Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity

Michael M. Lewis

W. W. Norton & Company, 2009 - Business & Economics - 391 pages

When it comes to markets, the first deadly sin is greed. Michael Lewis is our jungle guide through five of the most violent and costly upheavals in recent financial history: the crash of '87, the Russian default (and the subsequent collapse of Long-Term Capital Management), the Asian currency crisis of 1999, the Internet bubble, and the current sub-prime mortgage disaster. With his trademark humor and brilliant anecdotes, Lewis paints the mood and market factors leading up to each event, weaves contemporary accounts to show what people thought was happening at the time, and then, with the luxury of hindsight, analyzes what actually happened and what we should have learned from experience.

As he proved in Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, and Moneyball, Lewis is without peer in his understanding of market forces and human foibles. He is also, arguably, the funniest serious writer in America.

Contents

• III: 14
• IV: 20
• VI: 25
• VII: 30
• VIII: 36
• IX: 43
• X: 47
• XI: 50
• XII: 54
• XIII: 57
• XV: 62
• XVI: 65
• XVII: 71
• XVIII: 75
• XIX: 79
• XX: 82
• XXI: 83
• XXII: 86
• XXIII: 96
• XXIV: 106
• XXV: 110
• XXVI: 113
• XXVII: 124
• XXVIII: 145
• XXIX: 148
• XXX: 153
• XXXI: 157
• XXXII: 162
• XXXIII: 163
• XXXIV: 165
• XXXV: 169
• XXXVI: 176
• XXXVII: 186
• XXXVIII: 193
• XXXIX: 208
• XL: 216
• XLI: 219
• XLII: 228
• XLIII: 231
• XLIV: 234
• XLV: 239
• XLVI: 259
• XLVII: 264
• XLVIII: 276
• XLIX: 283
• L: 294
• LI: 299
• LII: 308
• LIII: 313
• LIV: 316
• LV: 330
• LVI: 332
• LVII: 341
• LVIII: 345
• LIX: 350
• LX: 353
• LXI: 356
• LXII: 359
• LXIII: 367
• LXIV: 369
• LXV: 379
• LXVI: 387

About the author

Michael Lewis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 15, 1960. He received a BA in art history from Princeton University in 1982 and a Masters in economics from the London School of Economics in 1985. He is a non-fiction author/journalist of mostly financial themes. His books include Liar's Poker, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, The Money Culture, Boomerang, Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine and The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity
• Editor: Michael M. Lewis
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009
• ISBN: 0393065146, 9780393065145
• Length: 391 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Economic Conditions; Business & Economics / Economic History; Business & Economics / Economics / General; Business & Economics / Economics / Social & Behavioral; Business & Economics / Finance / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Journalism; Political Science / General