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How Markets Fail
- The Logic of Economic Calamities
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
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Publisher's summary
In How Markets Fail, John Cassidy describes the rising influence of what he calls utopian economics, thinking that is blind to how real people act and which denies the many ways an unregulated free market can produce disastrous unintended consequences. He then looks to the leading edge of economic theory - including behavioral economics - to offer a new understanding of the economy, one that casts aside the old assumption that people and firms make decisions purely on the basis of rational self-interest.
Taking the global financial crisis and current recession as his starting point, Cassidy explores a world in which everybody is connected and social contagion is the norm. In such an environment, he shows, individual behavioral biases and kinks - such as overconfidence, envy, copy-cat behavior, and myopia - often give rise to troubling macroeconomic phenomena, such as oil-price spikes, CEO greed cycles, and boom-and-bust waves in housing. These are the inevitable outcomes of what Cassidy refers to as "rational irrationality" - self-serving behavior in a modern market setting.
Combining on-the-ground reporting, clear explanations of esoteric economic theories, and even a little crystal-ball gazing, Cassidy warns that in today's economic crisis, conforming to antiquated orthodoxies isn't just misguided - it's downright dangerous. How Markets Fail offers a new, enlightening way to understand the force of the irrational in our volatile global econ...
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- Unabridged
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Alan S. Blinder - esteemed Princeton professor, Wall Street Journal columnist, and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board under Alan Greenspan - is one of our wisest and most clear-eyed economic thinkers. In After the Music Stopped, he delivers a masterful narrative of how the worst economic crisis in postwar American history happened, what the government did to fight it, and what we must do to recover from it.
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Irresponsible, corrupt, and confused book
- By Thomas on 12-22-14
By: Alan S. Blinder
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Fool's Gold
- By: Gillian Tett
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Gillian Tett brings to life in gripping detail how the Morgan team's bold ideas for a whole new kind of financial alchemy helped to ignite a revolution in banking, and how that revolution escalated wildly out of control. The deeply reported and lively narrative takes readers behind the scenes, to the inner sanctums of elite finance and to the secretive reaches of what came to be known as the "shadow banking" world.
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Outstanding narrative about the financial crisis
- By D. Littman on 07-17-09
By: Gillian Tett
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Naked Money
- A Revealing Look at What It Is and Why It Matters
- By: Charles Wheelan
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Consider the $20 bill. It has no more value, as a simple slip of paper, than Monopoly money. Yet even children recognize that tearing one into small pieces is an act of inconceivable stupidity. What makes a $20 bill actually worth $20? In the third volume of his best-selling Naked series, Charles Wheelan uses this seemingly simple question to open the door to the surprisingly colorful world of money and banking.
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This is a beautiful audiobook, and well-narrated.
- By Thirsty Mind on 11-10-18
By: Charles Wheelan
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Economics for the Common Good
- By: Jean Tirole, Steven Rendell - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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When Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, he suddenly found himself being stopped in the street by complete strangers and asked to comment on issues of the day, no matter how distant from his own areas of research. His transformation from academic economist to public intellectual prompted him to reflect further on the role economists and their discipline play in society. The result is Economics for the Common Good, a passionate manifesto for a world in which economics, far from being a "dismal science," is a positive force for the common good.
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A Great Overview of the Challenges of Modern Econ
- By Zach Sullivan on 08-06-18
By: Jean Tirole, and others
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The Shifts and the Shocks
- What We've Learned - and Have Still to Learn - from the Financial Crisis
- By: Martin Wolf
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The Shifts and the Shocks is not another detailed history of the crisis, but the most persuasive and complete account yet published of what the crisis should teach us about modern economies and economics. The audiobook identifies the origin of the crisis in the complex interaction between globalization, hugely destabilizing global imbalances and our dangerously fragile financial system.
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Good on Europe's problems, fair global update
- By Philo on 01-08-15
By: Martin Wolf
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The Instant Economist
- Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works
- By: Timothy Taylor
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Economics isn't just about numbers: It's about politics, psychology, history, and so much more. We are all economists - when we work, save for the future, invest, pay taxes, and buy our groceries. Yet many of us feel lost when the subject arises. Award-winning professor Timothy Taylor here tackles all the key questions and hot topics of both microeconomics and macroeconomics, so you can understand and discuss economics on a personal, national, and global level.
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Timothy Taylor is the best
- By Jake on 02-15-15
By: Timothy Taylor
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The Myth of the Rational Market
- A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street
- By: Justin Fox
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Chronicling the rise and fall of the efficient market theory and the century-long making of the modern financial industry, Justin Fox’s The Myth of the Rational Market is as much an intellectual whodunit as a cultural history of the perils and possibilities of risk. The book brings to life the people and ideas that forged modern finance and investing, from the formative days of Wall Street through the Great Depression and into the financial calamity of today.
