Customer Reviews

The Economics of Risk and Time

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Gollier has written a book that not many others could have written. It is VERY complete, it is full of deep insights, and, for me, it is a pleasure to read. Don't be mistaken: this is a research book, not a textbook. But for those of us doing research in decision theory, general equilibrium, finance, or macroeconomics, it is simply a must. How could you afford NOT to buy it?

This book presents an excellent summary of the toolbox that students and professionals must manage in order to understand the numberless amount of modern contributions on asset pricing. All recent advances in the use of risk and uncertainty are presented with simple and direct language, and without useless mathematical sophistication. A needed help for asset pricing courses intended to graduate students.

Amazing book connecting all the dots you know in asset pricing, macro, general equil'um, etc. You come out of it refreshed, feeling you are a different person.

I used this for a course in 2010 and found very little to update. It works from the basics to advanced topics, using the minimum required mathematics (which is a moderate amount). One of its great virtues is even-handedness, different results are presented with advantages and disadvantages; in particular, no pretense is made that assumptions made for mathematical tractability have theoretical or empirical support.

One quibble is the notation is not consistent. This is probably an advantage for a single reader working through the book, it means everything is defined as needed rather than having long sections on definitions. At no point does the changing notation make the text unclear. But if you're flipping back and forth between chapters, or using it as a reference, it can be a little confusing.