tellers : the story of America's first economic forecasters
\"The period leading up to the Great Depression witnessed the rise of the economic forecasters, pioneers who sought to use the tools of science to predict the future, with the aim of profiting from their forecasts. This book chronicles the lives and careers of the men who defined this first wave of economic fortune tellers, men such as Roger Babson, Irving Fisher, John Moody, C. J. Bullock, and Warren Persons. They competed to sell their distinctive methods of prediction to investors and businesses, and thrived in the boom years that followed World War I. Yet, almost to a man, they failed to predict the devastating crash of 1929.Walter Friedman paints vivid portraits of entrepreneurs who shared a belief that the rational world of numbers and reason could tame--or at least foresee--the irrational gyrations of the market. Despite their failures, this first generation of economic forecasters helped to make the prediction of economic trends a central economic activity, and shed light on the mechanics of financial markets by providing a range of statistics and information about individual firms. They also raised questions that are still relevant today. What is science and what is merely guesswork in forecasting? What motivates people to buy forecasts? Does the act of forecasting set in motion unforeseen events that can counteract the forecast made? Masterful and compelling, Fortune Tellers highlights the risk and uncertainty that are inherent to capitalism itself\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Birth of a Salesman
In this entertaining and informative book, Walter Friedman
chronicles the remarkable metamorphosis of the American salesman
from itinerant amateur to trained expert. From the mid-nineteenth
century to the eve of World War II, the development of sales
management transformed an economy populated by peddlers and
canvassers to one driven by professional salesmen and executives.
From book agents flogging Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs to John H.
Patterson's famous pyramid strategy at National Cash Register to
the determined efforts by Ford and Chevrolet to craft surefire
sales pitches for their dealers, selling evolved from an art to a
science. \"Salesmanship\" as a term and a concept arose around the
turn of the century, paralleling the new science of mass
production. Managers assembled professional forces of neat
responsible salesmen who were presented as hardworking pillars of
society, no longer the butt of endless \"traveling salesmen\" jokes.
People became prospects; their homes became territories. As an NCR
representative said, the modern salesman \"let the light of reason
into dark places.\" The study of selling itself became an industry,
producing academic disciplines devoted to marketing, consumer
behavior, and industrial psychology. At Carnegie Mellon's Bureau of
Salesmanship Research, Walter Dill Scott studied the
characteristics of successful salesmen and ways to motivate
consumers to buy. Full of engaging portraits and illuminating
insights, Birth of a Salesman is a singular contribution
that offers a clear understanding of the transformation of
salesmanship in modern America.
eBook