Barton Biggs is not the kind of guy I feel I would get on with if I met him on the train. Or rather, he wouldn’t get on with me. He’s a money man, arrogant and brash. This is an autobiographical work, but there seems not to be any particular order to it. Like a collection of stories you get from someone you meet at a party. Many of these stories come from his personal experience of ‘running money’, and that of members of his social circle.
There are, however, some interesting insights into economics and the view of the markets from the front line – he was running funds for a number of years and clearly understands a lot of the things that move markets. But its broader than that, theres a lot of personality in the book, and you feel somehow like a friend, a confidante, he’s telling you some secrets of the trade, how it feels to be going through some of these things, watching the young ‘uns making the same mistakes.
Some of the most useful insights are into what running money does for people, and in particular the wives of guys who do it – there are a number of tales of woe where they’ve taken over control, the money is like a drug for them. But its not just the money that does that, its playing the game, being a part of the social group is an important factor too, as well as being seen to be part of the group.
Who should read this book? Anyone who wants to know about markets but doesn’t think economists really get it.
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