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Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds |  | Author: Charles MacKay
Publisher: Wilder Publications
List Price: $14.99
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Rating:  69 reviews
Sales Rank: 53086
Media: Paperback
Pages: 440
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 1604594411
Dewey Decimal Number: 302
EAN: 9781604594416
ASIN: 1604594411
Publication Date: March 26, 2009
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Amazon.com Review
Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? Why do financially sensible people jump lemming-like into hare-brained speculative frenzies--only to jump broker-like out of windows when their fantasies dissolve? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk bonds of the '80s, and over-valued high-tech stocks of the '90s are peculiarly 20th century aberrations, but Mackay's classic--first published in 1841--shows that the madness and confusion of crowds knows no limits, and has no temporal bounds. These are extraordinarily illuminating,and, unfortunately, entertaining tales of chicanery, greed and naivete. Essential reading for any student of human nature or the transmission of ideas. In fact, cases such as Tulipomania in 1624--when Tulip bulbs traded at a higher price than gold--suggest the existence of what I would dub "Mackay's Law of Mass Action:" when it comes to the effect of social behavior on the intelligence of individuals, 1+1 is often less than 2, and sometimes considerably less than 0.
Product Description
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is a history of popular folly by Charles Mackay. The book chronicles its targets in three parts: "National Delusions," "Peculiar Follies," and "Philosophical Delusions." Learn why intelligent people do amazingly stupid things when caught up in speculative edevorse. The subjects of Mackay's debunking include alchemy, beards (influence of politics and religion on), witch-hunts, crusades and duels. Present day writers on economics, such as Andrew Tobias, laud the three chapters on economic bubbles.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 69
 The Best Book On Global Warming Ever Written! November 24, 2009
Patrick Sullivan (Kingston, Ont. Canada)
This book is a game changer. MacKay attempts to explain to people that human beings are inclined towards silly manias. He lists some of histories greatest episodes of total stupidity.
The financial manias of the South Sea Bubble, The Tulip Mania, and The Mississippi Scheme, are a must read for any would be investor. The lessons of any financial mania are timeless, as we all witnessed in the Dot Com bubble.
Humans will always be drawn to manias and silly trends. Sometimes these trends stay small and localized. At other times they explode into a world wide craze. MacKay lists some of the bigger manias, and outlines clear lessons to be learned. MacKay stresses that the group will whip itself into a frenzy, and only the individual has the brain power to identify the madness.
Once the reader is able to identify a wild craze, looking at world events will never be the same.
Do you remember hearing about the return of the Ice Age, in the late 1960s and early 70s? How about running out of oil, wheat, rice, and everything, in the 1970s. Acid rain killing the planet, back in the 1980s. Gee, I almost forgot about that one.
And of course the current Global Warming religious movement, is a truly world wild mania. It really is fun to laugh at these sort of events.
Mackay`s writing style is very old and rather boring. However, the message he delivers will live forever.
The Crowds Are Still Mad & Delusional September 5, 2009
Larry Underwood (Scottsdale, AZ)
Charles MacKay's Old English treatise on how seemingly rational individuals somehow manage to turn into totally irrational crowds is a maddenly fascinating piece of work. It's safe to say mankind hasn't progressed all that much in dealing with hype & hysteria since this was first published in the 1840s.
From Hitler mania in Nazi Germany to the perplexing disco fever in the '70s, society---or certain segments of society---continues to behave in strange & most bewildering ways; and I suppose it always will.
The conclusion I've drawn from all this is, people are easily drawn to beliefs or ideologies based on momentum. Momentum pays little or no attention to common sense or justice. It's fueled by human beings' inate desire to do what everybody else seems to be doing. This phenomenom is frequently called the "Bandwagon effect"; and once this wagon gets rolling, it's hard to stop.
Trying to understand the madness is a difficult task; usually, it's best performed after the movement or fad has ceased to exist. Hindsight will always be 20-20; those who are able to anticipate our delusional behavior before the fun begins will stand a chance of thriving in society better than the average lemming.
We are no different from our ancestors August 15, 2009
Mariusz Skonieczny (ClassicValueInvestors.blogspot.com)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I wanted to read this book to learn more about our current financial crisis. And I learned that if you think that the current financial crisis is an extraordinary event and our government will place proper regulations to prevent this from happening again, then you can keep on dreaming, or read this book instead. You will learn that manias such as what we experienced in the housing market and during the internet bubble are nothing new.
In this book, the author takes readers through the history all types of manias such as The Mississippi Scheme, The South Sea Bubble, and The Tulipomania. I found it amazing that we are no different from people 300 years ago. We are greedy and irrational and looking for quick ways to get rich. And unfortunately, we do not learn very well from history. This book is fabulous and I found it very interesting.
- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market
The Definitive History of Manias (Abridged) July 9, 2009
Mark Hughes (USA)
Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action?
First published in 1841, this Informative and entertaining book is the definitive history of manias. From ancient alchemy, to the crusades at the turn of the first century, witch-hunts during the 1400s to 1600s, tulip mania in 1624, and the Mississippi scheme and South Sea bubble of the 1700s, Mackay provides insights into human behavior which help explain the Great Crash of 1929, the Dot-Com bubble of the 1990s, and the recent global economic meltdown.
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.", Charles Mackay.
 Sometime Tedious, But Worth Reading June 7, 2009
Paul McClellan (Oregon, USA)
I found reading this book a mixed experience. Some chapters: "The Mississippi Scheme","The South Sea Bubble", and "The Tulipomania" were very interesting and describe behavior common with recent financial crises. "The Crusades" describes a time when Christendom waged "jihad" on the muslums of the Holy Lands. "The Witch Mania" describes how this fearful and violent superstition lingered into the eighteenth century, centuries after the Modern Era is considered to have begun. And "Duels and Ordeals" describes the suprisingly destructive effect of dueling on the higher classes of European society into the early nineteenth century. Yet other chapters seemed very tedious to read, with "The Alchymists", 200 pages of repetition, being the most tedious. On balance, though, this is a book worth reading.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 69
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