In 'Devil Take the Hindmost,' Edward Chancellor traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world. The book covers various financial bubbles and crashes, including the tulip scandal of 1630s Holland, the South Sea Bubble of 1720, the railway mania of the 19th century, the crash of 1929, and more recent events like the dotcom bubble and the Japanese bubble economy. Chancellor explores how human psychology and financial practices have led to repeated cycles of speculation and financial instability over the centuries.
The novel is set in a near-future New England in the Republic of Gilead, a patriarchal, totalitarian state that has overthrown the United States government. Offred, the narrator, is one of the 'Handmaids', women who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class, known as 'Commanders'. The story explores themes of powerless women, loss of female agency and individuality, and the suppression of women's reproductive rights. Offred's life is marked by her restrictive routine, her memories of her past life, and her interactions with the Commander, his wife Serena Joy, and other Handmaids, including her friend Ofglen who is part of an underground resistance movement. The novel is a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense[3][4][5].
On episode 417 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss valuations not mattering, volatility is the new normal, all-time highs in rich people, bubble behavior in AI, gambling is off and running, limit orders on crypto trades, the housing market is not fair, the downside of illiquidity, Michael's email pet peeves and more.
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Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense
Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor
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