The Wisdom of Finance: Discovering Humanity in the World of Risk and Return

Amazon.com Price: $17.55 (as of 11/10/2019 05:29 PST- Details)

Description

“A fascinating new perspective on modern finance,” –Oliver Hart, 2016 Nobel Laureate in Economics

“Lucid, witty and delightfully erudite…From the French revolution to film noir, from the history of probability to Jane Austen and The Simpsons, this is an astonishing intellectual feast.” –Sebastian Mallaby, writer of The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan

Longlisted for 2017 Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year 

A 2017 AMAZON PICK IN BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP

A WealthManagement.com BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2017

In 1688, essayist Josef de la Vega described finance as both “the fairest and most deceitful business . . . the noblest and the most infamous on the planet, the finest and most vulgar {on earth|on the planet}.”

The characterization of finance as deceitful, infamous, and vulgar still rings true today – particularly in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. But, what happened to the fairest, noblest, and finest profession that de la Vega saw? 

De la Vega hit on an essential truth that has been forgotten: finance can be just as principled, life-affirming, and worthy as it may be fraught with questionable practices.  Today, finance is shrouded in mystery for outsiders, even as many insiders are uneasy with the disrepute of their profession.  How can finance transform more accessible and also recuperate its nobility?

Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai, in his “last lecture” to the graduating Harvard MBA class of 2015, took up the cause of restoring humanity to finance. With incisive wit and irony, his lecture drew upon a rich knowledge of literature, film, history, and philosophy to provide an explanation for the inner workings of finance in a manner that has never been seen before.

This book captures Desai’s lucid exploration of the ideas of finance as seen through the odd prism of the humanities. Through this novel, creative approach, Desai shows that outsiders can access the underlying ideas easily and insiders can reacquaint themselves with the core humanity of their profession.

The mix of finance and the humanities creates odd pairings: Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope are guides to risk management; Jeff Koons becomes an advocate of leverage; and Mel Brooks’s The Producers teaches us about fiduciary responsibility. In Desai’s vision, the principles of finance also provide answers to critical questions in our lives. Among many surprising parallels, bankruptcy teaches us how to react to failure, the lessons of mergers apply to marriages, and the Capital Asset Pricing Model demonstrates the true value of relationships.
THE WISDOM OF FINANCE is a wholly unique book, offering a refreshing new perspective on one of the vital world’s most complex and misunderstood professions.    

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