This week, we speak with financial historian Edward Chancellor. He is currently a columnist for Reuters Breakingviews and an occasional contributor to the Wall Street Journal and MoneyWeek. In 2008, he received the George Polk Award for financial reporting. Chancellor is the author of “Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation.” His new book “The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest” is a nominee for FT’s 2022 Business Book of the Year.
We discuss Chancellor’s history as an analyst interested in speculative bubbles, which led him to write a research paper on valuations and why the dotcom bubble looks a lot like other historical bubbles. That eventually was expanded into Devil Take the Hindmost published in 1999, a few quarters before the bubble popped.
Chancellor notes “Interest rates are the most important signal in a market-based economy and the universal price affecting all others.” Rates reflect the price of time, which is scarce and has value. They affect everything from bond yields to consumer spending to stock returns.
A list of his favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.
You can stream and download our full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, YouTube, Bloomberg, and Acast. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Dave Nadig, Financial Futurist at VettaFi. The ETF industry pioneer has over 25 years of ETF experience. As Managing Director of ETF.com, he was a key participant in the rise of the passive and ETF industry. Previously, he was Was Managing Director at Barclays Global Investors. He co-authored the definitive book on ETFs, “A Comprehensive Guide To Exchange-Traded Funds,” for the CFA Institute.
Edward Chancellor’s authored books
The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest by Edward Chancellor
Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by Edward Chancellor
Edward Chancellor’s current reading
How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going by Vaclav Smil
Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made by Vaclav Smil
The Indian Epics Retold: The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, Gods Demons and Others by R.K. Narayan
The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee
A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee
Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee
Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan
