Share <Embed>

Buy New

$22.11

List Price: $27.99
Save: $5.88 (21%)

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by chess72 and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France. Want it Thursday, Sept. 20? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Deliver to France

Buy Used

$9.48

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Deliver to France

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Take 2 Co

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$19.29
+ $32.20 shipping

Sold by: indoobestsellers

Add to Cart

$23.79
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Amazon.com

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street Hardcover – June 9, 2009

by Justin Fox (Author)

118 customer reviews

See all 19 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.63

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$22.11

$8.58

$2.00

Paperback

"Please retry"

$16.25

$9.18

$1.08

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Unknown Binding

"Please retry"

—

$89.99

—

“Do we really need yet another book about the financial crisis? Yes, we do—because this one is different….A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the mess we’re in.”
—Paul Krugman, New York Times Book Review

“Fox makes business history thrilling.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A lively history of ideas, The Myth of the Rational Market by former Time Magazine economics columnist Justin Fox, describes with insight and wit the rise and fall of the world’s most influential investing idea: the efficient markets theory. Both a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book of the Year—longlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award and named one of Library Journal Best Business Books of the Year—The Myth of the Rational Market carries readers from the earliest days of Wall Street to the current financial crisis, debunking the long-held myth that the stock market is always right in the process while intelligently exploring the replacement theory of behavioral economics.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $42.88

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street by Justin Fox Hardcover $22.11
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by chess72 and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein Hardcover $20.77
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by u_pick.
$4.77 shipping

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Peter L. Bernstein

296

Hardcover
$20.77
Nassim Nicholas Taleb

728

Paperback
$15.19
Roger Lowenstein

404

Paperback
$10.10
Guy Spier

378

Hardcover
$22.37
Carmen M. Reinhart

272

Hardcover
$13.49
Andrew J. DuBrin

147

Paperback
$115.01

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the core of the current financial crisis has been the widely held assumption that markets behave rationally. Fox, Time magazine editor-at-large, isn't the first to bring scrutiny—or censure—to the conceit, but his analysis is singularly compelling, and the rare business history that reads like a thriller. Fox leads us on a chronological journey of modern economic theory, featuring the cast of scholars who constructed the 20th- and 21st-century financial landscape, from Irving Fisher to such post-WWII figures as Milton Friedman, Harry Markowitz, Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller, Jack Treynor and William Sharpe. Fox offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at academia's finest, complete with amusing anecdotes about the players and their theories, and illustrates how our economic behaviors and markets have been shaped by a gradually refined theory holding that the stock market prices are both random and perfectly rational. A must-read for anyone interested in the markets, our economy or government, this dense but spellbinding work brings modern finance and economics to life. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Do we really need yet another book about the financial crisis? Yes, we do — because this one is different. Fox’s book is not an idle exercise in intellectual history, which makes it a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the mess we’re in.” (Paul Krugman, New York Times Book Review)

“Justin Fox is a truly insightful fellow who can see things with his own eyes—a rare, very rare attribute.” (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan)

“A fascinating historical narrative.” (Roger Lowenstein, The Washington Post)

“This wise and witty book is must reading for anyone who wonders what makes financial markets tick. Even those who have wrestled with this question for years will be glad to have read Fox’s compelling history.” (Peter Bernstein, author of Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk)

“His analysis is singularly compelling, and the rare business history that reads like a thriller... A must-read for anyone interested in the markets, our economy or government, this dense but spellbinding work brings modern finance and economics to life.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“A lucid, lively and learned account.” (Barron's)

“Fox makes business history thrilling.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

“Impressively broad and richly researched.” (Financial Times)

“...a rich history of the world’s most seductive investing idea...the book chronicles the rise of rational market theory over the decades and captures the sizzle and pop of the intellectual debate ...” (Bloomberg)

“Good wonky fun.” (Barry Ritholz, The Big Picture blog)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperBusiness (June 9, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060598999
ISBN-13: 978-0060598990
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 118 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #935,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1549 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Theory
- #2623 in Books > Business & Money > Biography & History > Economic History
- #7847 in Books > Business & Money > Investing

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 118 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

David Siegel

A rational look at an irrational subject

March 21, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A phenomenal, addicting, bracing account of the personalities and pitfalls of a science that is truly dismal. Careers made and squandered, fortunes made and lost, rationalists changing their views - it all adds up to a brilliant read, a book I plan to read again soon. It's possible to come down on either side of the argument. But the way Fox has framed it, with a see-saw journey through the thickets of mental models and personalities and perverse incentives that continues to question the assumptions just (reasonably) laid down in each previous chapter, he has provided me with a context that I can build on. I really appreciat that. Having just finished the book, I'm not sure where I stand, but I have better tools for working on it now and for discussing with others.

Just one technical mistake that I could find: In chapter 13, Fox shows his lack of math training when he explains that 1/10^160 is "a couple billion billion," which made me snort a noseful of cappuchino onto my iPad.

I hope business schools and economics departments will make good use of this book. The world is a complex place. The stock market is not a cause-and-effect machine, any more than people are. A broad perspective helps prevent us from making stupid mistakes.

