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Irrational Exuberance |  | Author: Robert J. Shiller
Publisher: Broadway Business
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $8.53
as of 11/21/2009 18:57 CST details
You Save: $7.47 (47%)
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Seller: zp_books
Rating:  90 reviews
Sales Rank: 6144
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0767923634
Dewey Decimal Number: 330
EAN: 9780767923637
ASIN: 0767923634
Publication Date: May 9, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
CNBC, day trading, the Motley Fool, Silicon Investor--not since the 1920s has there been such an intense fascination with the U.S. stock market. For an increasing number of Americans, logging on to Yahoo! Finance is a habit more precious than that morning cup of joe (as thousands of SBUX and YHOO shareholders know too well). Yet while the market continues to go higher, many of us can't get Alan Greenspan's famous line out of our heads. In Irrational Exuberance, Yale economics professor Robert J. Shiller examines this public fascination with stocks and sees a combination of factors that have driven stocks higher, including the rise of the Internet, 401(k) plans, increased coverage by the popular media of financial news, overly optimistic cheerleading by analysts and other pundits, the decline of inflation, and the rise of the mutual fund industry. He writes: "Perceived long-term risk is down.... Emotions and heightened attention to the market create a desire to get into the game. Such is irrational exuberance today in the United States." By history's yardstick, Shiller believes this market is grossly overvalued, and the factors that have conspired to create and amplify this event--the baby-boom effect, the public infatuation with the Internet, and media interest--will most certainly abate. He fears that too many individuals and institutions have come to view stocks as their only investment vehicle, and that investors should consider looking beyond stocks as a way to diversify and hedge against the inevitable downturn. This is a serious and well-researched book that should read like a Stephen King novel to anyone who has staked his or her future on the market's continued success. --Harry C. Edwards
Product Description
As Robert Shiller’s new 2009 preface to his prescient classic on behavioral economics and market volatility asserts, the irrational exuberance of the stock and housing markets “has been ended by an economic crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.” As we all, ordinary Americans and professional investors alike, crawl from the wreckage of our heedless bubble economy, the shrewd insights and sober warnings, and hard facts that Shiller marshals in this book are more invaluable than ever.
The original and bestselling 2000 edition of Irrational Exuberance evoked Alan Greenspan’s infamous 1996 use of that phrase to explain the alternately soaring and declining stock market. It predicted the collapse of the tech stock bubble through an analysis of the structural, cultural, and psychological factors behind levels of price growth not reflected in any other sector of the economy. In the second edition (2005), Shiller folded real estate into his analysis of market volatility, marshalling evidence that housing prices were dangerously inflated as well, a bubble that could soon burst, leading to a “string of bankruptcies” and a “worldwide recession.” That indeed came to pass, with consequences that the 2009 preface to this edition deals with.
Irrational Exuberance is more than ever a cogent, chilling, and astonishingly far-seeing analytical work that no one with any money in any market anywhere can afford not to read–and heed.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 90
 Even Professors need a second income July 19, 2009
David Doggett (Jupiter, Florida)
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
When I obtained this book, I figured it had information about both investments and the economy. Like any other book of this type, I always ask, "How can I be a better investor or what new information can I learn about the economy". The book cover explained the book would be about bubbles such as the real estate and housing bubble.
Unfortunately, I was seriously disappointed in a book written by a Yale University professor. In the beginning and throughout the book, Mr. Shiller explains more about surveys that he did. In one case, he was very proud of the way he did his survey. Apparantly, he can ask the right question to get the right answer. I could never figure out how useful these surveys were but they seem to make good fillers for a book.
The book become briefly interesting around page 100. Yes! Page 100. At this time he introduces unlikely investors in previous bubbles such as hotel waiters, etc. This is a good point since my own experience has suggested unlikely investors in all bubbles. In the 30's it was the shoeshine boy, in the late 70's it was the priest, and the late 2000's it was the sports figures.
Again, the book becomes interesting around page 200 for a discussion about regulation. This discussion was very shallow and never really mentioned the real cause of the housing meltdown. My own analysis always suggested former President Clinton started it and then was allowed to continue unchecked my fellow democrats. In the index of the book you can find Clinton's name mention once. I would say -- not good research for a professor. However, Mr. Shiller is good at conducting surveys.
Towards the end of the book, I figured this is a second edition so he must be like a movie producer trying to profit off his first success. Later, I figure the professor is like any one else trying to make a living -- just slap something together and it might sell! In the end, was I a better investor because I read the book -- No. Did I learn anything new (and useful) regarding economics -- No. If you have to read it, borrow the book from the library.
 Rational exuberance February 18, 2009
W. Heim (Colorado)
1 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book does not quite work because the author gives us no algorithm to determine when the market is irrationally exuberant or merely going up.
 Great Book for the Times December 6, 2008
C. J. Ehley (Champaign, IL)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book tries to get at the heart of what causes bubbles. Schiller is honest that there is no one cause that can be purely attributed the to building of a financial bubble nor does he contend that the bursting of a bubble can be predictable. He uses examples from all the major stock market crashes from the past century. Part of focus is on the media and its influence on the generals public attitude towards various asset classes, mostly stocks and housing. Its a great reference to have if you think another bubble is on the verge of building as the book cites repeated themes that can be seen in the media that occurred in other bubble creation.
Great read. Won't get your rich (at least now) because we just missed one of the largest bubbles ever to be seen in housing. However, if humans are still running the world for the next 50 years be assured we'll have some more bubbles to come.
This phrase will live in infamy July 19, 2008
A. Fryman (Central Coast, CA)
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
Great book based on the phrase spoken by Greenspan to try and slow down the economy.
 not much food April 14, 2008
Barrier Options (London School of Economics)
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
not much food in the book overall..a very shallow and general talk, but i found it interesting to see his comments (p220) on the interest rate and other potential risks in the mortgage market back in 2005. some of the points he mentioned are indeed drivers of the recent subprime meltdown
Showing reviews 1-5 of 90
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