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Finance and Philosophy: Why We’re Always Surprised
"Pollock tells us all we need to know about money and banking, risk and uncertainty, debt and temptation, and science and economics. He delights as he instructs.”―James Grant, founder and editor, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer
Finance and Philosophy provides a concise and witty account of how bankers and financial regulators think, of the alleged causes of the cycles of booms and busts, of the implicit and often un-thought-out assumptions shaping retirement finance, fiat money, corporate governance. Pollock deftly shows how poorly bankers have measured the risk their banks have been exposed to. With candor and clarity, he uncovers the persistent and unavoidable uncertainty inherent in the business of banking. We learn that a banker’s confidence in his ability to measure banking risk accurately is the lure which has repeatedly led to bank failures. Pollock has a modest and compelling Acknowledge the unavoidability of ignorance with respect to financial risk, and, in the light of this ignorance of the future, act moderately.
Finance and Philosophy provides a concise and witty account of how bankers and financial regulators think, of the alleged causes of the cycles of booms and busts, of the implicit and often un-thought-out assumptions shaping retirement finance, fiat money, corporate governance. Pollock deftly shows how poorly bankers have measured the risk their banks have been exposed to. With candor and clarity, he uncovers the persistent and unavoidable uncertainty inherent in the business of banking. We learn that a banker’s confidence in his ability to measure banking risk accurately is the lure which has repeatedly led to bank failures. Pollock has a modest and compelling Acknowledge the unavoidability of ignorance with respect to financial risk, and, in the light of this ignorance of the future, act moderately.
183 pages, Paperback
Published October 23, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 4, 2019
My taste in books is eclectic. I’ll read anything, other than true crime and really gory horror, I’m not super into zombies, but esoteric books on philosophy, sign me up. A brain candy chick lit that I can read in two hours and I know the couple always ends up together, absolutely. A biography about an obscure figure in history, sounds great. Thus, when I heard about Finance and Philosophy; Why We’re Always Surprised by Alex Pollock, it was a no brainer to pick it up.
The title Finance and Philosophy; Why We’re Always Surprised does not actually inspire confidence that the book will be entertaining, educational, yes, but still I definitely thought it would be rather dry and boring. To my very pleasant surprise, the book was both educational and entertaining. If I ever have the good fortune to meet Mr. Pollock, I’m going to take him out for coffee and just listen to him talk because I think I’d learn more in that two-hour coffee than in an entire semester’s worth of classes. He doesn’t make the mistake that many economic authors make of assuming the reader knows too much or too little. He recognizes that anyone who picks up his book is likely to be fairly well educated but may not speak the language of finances. Thus, he explains the ideas in a straightforward manner but assumes that once he’s explained the idea, his reader grasps it and can move forward. I greatly appreciated this.
The premise of the book is really quite simple. It’s impossible for us to know or predict what the financial markets are going to do because the very act of observing them causes them to change. Thus, anyone who says they can predict what will happen in the financial markets or the economy is selling snake oil. He spends the entire book explaining how and why that is true. By the end of it of the book, he had me completely convinced that practically nobody in the upper echelons of the economic sector has any clue about anything, least of all finance. He does so with a deft touch and a vast array of quotes and quips which he thoughtfully compiles in his “Compendium of Aphorisms” which is worth the price of admission alone.
If you want to understand how and why the major financial crises happened, read this book. If you want to be highly entertained while reading about the economy and how no one can actually control it, read this book. If you want to read a libertarian leaning economist and former banker discuss why we might all be S. O. L., read this book. Read this book. Finance and Philosophy; Why We’re Always Surprised by Alex Pollock is worth your time and money.
Finance and Philosophy; Why We’re Always Surprised by Alex Pollock
5 out of 5 stars.
The title Finance and Philosophy; Why We’re Always Surprised does not actually inspire confidence that the book will be entertaining, educational, yes, but still I definitely thought it would be rather dry and boring. To my very pleasant surprise, the book was both educational and entertaining. If I ever have the good fortune to meet Mr. Pollock, I’m going to take him out for coffee and just listen to him talk because I think I’d learn more in that two-hour coffee than in an entire semester’s worth of classes. He doesn’t make the mistake that many economic authors make of assuming the reader knows too much or too little. He recognizes that anyone who picks up his book is likely to be fairly well educated but may not speak the language of finances. Thus, he explains the ideas in a straightforward manner but assumes that once he’s explained the idea, his reader grasps it and can move forward. I greatly appreciated this.
The premise of the book is really quite simple. It’s impossible for us to know or predict what the financial markets are going to do because the very act of observing them causes them to change. Thus, anyone who says they can predict what will happen in the financial markets or the economy is selling snake oil. He spends the entire book explaining how and why that is true. By the end of it of the book, he had me completely convinced that practically nobody in the upper echelons of the economic sector has any clue about anything, least of all finance. He does so with a deft touch and a vast array of quotes and quips which he thoughtfully compiles in his “Compendium of Aphorisms” which is worth the price of admission alone.
If you want to understand how and why the major financial crises happened, read this book. If you want to be highly entertained while reading about the economy and how no one can actually control it, read this book. If you want to read a libertarian leaning economist and former banker discuss why we might all be S. O. L., read this book. Read this book. Finance and Philosophy; Why We’re Always Surprised by Alex Pollock is worth your time and money.
Finance and Philosophy; Why We’re Always Surprised by Alex Pollock
5 out of 5 stars.
July 3, 2020
A great read for an orientation conducive to the 21st Century. We need new perspectives for a new economy and a new 100 years ahead of us!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews