Category Archives: Book review
Review of “Money, Blood and Revolution” by George Cooper
How Darwin and the doctor of King Charles I could turn economics into a science. Executive summary If you are confused by economics, then you should read this book. If you are not confused by economics, then you really, really need to read this book. The book is inexpensive, not very long, and it’s important … Continue reading
Review of ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman
I put off reading this book because I thought that I would already know most of its contents. I was wrong. Really wrong. There is a review with a more statistical orientation on the Burns Statistics site. Here the focus is towards economics. The topics that most directly impinge on fund management are: prospect theory versus … Continue reading
Review of “Governance Reimagined” by David Koenig
The subtitle is “Organizational Design, Risk, and Value Creation”. Executive summary This should be a business book bestseller — it simply and clearly explains the process of value creation. Its great disadvantage for bestsellerdom is that it doesn’t pretend there are magic bullets that create value. No one’s perfect. The gist I’ve met David a … Continue reading
Posted in Book review, Risk
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Introduction to “Tao Te Programming”
The author is Patrick Burns. Genesis While I was in the early planning stages of a programming class (the one highlighted here), I became dissatisfied. Many elements of programming — especially good programming — are not usually discussed in programming classes. The typical class focuses on how to slot the screwdriver into the screw and … Continue reading
Review of “R For Dummies”
The authors are Andrie de Vries and Joris Meys. Executive summary Pretty much all I’d hoped for — and I had high hopes. Significance The “Dummies” series is popular for introducing specific topics in an inviting way. R For Dummies is a worthy addition to the pack. There is a competitor by the name of … Continue reading
Posted in Book review, R language
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Annotations for “R For Dummies”
Here are detailed comments on the book. Elsewhere there is a review of the book. How to read R For Dummies In order to learn R you need to do something with it. After you have read a little of the book, find something to do. Mix reading and doing your project. You cannot win … Continue reading
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Review of “Numerical Methods and Optimization in Finance” by Gilli, Maringer and Schumann
Previously This book and the associated R package were introduced before. Executive Summary A very nice — and enlightening — discussion of a wide range of topics. Principles The Introduction to the book sets out 5 principles. This is probably the most important part of the book. The principles are: We don’t know much in … Continue reading
Posted in Book review, Quant finance, R language
Tagged heuristic optimization, simulation
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Two new, important books on R
Two books were recently published that are sure to help R grow even faster. R has a reputation, partially deserved, for being hard to learn. These books will help. The first makes learning easier, the second can make learning less necessary for initiates. I have not yet touched either book. R for Dummies The authors … Continue reading
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Review of “The Origin of Financial Crises” by George Cooper
The subtitle is “Central banks, credit bubbles and the efficient market fallacy”. Executive summary This is much too important of a book to remain as obscure as it is. Besides, it is quite a fun read. It talks about two subjects: Why markets for goods and services tend toward equilibrium but financial markets do not. … Continue reading
Review of “Models. Behaving. Badly.” by Emanuel Derman
Why confusing illusion with reality can lead to disaster, on Wall Street and in life. Note that the cover is more clever than you might at first notice. Ceci n’est pas une pipe. You might also have a guess at the reason for the punctuation in the title. Executive summary Non-quants should embrace models more, … Continue reading
Posted in Book review, Quant finance
Tagged efficient market hypothesis, efficient market model
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