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AudioBook information:
Author: Alex Edmans
Narrated by: Alex Edmans
Release date: September 22, 2026
Audiobook Duration: 9 h 19 min
Summary: A groundbreaking look at what drives even the smartest investors to make irrational choices and a practical roadmap for profiting when the market loses its mind—from one of the world’s leading finance professors
“A fascinating and indispensable guide to the hidden psychology that drives markets.”—Annie Duke, decision strategist and author of Thinking in Bets and Quit
Why did Isaac Newton lose a fortune in the South Sea Bubble? Why did people spend millions on cartoon apes during the NFT frenzy? Why does the stock market fall when a national soccer team loses, or rise on a sunny day?
In this lively, eye-opening, and highly practical book, Alex Edmans reveals the hidden psychological forces that push markets away from logic—and create opportunities for those who stay sane while others panic. Drawing on cutting-edge studies and his more than twenty years at the intersection of academia and Wall Street, Edmans explains why investors chronically overreact, underreact, and misreact—and how these mistakes lead to bubbles, crashes, hype cycles, and portfolio wipeouts.
But The Madness of Markets isn’t just about spotting irrationality—it’s about outsmarting it. Edmans shows you how to think sharper, invest smarter, dodge predictable traps, and recognize when the crowd has lost the plot. Playfully rigorous and packed with unforgettable stories—from Reddit frenzies to CEO ego trips to World Cup upsets—The Madness of Markets offers an accessible yet thorough guide for anyone looking to make smarter decisions in a noisy financial world.
This book is for anyone with a pension, an IRA, or a long-term stake in the market—whether you’re chasing crypto highs or simply protecting your retirement while the world spins out of control.
Reviews:
“A fascinating and indispensable guide to the hidden psychology that drives markets.”—Annie Duke, decision strategist and author of Thinking in Bets and Quit
“A dazzling summation . . . a stunning indictment of human weaknesses, with numbers attached.”—Bloomberg
“We all like to think we are terribly clever, or that our stockbroker must be—otherwise why are they charging such big fees? But let’s not kid ourselves. Many of us are like the fools who—in the early days of Covid—sent the share price of Zoom Technologies, a semi-dormant Chinese company, up 1,500 per cent, because they mistook it for Zoom, the video conference company. . . . The trick is to recognize that you are a fool and avoid others’ greater foolishness. Edmans’s book is a very useful primer.”—The Times
“An entertaining writer . . . Edmans summarizes the field of behavioral finance with a refreshingly light touch”—Jason Zweig, Wall Street Journal columnist and author of Your Money and Your Brain
“A masterclass . . . a must-read for anyone interested in behavioral finance.”—Katy Milkman, Wharton professor and author of How to Change
“A cool-headed compass . . . punchy, witty, and provocative.”—Gillian Tett, Financial Times columnist and author of Anthro-Vision
“Essential reading on how markets work.”—Michael Mauboussin, managing director at Morgan Stanley and author of More Than You Know
“Actionable advice on how investors can take advantage of these mistakes.”—Aswath Damodaran, NYU professor and author of The Little Book of Valuation
“An incredibly useful and entertaining handbook”—Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of Ogilvy and author of Alchemy
“The author is that rare academic (he teaches at the London Business School) who can write engagingly about finance and at the same time offer sound—and not always obvious—advice about how to manage your own finances. In The Madness of Markets, Alex Edmans dissects the psychology of how we look at life in single frames rather than as a movie—which means we are always extrapolating a single data point into a trend, and trends often prove illusory. Edmans covers a lot of terrain and helpfully provides a glossary, but never once does he lose the reader.”—Air Mail
“The ideal user’s guide to the next financial bubble.”—Ed Conway, Sky News economics editor and author of Material World
“A maddeningly good read.”—Robin Wigglesworth, finance journalist and author of A Fabulous Debt
About the Author:
Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School and a widely recognized global expert on behavioral finance, responsible business, and misinformation. He has spoken at Davos, testified in the UK House of Commons, and reached millions through his TED talks and contributions to the BBC, CNBC, and The Guardian. He is the author of May Contain Lies, which received huge acclaim from the Times, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times. His first book, Grow the Pie, was a Financial Times Book of the Year.