Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises
“This book is an essay in what is derogatorily called “literary economics,” as opposed to mathematical economics, econometrics, or (embracing them both) the “new economic history.” Brought ahead of the Academy program in NYC as recommended reading, Kindleberger describes the system for collective human delusion. “Money is a public good; as such, it lends itself to private exploitation.” Markets are emotional weather systems pretending to be rational machines. Panic spreads socially. Euphoria spreads socially. Civilization periodically hallucinates value into existence and then acts shocked when the hallucination collapses. When everyone suddenly sounds certain. When complexity gets replaced by slogans. When risk gets renamed innovation. ...