Product Description

Praise for Paving Wall Street

"This is a remarkable book that weaves the deep scientific roots of modern finance and modern financial institutions with humorous perspective and considerable wisdom. Few understand the pervasive and complex economic principles that govern our world of finance. Few are aware of the academic and scientific origins of financial practices and market instruments that are commonplace today. Ross Miller uses his experience and talents acquired as an experimental economist to help us understand a world that is contradictory, potentially dangerous, and paradoxical. He entertains us while doing it." --Charles R. Plott, Edward S. Harkness Professor of Economics and Political Science, California Institute of Technology

"Decisions by millions of individuals produce the fierce tides and churning seas of Wall Street. Miller wields his microscope in the laboratory of experimental economics to provide a sprightly and insightful analysis of investor behavior." --Richard Zeckhauser, Frank P. Ramsey Professor of Political Economy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

"Dramatic new ways for buying and selling-spectrum auctions, e-commerce, derivatives-are the economics profession's contribution to the Information Revolution. This book explains how many of these innovations began with simple experiments at Caltech. The style is a refreshing combination-dramatic and fun to read, but also historically and scientifically accurate. So, I can send one to my Dad, a salesman, and another to my girlfriend, a patent attorney." --Colin Camerer, Rea and Lela Axline Professor of Business Economics, California Institute of Technology

"Paving Wall Street is a first-rate insight into bubbles and the experimental research performed on the topic by leading academicians such as Vernon Smith." --David Dreman, Chairman, Dreman Value Management

"Academic ideas have revolutionized how Wall Street operates. Entirely new markets have been created. This revolution continues today, accelerated by the rise of increasingly automated markets. Ross Miller has produced a book that makes the leading-edge financial and economic thinking that shapes these new markets accessible to practitioners and professionals. With no equations and a deft touch, this is an excellent guide to the future of greater Wall Street." --David J. Leinweber, PhD, Economics/Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1126758 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-07
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.15" h x 6.32" w x 9.30" l, 1.25 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review
"The best account of all of the new developments so far has just appeared. ''Paving Wall Street: Experimental Economics & the Quest for the Perfect Market,'' by Ross M. Miller, moves far beyond Peter Bernstein's two classic volumes, ''Capital Ideas'' and ''Against the Odds.''

For many years the author headed General Electric's Quantitative Finance Group. He weaves together developments in finance, game theory, and experimental economics to give a clear and up-to-date picture of rocket science as it is applied at the highest levels on Wall Street." (The Boston Globe)

From the Inside Flap
Paving Wall Street explores the unfinished business of capitalism. While markets have prevailed over central planning in one country after another, Wall Street continues to experience disconcerting episodes of exuberance and despair. Traditional methods of financial and economic analysis provide little comfort for typical investors, whose supposed irrationality often serves as a scapegoat for the market's problems.

Dr. Miller presents an engaging account of experimental economics, a new field that examines the interplay between markets and human behavior under controlled conditions. Experimental economists have been able to reproduce the stock market bubbles and crashes in laboratories around the world. While human psychology may contribute to the market's problems, experimentalists have found that even a simple change in the rules that govern a market can lead to a dramatic improvement in its performance. A natural outgrowth of experimental economics has been the creation of "smart markets" designed to overcome the flaws of existing markets.

Paving Wall Street is packed with insights into why financial markets behave the way they do and where they might be headed in the future. Whether you manage your own portfolio or are just curious about what moves the market, this book will open your eyes to the inner workings of Wall Street and the global economy.

From the Back Cover
Praise for Paving Wall Street

"This is a remarkable book that weaves the deep scientific roots of modern finance and modern financial institutions with humorous perspective and considerable wisdom. Few understand the pervasive and complex economic principles that govern our world of finance. Few are aware of the academic and scientific origins of financial practices and market instruments that are commonplace today. Ross Miller uses his experience and talents acquired as an experimental economist to help us understand a world that is contradictory, potentially dangerous, and paradoxical. He entertains us while doing it." --Charles R. Plott, Edward S. Harkness Professor of Economics and Political Science, California Institute of Technology

"Decisions by millions of individuals produce the fierce tides and churning seas of Wall Street. Miller wields his microscope in the laboratory of experimental economics to provide a sprightly and insightful analysis of investor behavior." --Richard Zeckhauser, Frank P. Ramsey Professor of Political Economy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

"Dramatic new ways for buying and selling-spectrum auctions, e-commerce, derivatives-are the economics profession's contribution to the Information Revolution. This book explains how many of these innovations began with simple experiments at Caltech. The style is a refreshing combination-dramatic and fun to read, but also historically and scientifically accurate. So, I can send one to my Dad, a salesman, and another to my girlfriend, a patent attorney." --Colin Camerer, Rea and Lela Axline Professor of Business Economics, California Institute of Technology

"Paving Wall Street is a first-rate insight into bubbles and the experimental research performed on the topic by leading academicians such as Vernon Smith." --David Dreman, Chairman, Dreman Value Management

"Academic ideas have revolutionized how Wall Street operates. Entirely new markets have been created. This revolution continues today, accelerated by the rise of increasingly automated markets. Ross Miller has produced a book that makes the leading-edge financial and economic thinking that shapes these new markets accessible to practitioners and professionals. With no equations and a deft touch, this is an excellent guide to the future of greater Wall Street." --David J. Leinweber, PhD, Economics/Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology