Monday, July 20, 2009

Embracing the efficient market hypothesis can be a bit like stepping out on “the Ledge” « Nudge blog

GREAT article from the Nudge blog/Economist.

Embracing the efficient market hypothesis can be a bit like stepping out on “the Ledge” « Nudge blog:
"...in the wake of last fall’s stock market collapse, fully embracing the efficient market hypothesis can be a scary proposition – a bit like stepping out on “the Ledge” at Willis Tower. (An absolute must if you’re in Chicago, by the way.) The events of the past year have sparked a rich debate between behavioral economists and EMH-ers over the the EMH’s validity that is nicely chronicled in this week’s Economist.
  • “In some ways, we behavioural economists have won by default, because we have been less arrogant,” says Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, one of the pioneers of behavioural finance. Those who denied that prices could get out of line, or ever have bubbles, “look foolish”. (Myron) Scholes, however, insists that the efficient-market paradigm is not dead: “To say something has failed you have to have something to replace it, and so far we don’t have a new paradigm to replace efficient markets.” The trouble with behavioural economics, he adds, is that “it really hasn’t shown in aggregate how it affects prices.”

An absolute "must-read" for my Behavioral Finance class! Going on the syllabus.

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