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The Money Culture
The author of the best-selling Liar's Poker offers a witty, trenchant analysis of the world of high finance in the 1980s and the cult of wealth that produced such moguls as Michael Milken and Donald Trump. Reprint.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
266 people are currently reading
2483 people want to read
About the author
Michael Lewis
42 books15.2k followersMichael Monroe Lewis is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to Vanity Fair since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. He is known for his nonfiction work, particularly his coverage of financial crises and behavioral finance.
Lewis was born in New Orleans and attended Princeton University, from which he graduated with a degree in art history. After attending the London School of Economics, he began a career on Wall Street during the 1980s as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers. The experience prompted him to write his first book, Liar's Poker (1989). Fourteen years later, Lewis wrote Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (2003), in which he investigated the success of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics. His 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game was his first to be adapted into a film, The Blind Side (2009). In 2010, he released The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. The film adaptation of Moneyball was released in 2011, followed by The Big Short in 2015.
Lewis's books have won two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes and several have reached number one on the New York Times Bestsellers Lists, including his most recent book, Going Infinite (2023).
Lewis was born in New Orleans and attended Princeton University, from which he graduated with a degree in art history. After attending the London School of Economics, he began a career on Wall Street during the 1980s as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers. The experience prompted him to write his first book, Liar's Poker (1989). Fourteen years later, Lewis wrote Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (2003), in which he investigated the success of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics. His 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game was his first to be adapted into a film, The Blind Side (2009). In 2010, he released The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. The film adaptation of Moneyball was released in 2011, followed by The Big Short in 2015.
Lewis's books have won two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes and several have reached number one on the New York Times Bestsellers Lists, including his most recent book, Going Infinite (2023).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
May 3, 2015
This is a bunch of essays that Michael Lewis wrote about various finance-related topics in the 1980s. Almost all of the material is outdated, but it is interesting to read from a historical perspective, but not that relevant today. In fact, an intriguing section of the book dealt with how an earthquake in Japan could be traumatic to the financial markets and I read it around the time (2011) that an actual severe earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. But I could not relate anything from what I read to what was happening on the ground in Japan, including the nuclear reactor damage.
March 13, 2016
Michael Lewis is such a strong writer. Some of these columns provide an interesting window into a time I barely remember in terms of the "threat" posed by the Japanese. Others are incredibly valuable in better understanding how leveraged buy-outs worked - by basically ripping off shareholders and dodging taxes. Wall Street at its finest, explained by a great writer.
July 8, 2014
I bought this to take away in holiday with me. You know that feeling when you start reading a book and suddenly you realise you have read it before? Well, that's what happened here. This book originally came out in the 1980's I guess and was re-released in 2011, you know the deal, new cover, cash in on a much larger profile that when it was originally put out. And, as a big fan of Michael Lewis Liars Poker, Flash Boys, Boomerang each and every one excellent. It was still an enjoyable read and with hindsight you can see how smart Lewis was, he certainly called the complete collapse we experienced in the 2000's due to all the toxic debt being taken on by unsophisticated fund managers which they were spoon fed by the wall street sharks. Anyway, this book while still worth a read, is nothing like as good as he more recent offerings.
July 20, 2010
Michael Lewis reminds me of the film producers/writers/directors the Coen brothers, and "The Money Culture" reminds me of "No Country for Old Men" in that both are more about style than substance. What, after all, was the point of "No Country?" Answer: America is a rough place filled with evil and all one can do is his best when faced with uncontrollable external forces, e.g. ride out into the dark and build a fire in the night for others to join you. The point of "The Money Culture" is simply that people in America, England, Japan, France, and Australia strive to acquire money and the cultures differ in the process. That's it. No earth-shattering revelations or changes in world perceptions here.
The gift of Lewis is his ability to make such simple points in interesting ways through unique stories and humorous anecdotes. This book is not a coherent, unified story like "Liar's Poker." Rather, it is a series of discreet articles published between 1988-91 for various news organizations.
Lewis mostly speaks to the leveraged buyouts of the 1980's and appears to believe them, at best, a necessary evil and, at worst, an unjustified transfer of wealth from stockholders to managers or buyers. In the 1960's and 70's corporations sought to diversify their holdings by investing in many unrelated types of businesses, much like an individual investor. These diversified holdings would, in theory, smooth revenues over the years as cyclical businesses underwent booms and busts. Additionally, the diversity would make the conglomerate a cheaper borrower of capital and less susceptible to ultimate bankruptcy or failure. In practice, jamming unrelated businesses together offers no competitive advantages, imposes hidden costs on administration and capital allocation, and exposes slower conglomerates to more focused and nimble competitors. Thus, the 1980's saw an unwinding of these mistakes in the form of leveraged buyouts. Raiders would use the assets of companies as collateral for the very debt needed to purchase the companies. The raiders would then cut costs, sell off pieces of the conglomerate for more than the purchase price, and pocket the difference. The first and longest part of the book is about these leveraged buyouts in the United States with particular attention paid to the sale of RJR Nabisco. Lewis indicates that managers could and should have cut the costs anyway, without the need for a full blown LBO.
In the second part, Lewis briefly looks at how England and France eventually cut back on older, established methods of trading stocks and futures that benefited the privileged few at the expense of the small investors. These countries were compelled to open their financial markets to competition and slash transaction costs in order to remain competitive in the global economy and the global battle for capital. The pursuit of and respect for money has essentially replaced more traditional notions of aristocracy or good breeding in Europe. However, the transition is not always smooth; Lewis compares Australia to Texas in that people in both places sometimes have more money than taste or grace and spend lavishly on tacky parties or art.
Finally, in the third part, Lewis looks at Japan, whose people spend money on art in order to protect wealth from confiscatory tax policy. Lewis spends a significant portion of the Japanese section on a hypothetical involving a devastating earthquake hitting Tokyo around 1993. There was such an earthquake in 1923 and, evidently, one hits about every 70 years. So one is due. Japan is a net exporter, which means it runs a trade surplus and buys much of America's government debt. Lewis theorizes by way of a Japanese economist named Oda that a massive earthquake would have a worse impact on England and the United States than Japan. Japan's insurance for its real estate is provided by British and American companies. While Japan would rebuild and growth would be spurred by the destruction, there would be slack in demand for America's debt, which would slow business here at home. The massive liabilities for American insurance companies would pull the entire stock market down. It's an interesting, if somewhat overblown, hypothetical.
Lewis is a gifted, entertaining writer. I found myself laughing out loud at least twice, which is twice more than most other books. As with Lewis's other book I've read, "Liar's Poker," I found this to be quite the page-turner. It's a fun soirée into the world of Wall Street investment bankers (making $8,000 bets on whether or not a fatty can complete a mile-run in under 8 minutes), retired people on a cruise to find financial wisdom (from either a guru or hack depending on your perspective), and Japanese culture (emperor-worship, hierarchical rankings, etc.).
Memorable Quotes:
"[Ross Johnson, CEO of RJR Nabisco:] clowns around about the three rules of Wall Street: 'Never play by the rules, never pay in cash, and never tell the truth.'"
"Textbooks in economics, which explain the economic purpose of money (a unit of account, a store of value, and a means of exchange), usually neglect to mention the chief role of money in America: a source of entertainment." [i.e., investing is fun.:]
"It seems that even the most worldly students at Oxford and Cambridge were unable to resist the offer of such sudden glamor. And so the money culture spread."
"It is the single-minded pursuit of trade surpluses, coupled with the belief that to generate surpluses the levers of power must remain within the collective reach of bureaucrats, that has led to the crushing concentration of economic life in Tokyo. In practice this means that the Japanese government systematically rigs domestic prices to give Japanese companies the strength to wage price wars overseas. (It's no accident that Japanese goods are cheaper outside Japan than in.) To fix prices at home, however, the bureaucrats require the heads of the relevant companies, their shareholders, and their bankers to be close at hand. Ergo, Tokyo mushrooms. Risking Japanese lives for the sake of global economic domination is not high on the list of subjects that the bureaucrats who oversee the Japanese economy like to discuss with Western journalists."