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Probably most interesting to economists
- By D. Martin on 06-29-12
By: Justin Fox
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The Ascent of Money
- A Financial History of the World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.
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A mostly successful and interesting history
- By A reader on 02-24-09
By: Niall Ferguson
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Borrowed Time
- Two Centuries of Booms, Busts, and Bailouts at Citi
- By: James Freeman, Vern McKinley
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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To save the economy and keep Citi afloat in 2008, the government provided huge infusions of cash through multiple bailouts that frustrated and angered the American public. But, as Wall Street Journal writer James Freeman and financial expert Vern McKinley reveal, the 2008 crisis was just one of many disasters Citi has experienced since its founding more than 200 years ago. In Borrowed Time they reveal Citi’s disturbing history of instability and government support. It’s a story that neither Citi nor Washington wants told.
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Biased
- By CF on 08-09-19
By: James Freeman, and others
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precise information
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Economic forces are everywhere around you. But that doesn't mean you need to passively accept whatever outcome those forces might press upon you. Instead, with these 12 fast-moving and crystal clear lectures, you can learn how to use a small handful of basic nuts-and-bolts principles to turn those same forces to your own advantage.
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Great for beginners, nothing you for an economist
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At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union to its surprise and delight found itself in control of a huge swath of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to Communism, a completely new political and moral system. In Iron Curtain, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum describes how the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were created and what daily life was like once they were complete.
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Important story, imperfectly executed
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What listeners say about How Markets Fail
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bruce
- 05-15-13
The anatomy of a domino effect of bad decisions.
Any additional comments?
I liked this book. There was nothing wrong with the narration or the book. It seemed politically neutral, but I could see anyone from the far right or left disagreeing with that statement. I liked that the author poked holes in so many economic philosophies. There was a lot of economic history crammed into this book. I didn't find any concepts hard to understand but there were times I had to re listen to a few things. The only drawback to this book is that it's a little dry, like it lacks emotion. I think this stems from the author's attempt to stay neutral.
I'm happy that I read this book and I have a better understanding of economics and the US mortgage meltdown because of it.
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- Simone Maria Romeo
- 11-28-20
Excellent history of economics + a unique concept
The author starts with an analysis of all major economic theories to dig deeper into the concept of rational irrationality: why actions that are reasonable at the individual level can be disastrous for the society as a whole.
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- philip may
- 01-29-22
A Very Thorough Survey
An excellent overview by someone who has serious technical understanding, but hasn't consumed the Kool aid.
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Overall
- Alexandra
- 02-26-10
Best single volume on the credit crunch
Of all the books that have chronicled the credit crunch, this one is the best overall. As opposed to some other books, it focuses very little on personalities, and mostly on the problems in academic economics, finance, and policy that allowed trillions of dollars to vanish. Although the book is a model of clarity, it might be tough going for someone with no background in economics or finance. Nonetheless, if you really want to understand what happened, this is the best of the bunch!
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Howard
- 07-26-10
A Superb History of Enonomic Thought
This audiobook was a delightful surprise for me. I have read numerous books on economics beginning with Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations." I remember suffering through Samuelson's classic text - somehow I was uncomfortable with unrestrained free market capitalism without knowing exactly why. Smith's 'Invisible Hand" has never delivered on its promises. Even today economists such as Murray Rothbard of the Austrian School insist that government intervention has always prevented the "hand" from performing its magic.
Then, we have the Keynesians who recognize the need for some government intervetion to moderate the business and economic cycles. It, too, in its various versions such as the Neokeynesians
have failed to deliver.
To lead up to his main argument about the need for regulating banks, Cassidy has written a clear readable summary and history of economic thought. This, by itself, makes the book a must listen for everyone with interest in such things.
Cassidy goes on to explain why unfettered free market competition in the.financial world cannot work. With the passage of the bloated financial regulatory bill, we'll how things work out. To have some insight into history as it is happening, the book is an essential audit.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Christopher Lynch
- 01-11-21
A serious analysis of the failures of laissez-faire economics
Warning— this is a nerd book not a light read. But it has an important message that resounds more than a decade after publication. The first two thirds of the book is a brilliant analysis of the evolution of economic theory. This is far superior to what I learned in graduate studies on economic history. But what it does is to discredit laissez-fairer approaches. He then applies his “reality economics” to show how the unwavering belief in free markets led to the 2008-9 Great Recession. If you studied economics , you likely got only part of the story on how markets work and fail. This should change your perceptions. So much of our current political turmoil is based on superficial understanding of supply and demand—in the end markets, particularly financial markets, can regulate themselves. We need fresh non-ideological thinking.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-02-12
Lucid
Where does How Markets Fail rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
In the non fiction category, this is one of the best
What did you like best about this story?