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

A. Menon

Nice survey of financial economics over the last 100 years

March 19, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The Myth of the Rational Market is a survey of financial economics over the last century. It is written in a style which attempts to put the reader in the place and time when theories were constructed and understand the background of the market when academic ideas were promoted. It covers pre depression era through the the subsequent mathematization of economics and then into the growth of behavioral finance. The account is both readable and informative and the reader comes out with a good sense of history and some sense of theory. For those interested in the history of economic thought, this is a readable and lively account.

The book starts out discussing the modern beginning of financial economics with Irving Fisher. It introduces in chronological order people who started using statistics and data mining to examine properties of asset pricing. The first instances of random walk properties of bonds are discussed with Macaulay (from macaulay duration). The book makes a quick transition to Markowitz who introduces portfolio theory as a natural outgrowth of expertise gained from mastering optimization under uncertainty in the second world war. Ideas from CAPM and efficient market theory are discussed in historical context and the momentum of academic belief in the approach. The book then starts to focus on practical reality and the interplay between academics and industry is discussed with analysis of mutual fund returns, the rights of shareholders being a stick to reduce agency problems and in a certain sense it is a discussion of how aggregate behaviour can be seen to enforce the efficient market. As the book follows history in its actual sequence of events, with the 70s being a period in which markets performed abnormally to a certain extent, financial scholars began to question their assumptions and market failure is considered by many top academics. One can sense the growing disagreement in academic finance. The book continues into the modern financial era and discusses the change of belief of many of the efficient markets biggest proponents. Strong evidence is shown to allow for statistical anomolies in financial prices over time that dispute the efficient market convincingly. At the same time, mistakes of the past are rarely the mistakes of the future and so mispricings are not persistent. In addition examples of where mispricings lasted for longer than holders could hold are examined, in particular LTCM is discussed.

The Myth of the Rational Market is a nice historical account of academic thought on financial economics and the assumptions of academics about financial markets. Through historical account the reader sees the evolution of thought and the reasoning behind both the formation and subsequent changes in beliefs. It is both readable and informative and through the account the author basically argues that today people belief that markets might not be efficient, but there is no arbitrage. I recommend it as a colorful history of modern financial economics.

5 people found this helpful6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

This Myth is Genius...

November 26, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I never imagined that learning the history of the study of financial markets and the teaching of same in academia would be so important to understanding what was really happening on Wall Street.

My naivete opened the world to a new way of viewing the markets and their behavior.

Author Justin Fox let's it be known that he is a journalist but his humility is just that. The man is truly a brilliant writer and a gifted storyteller.

What do you take away from the book that is largely a 20th century history of the academic minds that fueled our beliefs about the markets?

First is that the struggles that you and I have with just how efficient or not the market is...is something that all the great minds struggle with. Don't worry you won't walk away with the belief that the markets are indeed rational. But you'll sense the arguments that the markets do discount a lot of information is correct. Of course...the there are the exceptions which more than shine in the conclusion that the markets are not rational.

If that analysis isn't crystal it's because the waters are murky even in the minds of those who have studied it and lived it for decades on end.

Second takeaway? Stability breeds instability. Markets that are stable, are trending nicely are preparing the way for a disaster. Now WHEN will that disaster hit? You don't always know that of course but THIS conclusion was a wake up call.

Third? Shiller's study on home prices dating back a century show that adjusted for inflation...housing may not be the great investment waiting to happen again...that you might wish it would be... (My conclusion)

Fourth? Keynes wrote at one point that keeping interest rates artificially low perhaps could keep markets in a perpetual bubble that won't break so why not? (My conclusion to this rather stunning paraphrase? Step out of the way when that explosion occurs...Keynes is wrong.)

There are hundreds of grand nuggets buried within this brilliantly told story of Wall Street being studied and taught at University.

An outstanding book and a great read filled with notes for further study for those of us who got curiouser and curiouser....

Kevin Hogan
Author of:
The 168 Hour Week: Living Life Your Way 24-7

5 people found this helpful6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

a guide to inefficient markets

April 13, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Well organized and researched with useful references. Very readable and fascinating. Fox includes a discussion of the history of taxation and it influence on executive compensation including the failure of pay-for-performance. If you are a blind believer in unregulated supply-side economics, read and think. If you are an investor who suspects that you are being robbed blind by the executive suite, you will find no solace here.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Peter L. Bernstein

296

Paperback
$16.03
Scott Patterson

220

Paperback
$15.36
Benoit Mandelbrot

155

Paperback
$18.99
Roger Lowenstein

404

Paperback
$10.10
Andrew W. Lo

63

Hardcover
$23.31
Liaquat Ahamed

337

Paperback
$13.48

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: the great wall

Buy New

$22.11

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Buy Used

$9.48

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street Hardcover – June 9, 2009

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Review

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New $22.11

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Buy Used $9.48

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Other Sellers on Amazon

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street Hardcover – June 9, 2009

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Review

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New

$22.11

Buy Used

$9.48