"Now imagine the shock of Martin Saxon III when he hears he is a pimp. Say he is dining with a new Japanese client. How does he convey to a man he has only just met that he is widely known by those who count in America as a Big Swinging Dick? That in America he is the human equivalent of the Okura Hotel [the nicest hotel in Japan:]? He can, of course, open the meeting in the stylish and forceful manner of the Drexel trader visiting a large Japanese client who delivered the memorable line: 'You little shit, don't you ever talk that way to me again.' But I am told by an American who sells bonds to Japanese that there is a more effective way: brag and drop every name you can think of."
The gift of Lewis is his ability to make such simple points in interesting ways through unique stories and humorous anecdotes. This book is not a coherent, unified story like "Liar's Poker." Rather, it is a series of discreet articles published between 1988-91 for various news organizations.
Lewis mostly speaks to the leveraged buyouts of the 1980's and appears to believe them, at best, a necessary evil and, at worst, an unjustified transfer of wealth from stockholders to managers or buyers. In the 1960's and 70's corporations sought to diversify their holdings by investing in many unrelated types of businesses, much like an individual investor. These diversified holdings would, in theory, smooth revenues over the years as cyclical businesses underwent booms and busts. Additionally, the diversity would make the conglomerate a cheaper borrower of capital and less susceptible to ultimate bankruptcy or failure. In practice, jamming unrelated businesses together offers no competitive advantages, imposes hidden costs on administration and capital allocation, and exposes slower conglomerates to more focused and nimble competitors. Thus, the 1980's saw an unwinding of these mistakes in the form of leveraged buyouts. Raiders would use the assets of companies as collateral for the very debt needed to purchase the companies. The raiders would then cut costs, sell off pieces of the conglomerate for more than the purchase price, and pocket the difference. The first and longest part of the book is about these leveraged buyouts in the United States with particular attention paid to the sale of RJR Nabisco. Lewis indicates that managers could and should have cut the costs anyway, without the need for a full blown LBO.
In the second part, Lewis briefly looks at how England and France eventually cut back on older, established methods of trading stocks and futures that benefited the privileged few at the expense of the small investors. These countries were compelled to open their financial markets to competition and slash transaction costs in order to remain competitive in the global economy and the global battle for capital. The pursuit of and respect for money has essentially replaced more traditional notions of aristocracy or good breeding in Europe. However, the transition is not always smooth; Lewis compares Australia to Texas in that people in both places sometimes have more money than taste or grace and spend lavishly on tacky parties or art.
Finally, in the third part, Lewis looks at Japan, whose people spend money on art in order to protect wealth from confiscatory tax policy. Lewis spends a significant portion of the Japanese section on a hypothetical involving a devastating earthquake hitting Tokyo around 1993. There was such an earthquake in 1923 and, evidently, one hits about every 70 years. So one is due. Japan is a net exporter, which means it runs a trade surplus and buys much of America's government debt. Lewis theorizes by way of a Japanese economist named Oda that a massive earthquake would have a worse impact on England and the United States than Japan. Japan's insurance for its real estate is provided by British and American companies. While Japan would rebuild and growth would be spurred by the destruction, there would be slack in demand for America's debt, which would slow business here at home. The massive liabilities for American insurance companies would pull the entire stock market down. It's an interesting, if somewhat overblown, hypothetical.
Lewis is a gifted, entertaining writer. I found myself laughing out loud at least twice, which is twice more than most other books. As with Lewis's other book I've read, "Liar's Poker," I found this to be quite the page-turner. It's a fun soirée into the world of Wall Street investment bankers (making $8,000 bets on whether or not a fatty can complete a mile-run in under 8 minutes), retired people on a cruise to find financial wisdom (from either a guru or hack depending on your perspective), and Japanese culture (emperor-worship, hierarchical rankings, etc.).
