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Panic! (Abridged): The Story of Modern Financial Insanity Audiobook
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(3.01) - 754 listener ratings
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#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Big Short and The Blind Side, Michael Lewis’s masterful collection of articles and essays on the world’s most recent financial panics is now available from Simon & Schuster Audio for only $14.99.
When it comes to markets, the first deadly sin is greed. In Panic!, #1 bestselling author Michael Lewis has chosen several pieces of brilliant journalism to illuminate the most violent and costly upheavals in recent financial history: the Crash of ‘87, the Russian Default (and the subsequent collapse of Long Term Capital Management), the Asian Currency Crisis of 1999, the Internet Bubble, and the current Sub-Prime Mortgage Disaster. Among the unabridged selections are several pieces by Lewis himself, whose writing also introduces each section, as well as contributions from Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman, James Surowiecki, and others writing in Fortune, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.
Some of the pieces paint the mood and market factors leading up to the particular crash, or show what people thought was happening at the time. Others, with the luxury of hindsight, analyze what actually happened. There are sobering messages common to these narratives: the lessons that should have been learned along the way were for the most part ignored; and when push comes to shove—when all investors run to the same side of the boat—the carefully devised protections against risk turn out to be wishful thinking.
As proved in Liar’s Poker, The New New Thing, and Moneyball, Lewis is without peer in his understanding of market forces and of human foibles. He is also, arguably, the funniest serious writer in America.
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"This is an anthology of financial panics going back to the 1986 stock market crash. Lewis selects the best articles written at the time of each panic explaining how each developed. His point in wirting the book was that financial panics like that in 2008 have been happening regularly over the last twenty years but in different areas of the economy and for different reasons. The articles he selected were interesting and are a good reference of recent financial disruptions."
— Wayne (4 out of 5 stars)
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“In this enlightening (and frightening) anthology, the Moneyball and Liar’s Poker author collects the best reporting and analysis of every Wall Street crisis of the past twenty years. As a source of aid in these troubled times, the book’s only competition is a bottle of Scotch.”
— Details -
“It’s hard to imagine a more timely book.”
— BusinessWeek -
“The narrative is certainly elegant and the arguments are on-target; the author lambastes shoddy risk management at financial firms, the ‘foolish principles that have guided the behavior of sophisticated Wall Street traders and the common man in this current crisis.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“A compilation of articles by the author, one of today’s most insightful chroniclers of American finance and culture, and other financial luminaries paints a vivid picture of the roads we took to get to this stage of the current economic debacle…A good production for listeners who want some back story on how we got to this pass, and what we might expect as this economic crisis plays itself out.”
— AudioFile
Panic! Listener Reviews
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" Did not finish. Too technical.... "
— Caroline, 2/15/2014 -
" This book is a "Oh! In hindsight" kind of book. This chronicles the Panics in the Financial Markets over the last 20 years - The stockmarket crash of 87, Asian Crisis of late 90's, the dot com bust and the mortgage crisis. Good read! "
— Karthik, 1/13/2014 -
" Its not for ordinary people. Its a good work meant for investors and traders. Hope this book drive some sense to their heads. "
— Faseem, 12/25/2013 -
" Excellent collection of writings about financial panics of the past. Read it. "
— James, 12/19/2013 -
" This collection of articles provides some needed perspective on our current economic mess. "
— John, 12/9/2013 -
" Very informative, but not as riveting as Lewis' other books "
— Randy, 11/30/2013 -
" Great collection of articles written before during and after financial panics from 1987 through today. As always, Lewis does a great job choosing compelling writing to weave a story of how the crises of the last couple decades differ, and how they are the same. "
— Bill, 11/16/2013 -
" Various views on the insanity of modern finance. "
— Hugh, 9/22/2013 -
" Good book that is a collection of articles following the rolling financial crises from the 1990's to today. With all that was being reported, why wasn't anything done? "
— Scott, 4/11/2013 -
" A good history of various financial upheavals over the past several years (not the recent financial meltdown). Be aware, however, that the book is mostly a compendium of newspaper or magazine articles from folks other than Lewis. "
— Rex, 10/6/2012 -
" I really enjoyed the articles in re to the 2000 downturn when some people were still optimistc about internet startups. Must read for those you think the latest news is the end all news ever. "
— Mike, 3/31/2012 -
" An interesting overview of the financial markets of the past 30 years. Some of the articles are shockingly very modern. "
— Jonathan, 1/22/2012 -
" Yup - we're in a heap o' trouble! "
— Simon, 4/21/2011 -
" Collection of articles. Least interesting Michael Lewis book "
— Luigib, 12/25/2010 -
" Purely an anthology of the past few manias/crashes. I hope Mr Lewis shared the royalties.... I do not recommend this book if you are looking for deep analysis. It has none. "
— Robert, 10/5/2010 -
" I didn't finish it because I found it pretty boring.. just a bunch of stories put together about economic market events. The lack of single storyline made it hard to become invested in the book and the different narrators made it lack cohesion. "
— Sara, 7/15/2010 -
" A good history of various financial upheavals over the past several years (not the recent financial meltdown). Be aware, however, that the book is mostly a compendium of newspaper or magazine articles from folks other than Lewis. "
— Rex, 4/28/2010 -
" About a third through the book. Not bad so far, as long as you like plodding through financial lingo about the workings of financial markets. "
— Formerlythere, 1/27/2010
About Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis is the New York Times bestselling author of several books. His global bestselling books lift the lid on the biggest stories of our time. They include Flash Boys, an exposé of high-speed scamming; The Big Short, which was made into a Oscar-winning film; Liar’s Poker, the book that defined the excesses of the 1980s; The Fifth Risk, revealing what happens when democracy unravels, and The Premonition, one of the first books to take account of the coronavirus pandemic. He was educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics.