The collapse of Lehman Brothers and other Wall Street institutions sent shock waves around the world. But this was just the beginning. Whole nations have been dragged to the brink of bankruptcy. Banks on both sides of the Atlantic have been nationalised. The stock market is out of control and the global economy is in meltdown. Financial experts and the media are clamouring to tell us that these events are unprecedented and unpredictable. But is this really true or should we all have seen it coming? The authors of The Puritan Gift saw the writing on the wall long ago. In this important book they offer a shocking exposé of the failures of the American financial system - as well as vital lessons for the future. Tracing the extraordinary development of the managerial culture that underpinned three centuries of American commercial triumph, The Puritan Gift shows how the current financial crisis has an old-fashioned cause: bad management. By distancing itself from the core values of innovation and discipline - the 'gift' of the early Puritan settlers which underlay its past commercial and economic success - America sacrificed its future prosperity and security. Now America and indeed the whole world needs to re-discover this ethical bedrock in order to revive the international economy and reclaim the American Dream for a new generation.