Memorable Quotes:
"[Ross Johnson, CEO of RJR Nabisco:] clowns around about the three rules of Wall Street: 'Never play by the rules, never pay in cash, and never tell the truth.'"
"Textbooks in economics, which explain the economic purpose of money (a unit of account, a store of value, and a means of exchange), usually neglect to mention the chief role of money in America: a source of entertainment." [i.e., investing is fun.:]
"It seems that even the most worldly students at Oxford and Cambridge were unable to resist the offer of such sudden glamor. And so the money culture spread."
"It is the single-minded pursuit of trade surpluses, coupled with the belief that to generate surpluses the levers of power must remain within the collective reach of bureaucrats, that has led to the crushing concentration of economic life in Tokyo. In practice this means that the Japanese government systematically rigs domestic prices to give Japanese companies the strength to wage price wars overseas. (It's no accident that Japanese goods are cheaper outside Japan than in.) To fix prices at home, however, the bureaucrats require the heads of the relevant companies, their shareholders, and their bankers to be close at hand. Ergo, Tokyo mushrooms. Risking Japanese lives for the sake of global economic domination is not high on the list of subjects that the bureaucrats who oversee the Japanese economy like to discuss with Western journalists."
"Now imagine the shock of Martin Saxon III when he hears he is a pimp. Say he is dining with a new Japanese client. How does he convey to a man he has only just met that he is widely known by those who count in America as a Big Swinging Dick? That in America he is the human equivalent of the Okura Hotel [the nicest hotel in Japan:]? He can, of course, open the meeting in the stylish and forceful manner of the Drexel trader visiting a large Japanese client who delivered the memorable line: 'You little shit, don't you ever talk that way to me again.' But I am told by an American who sells bonds to Japanese that there is a more effective way: brag and drop every name you can think of."
Read
December 17, 2014Some articles better than others. Shameless potboiler from a very good journalist.
Fulfills my purposes for it: to get a quick portrait of money culture from a time before I was conscious.
Fulfills my purposes for it: to get a quick portrait of money culture from a time before I was conscious.
May 13, 2019
Very enjoyable - Michael Lewis writing at around the same time he was still working at Salomon Brothers - the time chronicled in Liar's Poker. I love Lewis's writing - especially in his capacity as a reporter. Here, he dissects some of the main bugaboos obsessing the finance world in the post-Black Monday period of the late 80s early 90s. The articles on leveraged buyouts (LBOs) were my favorite - but I also loved the final section on Japan. Very entertaining and still informative 30 years later.
September 24, 2024
Fun stories from yesteryear.
Lewis touches upon some events and experience from the late 80's and early 90's -- including the hostile takeover of RJR Nabisco of the Barbarians at the Gate fame -- and they're all very fun. He also takes us on a boat trip in the Amazon as well as to Japan, which was apparently dastardly rich even at the time.
It's a collection of old articles but reads very much like a collection of fun short stories.
Lewis touches upon some events and experience from the late 80's and early 90's -- including the hostile takeover of RJR Nabisco of the Barbarians at the Gate fame -- and they're all very fun. He also takes us on a boat trip in the Amazon as well as to Japan, which was apparently dastardly rich even at the time.
It's a collection of old articles but reads very much like a collection of fun short stories.
April 7, 2022
Outdated and boring
January 20, 2025
Most of the Japan section was fairly boring but US and Europe sections were awesome
November 29, 2021
Not for me. Collection of articles with no real cohesion. Perhaps 20 years ago, but not for me today.
January 11, 2022
One of the few Michael Lewis books they had on Scribd. Not amazing but also not terrible. The introductory essays on the rise of American Express and the morphing of European financial markets ideals into American ones was pretty interesting. However, the second half is predominantly focused on Japanese markets and its technological limitations. However this was written in the 80's so probably not relevant.
