7.30.2012

Gamblers Delude Themselves

"Above the roulette tables, screens listed the results of the most recent 20 spins of the wheel. Gamblers would see that it had come up black the past eight spins, marvel at the improbability, and feel in their bones that the tiny silver ball was now more likely to land on red. That was the reason the casino bothered to list the wheel's most recent spin: to help gamblers to delude themselves." - in Liar`s Poker, excerpt from the "The Hangover: How Las Vegas Explains the Past and Future of the Economy"

7.24.2012

The Relationship Between The People And Their Money In California

The relationship between the people and their money in California is such that you can pluck almost any city at random and enter a crisis.

San Jose has the highest per capita income of any city in the United States, after New York. It has the highest credit rating of any city in California with a population over 250,000. It is one of the few cities in America with a triple-A rating from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, but only because its bondholders have the power to compel the city to levy a tax on property owners to pay off the bonds. The city itself is not all that far from being bankrupt.

― Michael Lewis, Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World

7.23.2012

Those Who Know, Don`t Tell

“Those who know don't tell and those who tell don't know.” ― Michael Lewis, Liar's Poker

Book Review: “Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World”

“Lewis gives the reader a guided tour through some of the disparate places hardest hit by the fiscal crisis, such as Greece, Iceland and Ireland; tracing how very different people for very different reasons gorged on the cheap credit available in the prelude to the disaster.” — G. “Anand” Anandalingam, dean, Robert H. Smith School of Business in Washington Post

Boomerang: Book Review

Perhaps you have heard of some of his books: “Liar’s Poker,” “Moneyball,” “The Blind Side,” “The Big Short” and “The Money Culture.” All are very engaging books because each one discusses a subject that arouses our curiosity and uncovers ideas about which we rarely think.

“Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World” continues Michael Lewis’ extension of our curiosities with stories about the current global economic crisis that are both funny and educational at the same time. - in Daily News

7.19.2012

Long-Term Interests & Short-Term Rewards

“Everywhere you turn you see Americans sacrifice their long-term interests for a short-term reward.”

 - Michael Lewis, Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World

Life`s Outcomes & Luck

"Life's outcomes, while not entirely random, have a huge amount of luck baked into them"

- Michael Lewis at Princeton

A Good Quote From The Big Short

“In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $724,000.”

― Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

7.18.2012

America's Meltdown

"The foundations of America's meltdown started in 1999"

- Michael Lewis author of 'The Big Short'