Cassidy is a lucid writer explaining the many very complicated economic issues over the last 20 years; these culminated in the market crash of 2008, and he does a great job reviewing the background economics and how the conventional thinkers failed to see what was happening. He does this in a straightforward style easy for non economists like me to understand. This is very important stuff for all the rest of us to understand. Great job!
What does Ralph Cosham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Clear voice, well paced
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
N.A.
Any additional comments?
This book enlightened me; I anticipate buying the print version to
have as a reference for future disasters
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- aRandomSkeptic
- 04-17-21
Good review of economics history
And different schools of though. Although the author clearly is partial to a particular point of view, he doesn’t belabor on it too much.
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- Don Vesco
- 01-21-22
Good rear view mirror
The neo liberal view is interesting now, and although Trump is undoubtedly responsible for 50 years of economic mayhem( lol), one could almost see where socialists at the highest level might be assigned some blame. Cassidy didn’t indicate that in this well written piece, but might well have a different view now, were he not so deeply aligned with authoritarian government.
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- Ryan
- 06-10-12
Rational irrationality explained
How Markets Fail promotes a view that I think ought to be common sense to Americans, but seems to get lost in today's climate of mindless, media-fueled political hysteria: that free markets, while they provide many benefits that can't be achieved through central planning, will malfunction without rules and external guidance. The 2008 housing crisis and subsequent market collapse was nothing less than a textbook failure of government to step in stop lenders and banks from playing a game that everyone paying attention knew was deeply risky, however profitable the bubble was for players in the short term. And the bailouts that followed were proof that allowing irresponsible pursuit of private gains can lead to socialized losses, the opposite of what free markets are supposed to do.
How Markets Fail is a book in three parts, each of which is geared towards readers who haven't had more than superficial exposure to the topics discussed -- if you have, you'll probably want to skip ahead. The first part is a condensed history of modern free market economics, introducing readers to influential figures like Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, Vilfredo Pareto, Milton Friedman, Robert Lucas, Cecil Pigou, and John Kenyes, then connecting them to present day economists like Alan Greenspan and Paul Krugman. If, like me, you lack formal training in economics, you'll find handy explanations of a few terms and ideas you might have heard bandied about before.
The second part of the book focuses on where utopian free market ideology breaks down, in light of game theory, behavioral psychology, and other modern, scientific fields of analysis. Cassidy does an admirable job of keeping his arguments balanced, putting forth sober talking points that don't assume villainous motives on the part of any group of people. Rational self-interest, while it often propels trading relationships that work to the mutual benefit of everyone involved, can also lead to behavior that’s destructive to the best interests of a community. Consider, for example, factory owners who know that installing environmentally-friendly machinery is better for everyone, but can't realistically risk committing to this expense if they don't expect that their competitors will. Or health care markets that incentivize insurance providers to jack up premiums for customers who aren't healthy. Or the tendency of large-scale businesses to overcome smaller ones, thus enabling a few elites to dominate markets and pay themselves exorbitant salaries while driving down wages for those beneath them. At least, Cassidy makes a convincing case that different markets have different patterns, and need to be thought about differently, with a reality-based view towards human needs and behavior.
Part three is an overview of the recent subprime mess, illustrating from a high level the chain of events that led to the meltdown, and the laissez faire policies that enabled them (which Cassidy blames primarily on Alan Greenspan, the one person he really criticizes). I thought this part was well-presented, and did a lot to hammer home the points in part two. Protecting individual foolish home buyers from themselves isn’t the government’s job, but stopping actions that fool a lot of people at once and lead to a national blowout *is* the government’s job.
Where the book fell a little short for me, though, was in its lack of coherent ideas on how to make government intervention effective. I'm rather skeptical of libertarian views and think it's impossible for governments not to intervene in markets and corporate activities that are global, whether ideology makes them do it sooner or later. However, as we know, Washington DC can be about as agile and precise as King Kong swatting at planes (or not, if they're bringing him gifts of bananas), and people determined to make a profit will always find a way to get around regulations, bend them in ways not intended, or even help write them, fooling the public with benevolent-sounding language while craftily selling out the public's best interests. What criteria should DC use to decide when to give economic matters serious attention and when to push issues it doesn't have the fine-grainedness to handle well back to markets? How do we deal with a world where some corporations have more clout than actual cities, states, or even countries? There aren't easy answers.
Acknowledging the problem is the first step, though, and I think that How Markets Fail will help many readers do that.
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7 people found this helpful