July 24, 2016
This book was a big disappointment.. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Michael Lewis. Liar's Poker and The Big Short are two of the best books on Wall Street greed and its impact on Main Street that I've ever read. But The Money Culture is really nothing more than a time capsule. It was copyrighted in 1991 and reprinted in 2011 (when people realized that Michael Lewis knows what he is talking about). The back of the book describes it as a "Warts-and-all portrait of the 1980s financial scene." Actually, it a collection of Michael Lewis' columns from the late 1980s and early 1990s. There is no updating other than footnotes about when the column was written. I kept finding myself wondering what had happened since then. There were three sections, with articles on the U.S., Europe and Japan. I found the U.S. section extremely interesting (if unsatisfying), the section on Europe moderately interesting, and the section on Japan hard to get through. I would love to re-read this book with updates on the status of the players and the markets today.
November 4, 2019
Employing bold candour and brazen wit, Michael Lewis regales his reader about the new culture spawning the financial spectrum across the globe - a culture of uninhibited and vulgar greed. Manifesting itself in myriad ways such as Leveraged Buy Outs ("LBO"); collaterised mortgages and hostile takeovers, the unashamed purveyors of this culture remorselessly plough along leaving in their trail a ruinous wake.
Michael Lewis provides a no holds barred vantage view about the motives underlying the blitzkrieg deeds of the Kravises; Milkens'; Wassersteins and Ross Johnsons of todays Corporate World. He also gleans out a few incredulous facts regarding the influence of this insidious culture on countries such as Japan (in particular) and those nestled within the confines of Europe.
A must read for all interested in the affairs of the peddles of high finance and unscrupulous deals!
Michael Lewis provides a no holds barred vantage view about the motives underlying the blitzkrieg deeds of the Kravises; Milkens'; Wassersteins and Ross Johnsons of todays Corporate World. He also gleans out a few incredulous facts regarding the influence of this insidious culture on countries such as Japan (in particular) and those nestled within the confines of Europe.
A must read for all interested in the affairs of the peddles of high finance and unscrupulous deals!
October 15, 2013
I need to start reading the summaries before reading the book. I've read another book by Michael Lewis and thought it was fantastic. However, this one leaves a bit to be desired.
Going through it, I found it interesting, frequently funny, which is odd considering that it's a book about our money obsession. But I kept wondering how he was going to bring all these stories he was telling into a single, succinct point. Well, I was still wondering that after I finished it.
Turns out it's a collection of essays. No grand point to be had. Wish I would have known that before hand. The individual essays sometimes got a bit too detailed. Sometimes too technical. But overall, they read fairly well.
Going through it, I found it interesting, frequently funny, which is odd considering that it's a book about our money obsession. But I kept wondering how he was going to bring all these stories he was telling into a single, succinct point. Well, I was still wondering that after I finished it.
Turns out it's a collection of essays. No grand point to be had. Wish I would have known that before hand. The individual essays sometimes got a bit too detailed. Sometimes too technical. But overall, they read fairly well.
December 14, 2010
very disappointing. i'd thought we'd see more pieces like Lewis's 2008-vintage Vanity Fair epistles, witty pieces full of good analysis or at least reference to god analysis. this, especially the final chapter on Japan, more often just seems confused and juvenile. lewis forthrightly declaims in the preface that "I never intended to have these stuffed inside a hardback, but this is how I make my living now." indeed. Lewis's worst offering, one (like "Losers") that seems justifiably forgotten.
September 4, 2012
"The same bittersweet scent that has driven American investors wild with desire for the past five years is now intoxicating the stock markets of Western Europe. Oe Brit in the City of London describes it as "the odor of the American financier-a blend of sweaty ambition, jet fuel, and overpriced cologne."
From the chapter entitled Slicing Up Europe for Fun and Profit
From the chapter entitled Slicing Up Europe for Fun and Profit
May 30, 2015
"The Money Culture" is a collection of column pieces, that Michael Lewis has written in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His witty style, that the reader is known out of his other books like "The Big Short", can also be found in "The Money Culture", although the pieces don't seem to hold the same relevance they might have had almost thirty years ago.
