The Efficient Market Hypothesists is the fourth book in a series of discussions about the 'great minds' in the history and theory of finance. While the first three volumes in the series examined the Life Cyclists, the Portfolio Theorists and the rise of the quants, respectively, in this fourth book, Colin Read investigates the concept of an efficient market, describing the evolution of thought since the turn of the twentieth century through to the present day and modern financial theory. Through the work of and in the context of the lives of Louis Bachelier, Paul Samuelson, Eugene Fama, Stephen Ross, James Tobin, and Robert Shiller, the book addresses the following key questions: do financial securities follow a random walk? Does arbitrage allow markets to digest and fully incorporate all available information into the price of a security? Do the assumptions of the efficient market hypothesis make intuitive sense? And how can we further refine our understanding of the behaviour of financial markets?
Colin Read is Professor of Economics and Finance, former dean of the School of Business and Economics at SUNY College at Plattsburgh, USA, and a columnist for the Plattsburgh New York Press Republican newspaper. He has a PhD in Economics, JD in Law, MBA, and a Masters of Taxation, and has worked at Harvard, Clark, and the University of Alaska. He has taught Environmental and Energy Economics and Finance for 25 years. Colin has published dozens of academic papers on market volatility and a number of books, including BP and the Macondo Spill: The Complete Story, The Fear Factor, Global Financial Meltdown: How We Can Avoid the Next Economic Crisis, The Rise and Fall of an Economic Empire: With Lessons for Aspiring Nations, and a book on international taxation. He also writes a weekly newspaper column and appears monthly on a local PBS television show to discuss the regional and national economy.
