Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst

Praise for BoomBustOlogy
"Asset class bubbles are by far the most important events in the life of both stock markets and economies. Boombustology is a comprehensive, informative, and entertaining look into how bubbles form, what really constitutes a bubble, and, critically, the causes and circumstances of bubbles breaking. It is essential reading for any bubbliophile."
—Jeremy Grantham, Co–founder and Chief Investment Strategist, GMO
"Imaginative, accessible, and blessedly concise, Boombustology is a Baedeker for these boomy and busty times."
—James Grant, Grant′s Interest Rate Observer
"If there′s one thing that cleaves Wall Street′s winners from its losers, it′s the ability to say, ′I′ve seen this movie, and I know how it ends.′ VikramMansharamani′s Boombustology will entertain readers with an entire film festival of past, present, and future investment disaster flicks that willmake them laugh, make them cry, and save their bacon."
—William J. Bernstein, bestselling author of The Investor′s Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between
"Investors are attracted to bubbles. To paraphrase Orwell, they find themselves playing with fire without even knowing that fire is hot. Vikram Mansharamani′s highly readable book will set them right. It provides a sound intellectual framework for identifying bubbles before they burst. If you buy only one investment book this year, make it Boombustology."
—Edward Chancellor, author of Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation
"Through an artful and accessible melding of theoretical frame works and historical cases, Boombustology provides the essential tools to identify and navigate the financial booms and busts that can be so hazardous to one′s portfolio. Required reading for all investors."
—Paul A. Reeder, Presid ent, PAR Capital Management
"Who is the better investor: the generalist or the expert specialist? In this spirited book, Vikram Mansharamani brings to life five famous boom–bust episodes and argues for a multidisciplinary, generalist approach. Boombustology is an engaging read for specialists and generalists alike."
—John Geanakoplos, James Tobin Professor of Economics at Yale University; External Professor, the Santa Fe Institute; and Partner, Ellington Capital Management

Spis treści:
Foreword.
Preface: Is There a Bubble in Boom–Bust Books?
Acknowledgments.
Introduction The Study of Financial Extremes: One–Armed Analysts, Secrets, Mysteries.
Secrets versus Mysteries.
Different Problems Necessitate Different Approaches.
Financial Booms and Busts as Mysteries.
Part I Five Lenses.
Chapter 1 Microeconomic Perspectives: To Equilibrium or Not?
"Random Walks" and Accurate Prices: The Efficient Market Hypothesis.
Constant Instability and Inefficiency: The Theory of Reflexivity.
Reconciling Efficiency and Reflexivity.
Chapter 2 Macroeconomic Perspectives: The Impact of Debt and Deflation on Asset Markets and Prices.
The Magnifying Power of Leverage.
Collateral Rates and Debt Dynamics.
Hyman Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis.
Debt Deflation and Asset Prices.
The Austrian Business Cycle Theory.
Integrating the Macro Lenses.
Chapter 3 The Psychology Lens: Homo economicus Meets Homo sapiens.
The Study of Irrationality Is Born.
Heuristics Gone Wild: How Rules of Thumb Lead Us Astray.
Our Flawed Brains: Other Cognitive Issues.
The Certainty of Uncertainty.
Chapter 4 Political Foundations: Evaluating Property Rights, Price Mechanisms, and Political Distortions.
Can Anyone Own Anything?
Prices: To Guide or Be Guided?
Political Distortions of Property and Price.
Chapter 5 Biol ogical Frameworks: Epidemiology and Emergence.
Revealing the Maturity of an Unsustainable Boom.
How Micro Simplicity Drives Macro Complexity.
Emergent Behavior in Human Swarms.
The Blind Leading the Blind.
Part II Historical Case Studies.
Chapter 6 Tulipomania: A Bubble in Seventeenth–Century Holland.
The Uniqueness of Tulips.
Fertile Soil for Bubble Formation.
The Boombustology of Tulipomania.
The Multilens Look.
Chapter 7 The Great Depression: From Roaring Twenties to Yawning Thirties.
Castles in the Sand.
From Booming Twenties to Busted Thirties.
The Boombustology of the Great Depression.
The Multilens Look.
Chapter 8 The Japanese Boom and Bust: A Credit–Fueled Bubble Economy.
Japan(ese) as Different.
An Overview of the Bubble Economy.
The Boombustology of the Japanese Boom and Bust.
The Multilens Look.
Chapter 9 The Asian Financial Crisis: The Mirage of a Miracle.
Boom Times in East Asia.
Thailand Catches the Flu.
The Boombustology of the Asian Financial Crisis.
The Multilens Look.
Chapter 10 The U.S. Housing Boom and Bust: The Homeowner’s Society Creates the People’s Panic.
"Safe as Houses".
The Music Stops.
The Boombustology of the U.S. Housing Boom and Bust.
The Multilens Look.
Part III Looking Ahead.
Chapter 11 Spotting Bubbles before They Burst: A Method for Identifying Unsustainable Booms.
Reflexivity and Self–Fulfilling Dynamics.
Leverage, Financial Innovation, and Cheap Money.
Overconfidence.
Policy–Driven Distortions.
Epidemics and Emergence.
Conclusions.
Chapter 12 Boombustology in Action: Is China Next?
Tendencies toward Equilibrium.
Leverage, Cheap Money, and Potential Deflation.
Conspicuous Consumption and Overconfidence.
Rights, Moral Hazard, and Political Distortion.
Consensus, Silent Leadership, and Epidemics.
T he Unsustainable Chinese Story.
Conclusion Hedgehogs, Foxes, and the Dangers of Making Predictions.
Notes.
About the Author.
Index.

