Praise for Markets, Mobs & Mayhem "It's easy to understand investing excesses by reading Bob Menschel's captivating, well-written history of the ways investors have been victimized by greed, folly, and chicanery."
--Arthur Levitt, former chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission
"Menschel's timeless anthology on the madness of crowds is full of worldly wisdom, anecdotes, and quotations, with the light touch of our finest cartoonists. It is a useful reminder of what we all knew, deep down, but were afraid to admit: When the perception of stock prices loses its linkage to the reality of corporate values, a day of reckoning always follows."
--John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO, The Vanguard Group
"This book's lighthearted, level-headed insights may be directed at the business world, but they ring equally true for government and public officials. Robert Menschel gives a valuable perspective on the power of the crowd."
--Senator Charles E. Schumer
"This wonderfully witty and wise book by one of the most successful investors I've ever known is a must-read. He reminds us that trees do not grow in the sky and that if it looks too good to be true, it is."
--John C. Whitehead, former chairman, Goldman Sachs & Co. and Chairman, Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
"This highly entertaining book is for everyone, regardless of age, wealth, or political persuasion. Menschel's delectable stories expose the roots of human behavior in a variety of fascinating situations, familiar and unfamiliar. Don't skim; read every word."
--Peter Bernstein, author of The Power of Gold and Against the Gods
In this fascinating tour through cultural, global, economic, and business history, icon of the financial world Robert Menschel explores the phenomenon of crowd psychology and its effects on business and culture. Explaining how crowd psychology creates market bubbles and irrational exuberance, Menschel mines world history--from the rise of the Nazis in Germany, to the fanatical love of brands, to the Dutch tulip craze of the seventeenth century, to America's 1990s Internet bubble--to reveal how the behavior of crowds negatively affects the business world. Championing the causes of individuality and common sense, "Markets, Mobs & Mayhem" offers real wisdom for investors who want to keep their wits when everyone else is losing theirs.
