Panic!, Michael Lewis
Panic!, Michael Lewis
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Panic!
The Story of Modern Financial Insanity

Author: Michael Lewis

Narrator: Jesse Boggs, Blair Hardman

Abridged: 7 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/30/2008


Synopsis


Featuring an exclusive interview with the author, "America's poet laureate of capital" (The Los Angeles Times)

When it comes to markets, the first deadly sin is greed. In Panic!, #1 bestselling author Michael Lewis has chosen several pieces of brilliant journalism to illuminate 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. Among the unabridged selections are several pieces by Lewis himself, whose writing also introduces each section, as well as contributions from Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman, James Surowiecki and others writing in Fortune, The New Yorker and The New York Times.

Some of the pieces paint the mood and market factors leading up to the particular crash, or show what people thought was happening at the time. Others, with the luxury of hindsight, analyze what actually happened. There are sobering messages common to these narratives: the lessons that should have been learned along the way were for the most part ignored; and when push comes to shove -- when all investors run to the same side of the boat -- the carefully devised protections against risk turn out to be wishful thinking.

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

About Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis, the bestselling author of The Undoing Project, Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, and The Big Short, among other works, lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and three children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Eskay on December 17, 2023

"Panic" is particularly relevant due to its timing, released shortly after the 2008 financial crisis. It offers insights into the factors and systemic issues that contributed to the crisis, shedding light on the inner workings of financial markets.......more

Goodreads review by Toe on January 20, 2019

Objective Summary This book compiles news articles about four instances of financial panic: the Black Monday crash of October 19, 1987; the Mexico, Russia, and Asia panics of the 1990’s; the internet bubble and bust in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s; and the real estate bubble and bust in the mid-2......more

Goodreads review by Tim on November 15, 2015

Another 'hindsight' review, this time of a collection of material from 2008, largely contemporaneous articles curated by Michael Lewis, one of late capitalism's best known chroniclers. The material covers the stock market crash of 1987 (blamed at the time on automated trading), the Asian currency cri......more

Goodreads review by David on March 19, 2009

Interesting, well-chosen collection of newspaper and magazine pieces, a couple by the editor but most of them not, from before/during/after some recent business/$-related crises (oct. 1987 stock market crash, Asian markets crash late 90's, tech bubble of 2000 or so, housing bubble, subprime mortgage......more

Goodreads review by Ann on January 15, 2009

Lewis believes that recent costly financial upheavals (crash of 1987, Russian default of 1987,, the Asian currency crisis of 1999, and the current subprime) were caused by a recurring problem of models underestimating the risk of rare events, thereby encouraging investors to take more chances than t......more