Author of Acclaimed Book, The Myth of the Rational Market, Justin Fox at Saïd Business School
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 | University News
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Saturday 20 March, 2010, 4.00pm - 5.00pm
Chronicling the rise and fall of the efficient market theory and the century-long making of the modern financial industry, The Myth of the Rational Market has been widely acclaimed since its publication in 2009 as a lucid and insightful exploration of the key drivers underlying the financial crisis.
As much an intellectual whodunit as a cultural history of the perils and possibilities of risk, the book brings to life the people and ideas that forged modern finance and investing, and formulated and advocated the efficient market hypothesis. From the formative days of Wall Street through the Great Depression and into the financial calamity of today, it is a tale that features professors who made and lost fortunes, battled fiercely over ideas, beat the house in blackjack, wrote bestselling books, and played major roles on the world stage. It's also a tale of Wall Street's evolution, the power of the market to generate wealth and wreak havoc, and free market capitalism's war with itself.
Fox introduces a new wave of economists and scholars who no longer teach that investors are rational or that the markets are always right. Today the theory has given way to counterintuitive hypotheses about human behaviour, psychological models of decision making, and the irrationality of the markets. Investors overreact, under react, and make irrational decisions based on imperfect data. Fox uncovers the new ideas that may come to drive the market in the century ahead.
You are invited to join Justin Fox discussing his book and the events it explores.
‘Financial markets can go crazy. The events of the past three years have been evidence enough of that' says Fox. ‘But while the financial crisis has demolished the long-influential academic view of markets as sane, all-knowing entities, it hasn't offered up an easy replacement. Regulators get caught up in the same excesses as markets. Investors find it hard to take advantage of market missteps. And despite their occasional madness, financial markets are still clearly useful. There is no elegant fix for financial markets' problems. Yes, a few crude, idiot-proof regulations and higher ethical standards among market professionals might help. But most helpful of all would a wider understanding of just how volatile and error-prone financial markets can be.'
To join the event, please register with the press office:
Clare Fisher, Head of Press Relations, Saïd Business SchoolEmail: clare.fisher@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Direct telephone: +44 (0) 1865 422713/+44 (0) 1865
Josie Powell, PR CoordinatorEmail: josie.powell@sbs.ox.ac.uk or pressoffice@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Direct telephone: +44 (0) 1865 422573
The talk will be given as part of a symposium on ‘Reputation, Emotion and the Market,' organised by Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation at Saïd Business School. For further information about the event please see:
http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/reputation/events/Pages/Conference,March19-20.aspx
About Justin Fox and The Myth of the Rational Market
Justin Fox is editorial director of the Harvard Business Review, columnist for Time magazine and author of The Myth of the Rational Market, an acclaimed intellectual history of the rise and fall of the idea that markets always know best. Justin Fox's blog is at www.byjustinfox.comFor details of the book please see:
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060598990/The_Myth_of_the_Rational_Market/index.aspx
About Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation
Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, established in January 2008, is an independent research centre which aims to promote a better understanding of the way in which the reputation of corporations and institutions around the world are created, enhanced, and protected.
Multidisciplinary in nature, the Centre's research agenda draws on the resources of Oxford University's Saïd Business School - in areas such as marketing and brand equity; corporate governance, investor relations and the determinants of firm value; product standards; leadership and human resource management; the role of business in society and organisations' corporate social responsibility - and upon the wider resources of Oxford University connecting with the economics, law, psychology, politics and sociology departments of the University. The Centre's analysis is independent of companies, governments, political parties or any other vested interest.
Based in the Saïd Business School, the Centre is directed by Director and founder, Rupert Younger. The direction of, and agenda for the Centre is jointly shared between the Centre Director and the Research Director, Mike Barnett. The initial research offer within the Centre has fallen into six key areas, each led by University faculty working with dedicated research fellows. As the research agenda is extended and new research comes on stream, additional research staff will be appointed and additional academic faculty both inside and outside Oxford will involved in the work of the Centre.
The Centre has appointed a select group of International Research Fellows from academic institutions around the world, with particular research expertise in economics, law, psychology, politics and sociology. Additionally, the Centre has secured the services and support of 77 Visiting Fellows from the highest echelons of government, industry, the media, the professions and other external institutions. Committing their time to the Centre, these individuals take part in seminars for Centre Research Staff; play a critical role in the Reputation and Leadership education programme; provide access to key personnel for the development of case studies, and generously support the work of the Centre. From this group the Centre has appointed a Global Advisory Board. The business experience of this board helps shape the Centre's research development.
About Saïd Business School
Established in 1996 the Saïd Business School is one of Europe's youngest and most entrepreneurial business schools with a reputation for innovative business education. An integral part of Oxford University, the School embodies the academic rigour and forward thinking that has made Oxford a world leader in education. The School has an established reputation for research in a wide range of areas, including finance and accounting, organisational analysis, international management, strategy and operations management. The School is dedicated to developing a new generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs and conducting research not only into the nature of business, but the connections between business and the wider world. In the Financial Times ranking of MBA programmes (Jan 10) Saïd is ranked 16th in the world. It is ranked in BusinessWeek's top 10 business schools outside the USA (Nov 08) and in the Wall Street Journal it is ranked in the top 25 business schools in the world (Nov 07). In the UK university league tables it has ranked first of all UK universities for undergraduate business for the past six years in The Guardian and in seven of the last eight years in The Times.
For more information, see www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/