April 5, 2015
3.5 stars, this is a collection of older essays so not quite so cohesive as Mr. Lewis' other books. His usual enjoyable style is in force, however, and I learned interesting things I never thought I'd want to know about the Japanese economy. Michael Lewis has a way of doing that for me.....
August 5, 2014
Good, but not Lewis' best.
February 22, 2016
A collection of already-published essays that feels like an incessant money-grab. A few diamonds in the rough but not worth the read.
December 13, 2014
Interesting, but dated, cilkwction of largely previuosly published anecdotes about Wall Street, The City in London, and Tokyo finance in the 1980s and early 1990s. Lewis is a witty writer.
May 5, 2015
Best suited for the Michael Lewis completist or people with a keen interest in late '80s Wall Street culture. Good writing, but very dated at this point.
June 14, 2015
No match to Liar's Poker...
April 17, 2018
After reading the book, The Money Culture, by Michael Lewis, I would give it a 4/5 stars. Written in 1991, you will enjoy his writings because he worked for Solomon Brothers in the 1980's and is very knowledgeable in the financial market. He has insider knowledge which has helped him develop his theories on why money matters happen and most likely who was behind these happenings.
The book was a short read that was filled with humor, thrilling facts, government regulations and rules that were broken relentlessly and gives the reader a “behind the scenes” look at Wall Street in the 1980’s. Throughout the book Lewis’s presents his writing in a very unconventional way. His journal articles and published newspaper articles comprise the book. Furthermore, his past Wall Street knowledge and understanding combine, giving the book an irresistible urge not to set down.
The decade of the 1980's was the most outrageous and turbulent era in financial markets since the 1929 Crash. The 1980's had a direct effect not only on domestic markets but also international markets as well. Lewis shows us the actions of highly wealthy stock brokers and business executives such Michael Miliken, Donald Trump, Boris Boesky, T-Bone Pickens, Leona Helmsley as just a few of the notables in the know and taking advantage of market data fed to them by financial insiders.
I would recommend this book to anyone 14 years or older interested in stocks, banking or business. Although this book was a fairly short read filled with tons of humor, Lewis’s unusual writing style in stunts the flow of the book. All in all, I would recommend this book to everyone in this class.
The book was a short read that was filled with humor, thrilling facts, government regulations and rules that were broken relentlessly and gives the reader a “behind the scenes” look at Wall Street in the 1980’s. Throughout the book Lewis’s presents his writing in a very unconventional way. His journal articles and published newspaper articles comprise the book. Furthermore, his past Wall Street knowledge and understanding combine, giving the book an irresistible urge not to set down.
The decade of the 1980's was the most outrageous and turbulent era in financial markets since the 1929 Crash. The 1980's had a direct effect not only on domestic markets but also international markets as well. Lewis shows us the actions of highly wealthy stock brokers and business executives such Michael Miliken, Donald Trump, Boris Boesky, T-Bone Pickens, Leona Helmsley as just a few of the notables in the know and taking advantage of market data fed to them by financial insiders.
I would recommend this book to anyone 14 years or older interested in stocks, banking or business. Although this book was a fairly short read filled with tons of humor, Lewis’s unusual writing style in stunts the flow of the book. All in all, I would recommend this book to everyone in this class.
July 17, 2018
Written on 90' still applicable now (specially when he talks about Trump) and honestly every Levis book is a masterpiece.
Wall Street Rules :
#1 never pay in cash
#2 always lie
#3 never play by the rules
japan strategy : in 90' was borrowing money to US company to weaken them and next buy them with low price. US company believe by borrowing when a crisis hit they can cut fat without any resistance and use it as nice trick.
it's not the investor out playing the market anymore, wall street guys found new way more efficient : reverse IPO switching back to privet owner ship and others complex trick.