Nota biograficzna:
VIKRAM MANSHARAMANI is an experienced global equity investor and a Lecturer at Yale University, where he teaches a seminar called "Financial Booms and Busts." Mansharamani has a PhD and MS from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an MS in political science from the MIT Security Studies Program, and a BA from Yale University. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Okładka tylna:
Praise for BoomBustOlogy
"Asset class bubbles are by far the most important events in the life of both stock markets and economies. Boombustology is a comprehensive, informative, and entertaining look into how bubbles form, what really constitutes a bubble, and, critically, the causes and circumstances of bubbles breaking. It is essential reading for any bubbliophile."
—Jeremy Grantham, Co–founder and Chief Investment Strategist, GMO
"Imaginative, accessible, and blessedly concise, Boombustology is a Baedeker for these boomy and busty times."
—James Grant, Grant′s Interest Rate Observer
"If there′s one thing that cleaves Wall Street′s winners from its losers, it′s the ability to say, ′I′ve seen this movie, and I know how it ends.′ VikramMansharamani′s Boombustology will entertain readers with an entire film festival of past, present, and future investment disaster flicks that willmake them laugh, make them cry, and save their bacon."
—William J. Bernstein, bestselling author of The Investor′s Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between
"Investors are attracted to bubbles. To paraphrase Orwell, they find themselves playing with fire without even knowing that fire is hot. Vikram Mansharamani′s highly readable book will set them right. It provides a sound intellectual framework for identifying bubbles before they burst. If you buy only one investment book this year, make it Boombustology."
—Edward Chancellor, author of Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation
"Through an artful and accessible melding of theoretical frame works and historical cases, Boombustology provides the essential tools to identify and navigate the financial booms and busts that can be so hazardous to one′s portfolio. Required reading for all investors."
—Paul A. Reeder, President, PAR Capital Management
"Who is the better investor: the generalist or the expert specialist? In this spirited book, Vikram Mansharamani brings to life five famous boom–bust episodes and argues for a multidisciplinary, generalist approach. Boombustology is an engaging read for specialists and generalists alike."
—John Geanakoplos, James Tobin Professor of Economics at Yale University; External Professor, the Santa Fe Institute; and Partner, Ellington Capital Management