The Telegraph and Stock Exchanges

This book chronicles the ascension of the New York Stock Exchange, detailing its remarkable rise to preeminence and its lasting impact on financial history.

In the 1830s, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston each had a stock exchange. These were the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and Boston Stock Exchange. As there was no reliable means of communicating between these cities in real time, each exchange served its local market. The 1840s brought an innovation in communications technology: the telegraph, which, in time, brought these exchanges into competition with each other.

Three previously independent stock markets became, in effect, a single market. If a security was listed on more than one exchange, potential buyers and sellers could choose the exchange on which to execute a trade in this security. This book details how the NYSE emerged as the winner of this competition.

Chapters analyze key moments in history that made the NYSE a reliable location to trade securities that evoked regional and eventually national interest. This analysis is applied to the competition between (i) stock exchanges today; (ii) taxi ride-booking services such as Uber and Ola; (iii) restaurant to home, food delivery services, such a Zomato and Swiggy; and (iv) doorstep delivery services, such as Blinkit and Zepto.

The resulting book provides the untold history of the NYSE and its rise to preeminence in the American economy.

Constitutes the first work that establishes when and why the NYSE became the preeminent exchange in the US Discusses efficiency and competition between stock exchanges Analyzes bid-ask spread data for the New York, Philadelphia, and Boston exchanges during the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s

Autorentext

Sonali Garg is an independent researcher based in New Delhi, India. She has worked as a regulator at the Competition Commission of India and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University. Views expressed in the book are the author's.

Klappentext

In the 1830s, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston each had a stock exchange. These were the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and Boston Stock Exchange. As there was no reliable means of communicating between these cities in real time, each exchange served its local market. The 1840s brought an innovation in communications technology: the telegraph, which, in time, brought these exchanges into competition with each other.

Three previously independent stock markets became, in effect, a single market. If a security was listed on more than one exchange, potential buyers and sellers could choose the exchange on which to execute a trade in this security. This book closely analyzes this competition.

The NYSE emerged as the winner of this competition. It became the place to trade securities that evoked regional and eventually national interest, while the Boston and Philadelphia exchanges remained regional exchanges. This book explores when and why this happened. This analysis is applied to the competition between (i) stock exchanges today; (ii) car rental aggregator services such as Uber and Ola; (iii) restaurant to home, food delivery services, such a Zomato and Swiggy; and (iv) doorstep delivery services, such as Blinkit and Zepto.

Sonali Garg is an independent researcher based in New Delhi, India. She has worked as a regulator at the Competition Commission of India and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University. Views expressed in the book are the author's.

Inhalt

Chapter 1.- Chapter 2: The Telegraph, NYSE, Bloomberg, and Uber.- Chapter 3: Winner Takes All.- Chapter 4: NYSE's rise to Pre-eminence.- Chapter 5: The Usual Suspects.- Chapter 6: Data as Clues.- Chapter 7: When. The Numbers Through a Telescope.- Chapter 8: Why. The Numbers under a Magnifying Glass.- Chapter 9: Conclusions and Implications for the Evolution of Financial Markets.- Chapter10: What the Telegraph can teach us about Uber.- Chapter 11: Antitrust Policy; To Intervene or To Not Intervene: That is the Question.