When you see an information : the data is fast enough it's already included on the market price.
japan controlling the ecosystem for long-term compared to US short term or free market, got same fate like everyone what to controle the system.
japan using art work as an investment, it grows x5 compared to market.
japan unable to use technology in the market as they are too conservative.
japan seeing trader as middle man and their culture see middle man as pump.
I've read five books by Lewis, usually he never talks about religion except this book, he talks about god in very ironic way as he do for every thing else.
Wall Street Rules :
#1 never pay in cash
#2 always lie
#3 never play by the rules
japan strategy : in 90' was borrowing money to US company to weaken them and next buy them with low price. US company believe by borrowing when a crisis hit they can cut fat without any resistance and use it as nice trick.
it's not the investor out playing the market anymore, wall street guys found new way more efficient : reverse IPO switching back to privet owner ship and others complex trick.
When you see an information : the data is fast enough it's already included on the market price.
japan controlling the ecosystem for long-term compared to US short term or free market, got same fate like everyone what to controle the system.
japan using art work as an investment, it grows x5 compared to market.
japan unable to use technology in the market as they are too conservative.
japan seeing trader as middle man and their culture see middle man as pump.
I've read five books by Lewis, usually he never talks about religion except this book, he talks about god in very ironic way as he do for every thing else.
September 7, 2020
This book is a collection of articles and vignettes Lewis wrote in the late 1980s about the globalization of the investment banking industry and the characters that inhabit that world.
The book is split into three sections: stories set in the US (the new world), stories set in Europe (France and Britain), and stories set in Japan. Throughout the vignettes, Lewis acts as an outside traveler, giving his (often humorous though sometimes eviscerating) views on finance in its various forms. In particular, for his stories set in Europe and Japan, Lewis focuses on the "Americanization" of finance in these locations while not neglecting regional quirks (the booming trade of art flipping in Japan, etc.).
Though not directly relevant to the financial world we live in today, certain themes do ring true today: the greed of Wall Street bankers, the effects of American expansionism into "Old World" finances, and the overriding perception of money as status. In particular, a vignette about Trump mentions characteristics about the individual that still ring true today.
This book is worth a read for those interested in the financial culture of the 1980s and the roots of American hegemony in finance.
The book is split into three sections: stories set in the US (the new world), stories set in Europe (France and Britain), and stories set in Japan. Throughout the vignettes, Lewis acts as an outside traveler, giving his (often humorous though sometimes eviscerating) views on finance in its various forms. In particular, for his stories set in Europe and Japan, Lewis focuses on the "Americanization" of finance in these locations while not neglecting regional quirks (the booming trade of art flipping in Japan, etc.).
Though not directly relevant to the financial world we live in today, certain themes do ring true today: the greed of Wall Street bankers, the effects of American expansionism into "Old World" finances, and the overriding perception of money as status. In particular, a vignette about Trump mentions characteristics about the individual that still ring true today.
This book is worth a read for those interested in the financial culture of the 1980s and the roots of American hegemony in finance.
September 21, 2020
An entertaining but not overly education book.
What did I learn?
Leveraged buyouts have been running up private debt and floating the American economy, what seems like some sort of twisted pheonix scheme at the highest levels of the S&P ceos will insert operational inneficiencies to lower their stock value, buy out the companies and crazy leverage, fix the innefencies they created in the first place, and re-enter the company to the public market at a profit.
This book was written in 1991, but forecasts many of the institutional problems on Wall Street that have infected our economies including the junk bonds that toppled the banks in 2007. It highlights the Cowboy mentality that trading floors have, M&A firms made famous and eventually infected European, Australian and Japanese financial markets.
All in all it paints bankers and money managers not as genius traders and statistics wizards, but as people who know how to beat the system for personal profits, at the costs of everyone’s future. Fiscal responsibility at a quarter by quarter basis, essentially creates these problems.
What did I learn?
