Description
Book SynopsisWhy Going Against the Grain Pays. Bestselling author Bill Bonner has long been a maverick observer of the financial and political world, sharpening his sardonic wit, in particular, on the vagaries of the investing public.
Trade Review"…extremely timely…irreverent but thought-provoking examination of the goings on in international finance today… packs a serious punch." (
The Independent)
"To say that this book is skeptical or contrarian is like saying Warren Buffett has money....entertaining criticism of anything and everything...I read the full 400 pages in just a few days.."-Rob May at Business Pundit (Top 10 business site) http://www.businesspundit.com/50226711/mobs_messiahs_and_markets.php(Nov. 2007)
"...the recent market instability stemming out of subprime woes makes this book extremely timely." (Gulf Business, February 2008)
"Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets by William Bonner and Lila Rajiva is a fascinating work....downright hilarious...a serious look at an important phenomenon in the human condition."- Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty of the highly rated philosophy site, Radical Academy (Oct. 2007)
"a sharp-witted jaunt through the mass hysteria that’s defined markets and people through the ages" -Money Week (Sept. 2007)
"William Bonner and Lila Rajiva provide the answers in this exhilarating -- if somewhat depressing -- book. Although their insights will often make readers laugh out loud, they will also find themselves wriggling uncomfortably at the manifold idiocies of human behaviour." -The National Post, Canada (Nov. 07)
"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay would be a better choice to begin. Without that context for this book, you'll find yourself gobbling caviar without knowing what it is." - Donald Mitchell, author of The 2000 Percent Solution, December 18, 2007
"A fascinating book," - Alan Caruba in Book Views, December, 2007
"Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets is a tragi-comedy, full of sharp observations, delivered with equally sharp wit. This book's dark and disturbing revelations could leave one depressed and disillusioned, were it not so damn funny." -- Adam Bergen at Blog Critics, December 31, 2007
Table of ContentsPart One: A Critique of Impure Reason
Chapter 1: Do-Gooders Gone Bad 3
Chapter 2: Love in the Time of Viagra 21
Chapter 3: The Transit of Venus 47
Part Two: Witch Hunts and War Drums
Chapter 4: The Devil Made Them Do It 75
Chapter 5: Words of War 98
Part Three: Militant Messiahs
Chapter 6: War and Remembrance 113
Chapter 7: Empire of Delusion 132
Chapter 8: Heroes of the Revolution 150
Part Four: Flattening the Globe
Chapter 9: The Number Game 185
Chapter 10: The Flat Earth Society 197
Chapter 11: What the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo Didn’t Know 216
Part Five: The Bubble Kings
Chapter 12: Fin de Bubble 245
Chapter 13: The Million-Dollar Trailer 266
Chapter 14: Central Bank Bamboozle 280
Chapter 15: The Mother of the Mother of All Bubbles 296
Part Six: Far From the Madding Mob
Chapter 16: How Not to Be Chumped by Wall Street 321
Chapter 17: The Dupe of Hearts 364
Notes 391
Index 413
