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Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation (Paperback)
by Edward Chancellor
| Category:
Financial Speculation, Financial risk, Risk management, Wall Street |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An outstanding overview of the history of speculation, and a reminder on how we easily forget the lessons of history. |
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Author: Edward Chancellor
Publisher: Plume
Pub. in: June, 2000
ISBN: 0452281806
Pages: 400
Measurements: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00786
Other information: Reissue edition
ISBN-13: 978-0452281806
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- Awards & Credential -
A New York Times National Book of the Year. |
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- MSL Picks -
"The four most expensive words in the English language are 'this time it's different.'" It sums up the most important lesson to be learned from this outstanding history of speculation, which focuses in particular on those manic episodes called bubbles, in which the prices of assets are driven to levels far above those justified by the assets' underlying fundamentals.
Edward Chancellor is a journalist for the Financial Times and Chancellor's account, while not a comprehensive study of speculation, thoroughly examines major speculative periods from the tulip mania of the early 17th century, to the Japanese "bubble economy" of the 1980's. Three repeating motifs characterize these speculative episodes. First is the irrationality of financial markets, especially the way in which people of all eras are susceptible to the euphoria which inflates a bubble. Second is the constant recurrence of manipulation of markets by the greedy and unethical, the likes of Jay Gould and his associates.
The third and most important theme is the existence of parallels between past speculative bubbles and conditions in our own time. Chancellor convincingly argues, for example, that the internet mania of today is similar in many ways to the British railway bubble of the 1840's. The author has delivered one of the most balanced and well researched expositions on runaway speculation.
(From quoting Mark Wylie, USA)
Target readers:
Readers who are interested in Wall Street, risk management and finacial history.
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Edward Chancellor studied history in Great Britain at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities. In the early 1990s he worked for the investment bank Lazard Brothers. He is a freelance journalist.
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From the publisher
Many modern economists hold that speculation is a benign economic activity, that it is always rational in motivation and rarely adverse in its effects. The struggles of the United States after the Crash of 1929 and of Japan in the 1990s suggest otherwise. Some commentators, the billionaire financier George Soros among them, believe that growing speculative forces threaten a global financial crisis.
Devil Take the Hindmost is an original and challenging history of stock-market speculation from the seventeenth century to the present day. Through vivid accounts of the speculative activities (wise and unwise) of investors ranging from Daniel Defoe and Benjamin Disraeli to Ivan Boesky and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Edward Chancellor shows that speculation is not driven solely by the desire to make money - by fear and greed - but springs from a wider range of human compulsions and aspirations.
Chancellor traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world: from the Tulip Mania in Holland in the 1630s and the stock-jobbers in London's Exchange Alley at the end of the seventeenth century to the on-line "day-traders" of the information age.
Devil Take the Hindmost charts the development of speculation in the United States from the middle of the nineteenth century in chapters on Jay Gould and the Gilded Age, the Roaring Twenties, and the junkbond mania of the 1980s. According to Chancellor, the American passion for speculation derives from the notion's fierce competitiveness and appetite for risk. This is a source both of the nation's strength - as shown by the vibrant U.S. economy in the 1990s - and of its potential weakness, as the lessons of the Great Depression of the 1930s suggest.
A chapter on the 'bubble economy' of the 1980s shows how the anarchic force of speculation undermined the Japanese economic system; and in an epilogue, Chancellor examines contemporary arguments for and against speculation in light of the recent crisis at the Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund.
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| View all 8 comments |
Charles P. Kindleberger (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
Edward Chancellor has combined his considerable talents as historian and banker to produce a riveting book. Here is a bonus for the banker, broker, investor, and idle Wall Street onlooker. |
Rolf Dobelli (MSL quote), Switzerland
<2007-05-30 00:00>
This is a thoroughly engaging book about the world of financial speculation. Edward Chancellor discusses the origins of financial markets from the time of the Roman Empire through the modern Internet bubble. The book offers great insights about stock exchanges, outbreaks of speculation mania, and the fraud and greed that accompany any human endeavor. He presents in-depth reviews of many well-known "speculative manias" and several of the lesser-known ones. We at getAbstract recommend this book to anyone who wants a thoughtful treatment of a subject that touches all our lives. |
Andrew Desmond (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
Speculation is nothing new to humankind. Given that humans naturally seek more, then speculation is a normal part of that process. Put simply, speculation has always been with us and always will be with us.
Edward Chancellor's work, which is sub-titled "A History of Financial Speculation", covers history from the time of Tulipomania in 17th century Holland to the collapse of the modern Japanese economic bubble and the trade in junk bonds in America. If the book were to be revised, I am sure that Chancellor could readily cover the bursting of the dot com bubble and the ongoing travails of Japan.
In essence, "Devil Take the Hindmost" is a history of crowd madness. That is, an otherwise rational individual will often behave in a different manner when guided by a group. Such an individual may load up on dot com companies even though the price earnings ratios are screaming sell simply because others a buying and the market is trending upwards. However, as with all bubbles, there will be a bust. Bubbles come and go. When someone claims that "this time it's different", alarm bells should start to ring. The individual who can see reason in the crowd is the one who will avoid the inevitable slump.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in financial history. My only criticism is that Chancellor seems to think that speculation can sometimes be contained. This is not the case. Speculation lies at the heart of our modern economy. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
I enjoyed this book very much. Chancellor was able to shine some new light on many well discussed topics. The book is well written & researched, the footnotes alone would make for an interesting read. Full of trivia, factoids & other amusing mishaps. For those interested in general finacial history, speculation included, look at Charles Geisst's book, "Wall Street: A History". Timely, insightful & entertaining. |
View all 8 comments |
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