Leveraged buyouts have been running up private debt and floating the American economy, what seems like some sort of twisted pheonix scheme at the highest levels of the S&P ceos will insert operational inneficiencies to lower their stock value, buy out the companies and crazy leverage, fix the innefencies they created in the first place, and re-enter the company to the public market at a profit.
This book was written in 1991, but forecasts many of the institutional problems on Wall Street that have infected our economies including the junk bonds that toppled the banks in 2007. It highlights the Cowboy mentality that trading floors have, M&A firms made famous and eventually infected European, Australian and Japanese financial markets.
All in all it paints bankers and money managers not as genius traders and statistics wizards, but as people who know how to beat the system for personal profits, at the costs of everyone’s future. Fiscal responsibility at a quarter by quarter basis, essentially creates these problems.
July 27, 2017
This is not a review nor a synopsis, a lot of which are already in Goodreads.
I read this book (more like a compilation of articles) almost 26 years after publication, and I wished I read it earlier. But then again my appreciation and understanding wouldn't have been the same. Michael Lewis should come up with an updated version, and I'd make sure to read it timely. Like Liar's Poker (which I read a while back), this was a very informative and enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone involved in finance, economics, politics, regulations, or anyone just interested in a worthwhile read.
I would have given it a 5-star rating, but most articles left me thinking "would be interesting to find out what happened next."
I read this book (more like a compilation of articles) almost 26 years after publication, and I wished I read it earlier. But then again my appreciation and understanding wouldn't have been the same. Michael Lewis should come up with an updated version, and I'd make sure to read it timely. Like Liar's Poker (which I read a while back), this was a very informative and enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone involved in finance, economics, politics, regulations, or anyone just interested in a worthwhile read.
I would have given it a 5-star rating, but most articles left me thinking "would be interesting to find out what happened next."
May 1, 2018
No more writes more consistently or in a more enganging manner than Micheal Lewis. Even from this collection of early pieces documenting the Savings and Loans crisis, the transatlantic trip of LBOs to the UK and France or an array or coverage of the Japanese crisis and insular economy.
It is crazy how prescient reprinted articles from the late 80s could accurately reflect the feelings about certain public individuals (see Lewis' review from the New York Times reviewing the follow-up of The Art of the Deal) and the Wall Street cycles 30 years later.
Not to mention that if you replace the word Japan with China on the final section, outside of the earthquake the similarity in their entanglement in US debts and bond markets is quite astounding.
It is crazy how prescient reprinted articles from the late 80s could accurately reflect the feelings about certain public individuals (see Lewis' review from the New York Times reviewing the follow-up of The Art of the Deal) and the Wall Street cycles 30 years later.
Not to mention that if you replace the word Japan with China on the final section, outside of the earthquake the similarity in their entanglement in US debts and bond markets is quite astounding.
March 19, 2020
THE MONEY CULTURE
by Michael Lewis
THUMBS UP
Fascinating and humorous look at how the markets have worked, and didn't work (apparently things have changed since the chapters were written – I don't know how much things have changed. The book doesn't' cover that). Includes not just Wall Street, but markets in Europe and Japan and Australia. Also, some surprising and curious differences in the markets due to the culture of the country, particularly Japan.
I'm not sure I can say what I learned. It's sort of like asking what you learned in ForeignLanguage class today when the class is run by immersion, rather than dialogue lessons. I just feel like, with each Michael Lewis book I read, I get more and more familiar with the milieu. And he makes it fun to read and learn.
by Michael Lewis
THUMBS UP
Fascinating and humorous look at how the markets have worked, and didn't work (apparently things have changed since the chapters were written – I don't know how much things have changed. The book doesn't' cover that). Includes not just Wall Street, but markets in Europe and Japan and Australia. Also, some surprising and curious differences in the markets due to the culture of the country, particularly Japan.
I'm not sure I can say what I learned. It's sort of like asking what you learned in ForeignLanguage class today when the class is run by immersion, rather than dialogue lessons. I just feel like, with each Michael Lewis book I read, I get more and more familiar with the milieu. And he makes it fun to read and learn.
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