Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity (Hardcover)

by Michael Lewis (Editor) "The striking thing about the seemingly endless collapse of the subprime-mortgage market is how egalitarian it has been..." (more)
Key Phrases: index arbitragers, blue dollars, portfolio insurers, Wall Street, Long-Term Capital, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Lewis (Liars Poker) takes readers on a spin through notable recent financial catastrophes including the stock markets 1987 crash, the Russian default and related failure of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management, the Asian currency crisis, the Internet bust and the recent subprime debacle. While the collection is comprehensive and contains varied and learned commentary, the presented crises beg for more thorough treatment. Lewis is content to rehash the past with (undeniably compelling) previously published analysis by the likes of economists Joseph Stieglitz and Paul Krugman and Wall Street Journal reporters Gregory Zuckerman and Roger Lowenstein. The author wisely includes excerpts from his books and articles, including an account of his time as a trader at Salomon Brothers in the midst of the junk bond crash of 1987 and his observations on the Internet boom and bust. The narrative is certainly elegant and the arguments are on-target; the author lambastes shoddy risk management at financial firms, the foolish principles that have guided the behavior of sophisticated Wall Street traders and the common man in this current crisis, and the problems caused by the new complexities of the financial markets, but readers seeking serious solutions to our current woes will be disappointed. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Lewis, author and journalist, presents an anthology of financial writing done immediately before, during, and after the panics that have occurred since 1987, to show how financial markets now operate. These articles explain the mood and market factors leading up to each crisis and then with hindsight report on what actually happened. The financial panics include Black Monday, the 1987 stock market crash; the 2000 bursting of the Internet bubble; the 1999 Asian currency crisis; the Russian default that prompted the failure of the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998; and the current subprime mortgage crisis. In addition to his own work, the editor offers articles by notable writers including Paul Krugman, Roger Lowenstein, Tim Metz, Robert Shiller, Joseph Stiglitz, Eric Weiner, and Laurence Zuckerman. This is a portrait of today’s money culture—its players, victims, and the widespread consequences of these historic catastrophes. Informative and timely, it is an excellent book for a wide range of library patrons. --Mary Whaley

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (November 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393065146
• ISBN-13: 978-0393065145
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,023 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not what it appears to be..., February 3, 2009

By	Fritz W. Krieger (Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really like Michael Lewis's work. In fact, I have read everything he has written, from Liar's Poker to The Blind Side. The guy is, in a word, gifted.

So, imagine my delight when I saw (while I was rushing through an airport) a new book by Michael. I purchased the book, and could hardly wait to start reading it. When I finally got in the plane, and opened the book, I discovered that the writings in the book were not Lewis at all, but rather a collection of no-so-interesting articles about the various financial crashes.

Nothing is staler than yesterday's Wall Street journal (financial news spoils quickly) and reading WSJ or Barron's pieces from 10 to 20 years ago is just painful.

The title PANIC: The story of modern financial insanity led me to believe the book was about the current crises. The book does say, in very, very fine print "Edited by" Michael Lewis.

I feel I was misled....shame on you Michael for lending your name to this and shame on your publisher

164 of 211 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Misleading, November 24, 2008

By	a reader (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

As I look at the Amazon product page for the book I've just received, there's nothing that indicates that this is NOT a book written by Michael Lewis. Rather, it's a collection of short articles (a lot of them, probably 50-75 in total, of which he wrote 6) that he selected to discuss various topics. My rating doesn't reflect the quality of the articles - I'm sure they're good, and I've actually read some of them in the past year. My rating reflects the fact that this isn't a new Michael Lewis book, and that isn't indicated anywhere. Disappointing.

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sure, it's opportunistic and slightly misleading, but is it any _good_? , November 28, 2008

By	David McCune "self-deprecating and proud of it" (Tacoma, WA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

OK, this is clearly a collection of articles that Michael Lewis had sitting around. He's a good journalist, and I expect he copies and files any bit of good writing that might come in handy as a future reference. Now, about 2 months after the real estate bubble well and truly bursts, he is able to pull out the articles and collate them into a book. That is not a bad thing, per se, but it is certainly something a buyer should know before a purchase. Lewis selected the articles, wrote some, and provides some brief commentary, but this is not Moneyball or Liar's Poker.

Still, that might not be a bad thing if the collection served an overall purpose. By reviewing 5 major bubble/panic cycles since 1987, here is what I would suggest a reader should come away knowing:

1) How can you tell when a market has entered a period of "irrational exhuberance"? How can you tell when the next bubble is starting?

2) How can you tell when a bursting bubble has tipped over into a period of over-correction? How do you know you are in a panic?

3) What should you do in situations 1 or 2?

Unfortunately, my summary of the answers from Lewis's "Panic" would be:

1) When people are writing articles like these.
2) When they start writing different articles, like these others.
3) Heck, who knows, read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (which has "Don't Panic" in large, friendly letters on its cover).

In my opinion, Lewis offers too little to tie together his articles. There is no doubt wisdom in them, and maybe the points are obvious to Lewis. To me, it felt like getting the reading assignments for a college finance course, then showing up for the lectures to tie them together only to find no lecturer.

Disappointing.