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Money, Greed, and Risk: Why Financial Crises and Crashes Happen
The world seems awash in financial crises. The Asian crisis of 1998, the near-demise of Long Term Capital Management, and the black hole of Russia are just a few of the most recent. Are they the result of greedy speculators, crony capitalism, or the warp speed of the forces of globalization? Can we send in the repairman and get things fixed through the legal and regulatory systems?
Or are other causes at work that may be beyond our control?
Money, Greed, and Risk is that rare book which, through adroit analysis of both historical and contemporary events and their leading players, lends new insights into the causes of financial turmoil. Charles
Explores the eternal cycle of financial from brilliant innovation to gross excess and inevitable crash, before investors and institutions catch up.
Explains why the American financial system grew from a capital-starved backwater in the nineteenth century to one that plays the leading role in the world today.
Examines the technological, economic, demographic, and industrial experiences that caused the financial engine to kick into such high gear in the 1980s and 1990s.
Shows how the boom-and-bust cycle in early American history helps illuminate recent events in South Asia and Russia. In the process we become more realistic about what to expect during the nascent stages of capitalism and market development everywhere.
Explains that globalization is nothing new. The investment system in the nineteenth century was perhaps even more global than the world today.
Looks at contemporary financial geniuses--Michael Milken is a good example--and shows that they didn't invent any financial instruments that nineteenth-century counterparts like Jay Gould hadn't already thought of.
There are a handful of books about finance and the financial markets that are substantive enough to provide intellectual grist for sophisticated investors while also providing intriguing explanations of contemporary events that will be of interest to a general audience. Money, Greed, and Risk is one of them.
Finance is the plumbing that makes capitalism run. And, like a good plumbing system, finance is invisible when working well. But just as a broken pipe can be a disaster, so too when the financial system breaks and crises and crashes occur. We look to understand the causes and Charles Morris provides unusual insights that bring our understanding to a new level.
Or are other causes at work that may be beyond our control?
Money, Greed, and Risk is that rare book which, through adroit analysis of both historical and contemporary events and their leading players, lends new insights into the causes of financial turmoil. Charles
Explores the eternal cycle of financial from brilliant innovation to gross excess and inevitable crash, before investors and institutions catch up.
Explains why the American financial system grew from a capital-starved backwater in the nineteenth century to one that plays the leading role in the world today.
Examines the technological, economic, demographic, and industrial experiences that caused the financial engine to kick into such high gear in the 1980s and 1990s.
Shows how the boom-and-bust cycle in early American history helps illuminate recent events in South Asia and Russia. In the process we become more realistic about what to expect during the nascent stages of capitalism and market development everywhere.
Explains that globalization is nothing new. The investment system in the nineteenth century was perhaps even more global than the world today.
Looks at contemporary financial geniuses--Michael Milken is a good example--and shows that they didn't invent any financial instruments that nineteenth-century counterparts like Jay Gould hadn't already thought of.
There are a handful of books about finance and the financial markets that are substantive enough to provide intellectual grist for sophisticated investors while also providing intriguing explanations of contemporary events that will be of interest to a general audience. Money, Greed, and Risk is one of them.
Finance is the plumbing that makes capitalism run. And, like a good plumbing system, finance is invisible when working well. But just as a broken pipe can be a disaster, so too when the financial system breaks and crises and crashes occur. We look to understand the causes and Charles Morris provides unusual insights that bring our understanding to a new level.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published July 27, 1999
About the author
Charles R. Morris
50 books49 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
See also:
Charles R. Morris
See also:
Charles R. Morris
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 2, 2020
While, I think general ratings are much lower, I gave the book a slightly higher rating, because I think what the author is trying to do is quite novel and is on the right track for describing the common threads of financial crisis. Financial innovation, managing, regulating, understanding, and controlling the risks they bring is at the heart of financial crisis. The implication of this is that it will continue so long as innovation - which is necessary - will continue. Hence, the role of regulation will be increasingly complex.
Perhaps were it looses the final star is in story telling of past crisis. Fairly important details are left out that could strengthen or weaken the argument. Part of this is not the author's fault. It has taken years for the Emerging market crisis to not be seen has having a single similar causal in multiple different countries.
Moreover, some of the risk bets are described well, and others are not quite right. LTCM's problems were flawed model driven, but more specifically, the assumptions were volatility, time, and velocity driven. These are dimensions that would not have existed within the investment community prior to their innovation.
That said, I'm not sure the degree to which Morris could have explained such phenomenon without greatly increasing the length of the book. Hence 4 stars, for what is actually a pretty fantastic account of financial crisis linkages through innovation.
Perhaps were it looses the final star is in story telling of past crisis. Fairly important details are left out that could strengthen or weaken the argument. Part of this is not the author's fault. It has taken years for the Emerging market crisis to not be seen has having a single similar causal in multiple different countries.
Moreover, some of the risk bets are described well, and others are not quite right. LTCM's problems were flawed model driven, but more specifically, the assumptions were volatility, time, and velocity driven. These are dimensions that would not have existed within the investment community prior to their innovation.
That said, I'm not sure the degree to which Morris could have explained such phenomenon without greatly increasing the length of the book. Hence 4 stars, for what is actually a pretty fantastic account of financial crisis linkages through innovation.
Displaying 1 of 1 review