The book is very valuable to read. The explanation of how some theories help institutions and at other times hinder them is a helpful way to understand how not to be overly reliant on any specific set of ideas. The drawbacks of this book is the lack of consistency. The author's transitions from topic to topic are not very smooth to the point where it is difficult to grasp where one topic ends and another begins. There where many times in the book where the author gave very good descriptions of the theory behind a certain paper or person, but many times were the author wants to the readers to be credulous to theory without a proper explanation. In the 1st part of the book, it seems that some descriptions were of Bayesian Theory yet there was no mention of him. The best part about this book is to see the interconnections between various people who helped progress the field of economics. There are many insights in this book. ( )

A topic of absorbing interest among boys who have grown into men, has been the possibilities of beating the stock market in western capitalist free economies. The author takes us through an absorbing and competent journey, from the early economists like Adam Smith and Ricardo, rhrough the nineteenth-century mathematical students of probabiulity and prediction, the 20th-century periods of despair and optimism between and during the two great world wars, and so to the modern age of computers and financial whizz-kids who almost succeeded in destroying the whole financial system. One is impressed by the author's wide knowkedge of the major and minor actors and scholars over these few centuries, and also by his seeming deep understanding, at both the theoretical and the practical levels, of what is to most of us an imcomprehensible mine-field of obscure jargon and lies dressed up as half-truths. A truly erudite and comprehensive introduction to the subject, it can well form a road-map to anyone intending to study it in more depth. ( )

While I think John Cassidy's [b:How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities|6691186|How Markets Fail The Logic of Economic Calamities|John Cassidy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442955895s/6691186.jpg|6886629] is more accessible, this book definitely covers more ground. I think anyone planning on reading this book, though, might do better to start with [b:The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds|30334134|The Undoing Project A Friendship That Changed Our Minds|Michael Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464874845s/30334134.jpg|50830817] by Michael Lewis, because an understanding of Prospect Theory and Behavioral Economics would go a long way to understanding why the Efficient Market Hypothesis is based on false premises (the biggest false premise being the belief in rational actors). While the Efficient Market Hypothesis is an important and usable model for equities, and this book does make sure to emphasize that, it is a limited model that is not always correct. In fact, when it is wrong, it is very wrong. In the end, attempts to beat the market will always fail. More importantly: efforts to beat the market by creating new derivatives or other financial products will always lead to financial disaster. ( )

A good history of theory on how the stock market works (or doesn't) and how various people have tried to prove their theories. There is a fair amount of humor in it - not laugh out loud but rather what I think is called dry humor or tongue in cheek humor. I didn't expect that in a book about the market. ( )

http://pro-libertate.net/20130531/205-read-myth-rational-market ( )