Adaptive Markets

Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought

By: Andrew W. Lo

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Half of all Americans have money in the stock market, yet economists can't agree on whether investors and markets are rational and efficient, as modern financial theory assumes, or irrational and inefficient, as behavioral economists believe - and as financial bubbles, crashes, and crises suggest.

This is one of the biggest debates in economics, and the value or futility of investment management and financial regulation hang on the outcome. In this groundbreaking book, Andrew W. Lo cuts through this debate with a new framework, the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis, in which rationality and irrationality coexist.

Drawing on psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other fields, Adaptive Markets shows that the theory of market efficiency isn't wrong but merely incomplete. When markets are unstable, investors react instinctively, creating inefficiencies for others to exploit. Lo's new paradigm explains how financial evolution shapes behavior and markets at the speed of thought - a fact revealed by swings between stability and crisis, profit and loss, and innovation and regulation.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Princeton University Press (P)2018 Tantor

Made finance enjoyable

If you could sum up Adaptive Markets in three words, what would they be?

Made finance understandable.

What other book might you compare Adaptive Markets to and why?

The only one I can think of right now is "Black Swan." But this one is straightforward whereas the the other one is little pompous.

Which scene was your favorite?

Not applicable.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not applicable.

Any additional comments?

If you want to understand finance from a leading expert who explains it without using any formulas, then get this book. It is long but well worth the effort. You will be much smarter than before.

pie in the sky socialist finance marketing.

listened twice. ideas outside the box. analaogy: written by someone from the marketing Dept of a finance magazine

Deserves a higher score, but could not download the extra pet from audio books nor from the publisher's website.

Presents some interesting concepts that connect stock market behavior with natural processes. Interesting and informative. Now i need some excel file so I can put adaptive techniques into use...

Meandering

Insights into the workings of the finance industry are very interesting but the “text” meanders. The adaptive markets hypothesis is also interesting but it’s not compelling.

World Changing

A truly incredible work produced by an exceptional mind. The interdisciplinary components of this text are astounding. The last three chapters are world changing.

Slow buildup leading to deep insights

I'm not an expert in finance or economics, but A.W. Lo seems to be cited highly enough to imply that he is.

This audible is a bit slow at first as Lo builds up his arguments in favor of his Adaptive Markets Hypothesis. He warns and apologizes to the reader in the intro about the extensive length required for the book to relay his intended message. He spends a lot time upfront on evolutionary and developmental biology, then behavioral economics, and finally leads into implications for financial economics.

I think he pulls it all together very well, and the narrator does a great job adding interest so it doesn't feel so long and drawn out.

I started this audible soon after finishing The Money Formula, by Paul Wilmott. I think the two books complement each other well.

Not to much about adoptive markets

If you remove everything not related to the adoptive market subject, the book will be 3 times smaller. I'd like too hear deeper analisys and less medical discussions.

Excellent description human behavior and finances

Narrator easy to listen to,
extremely interesting and sheds new light on not just our financial markets behave but how they are connect to human behavior.

Eye opener and unique insights

this book literally makes you rethink how you originally thought about financial markets. it's insightful and I would say a more complete picture of what happens in the markets. I always felt that there something missing in mental model of how markets function because I have been observing them for a long time and this book fills the gaps and enabled me to reimagine things in new light.

Quants and physics

It's nice to know that people are moving beyond these older models. I found this book more confirming than inventive.