In The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis brings life to the friendship and working relationship between Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. (Kahneman is still working – at Princeton. Unfortunately, Tversky has died.) Kahneman and Tversky were two smart guys. They thought differently about how people make judgments and decide. Their work changed economic and financial thinking. [Learn more…]
Recommended Books
Top Ten Reasons You Should See The Big Short
10. See one of the most intelligible and intelligent movies about finance since It’s a Wonderful Life. See who you like better – Jimmy Stewart or Steve Carell (my money’s on Stewart, by the way). 9. See Brad Pitt in a supporting role! I’m not a serious student of film, but when I have seen [Learn more…]
Fault Lines by Raghuram Rajan
Fault Lines explores the causes of the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Raghuram Rajan is an accomplished political economist. He currently serves as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India – the chief executive of India’s central bank (something like the Janet Yellen of India). He is on leave from his position as Professor of Finance at [Learn more…]
Flashboys
I’ve had the great good fortune to read a number of Michael Lewis’ books, including some on financial topics, like Liar’s Poker and The Big Short, some on sports (The Blind Side and Coach) and one on the financial side of sports (Moneyball). I think he is an outstanding storyteller, and his books often make [Learn more…]
What Rick is Reading
This month, Rick has been writing. His article, “Explaining Risk to Clients: an Advisory Perspective,” co-authored with Paula Hogan, appears in The Market for Retirement Financial Advice, recently published by Oxford University Press. The articles in this book originated as papers presented in Philadelphia in May 2012 at the Pension Research Council Conference with the [Learn more…]
Rick is Reading…
This Time is Different by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff reviews financial crises throughout modern history. While the authors are professors, and the book is full of tables of data and graphs that support the argument, it is much more accessible than most academic books. The basic thrust of the book is very simple: while [Learn more…]