August, 2009
I read a great book, Animal Spirits, by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller. This is a sample of what I learned.
Robert Shiller:
He specializes in behavioral finance, real estate and risk management topics. He was an early challenger of the Efficient Markets Theory.
George Akerlof:
He wrote the famous article “The Market for Lemons” about asymmetrical information. He also won the Nobel prize – how impressive!
Shiller is an economist at Yale and he is the Shiller part of the Case-Shiller Housing index
Akerlof is an economist at Berkeley. This book is essentially a rebuttal to the efficient market theory. They examine the current economy and explain that psychological causes – “Animal Spirits” helped to bring about the mess we are in.
