What happens inside our brains when
we think about money? Quite a lot,
actually, and some of it isn't good
for our financial health. In
Your
Money and Your Brain, Jason
Zweig explains why smart people make
stupid financial decisions -- and
what they can do to avoid these
mistakes. Zweig, a veteran financial
journalist, draws on the latest
research in neuroeconomics, a
fascinating new discipline that
combines psychology, neuroscience,
and economics to better understand
financial decision making. He shows
why we often misunderstand risk and
why we tend to be overconfident
about our investment decisions.
Your Money and Your Brain offers
some radical new insights into
investing and shows investors how to
take control of the battlefield
between reason and emotion.
Your Money and Your Brain is as
entertaining as it is enlightening.
In the course of his research, Zweig
visited leading neuroscience
laboratories and subjected himself
to numerous experiments. He blends
anecdotes from these experiences
with stories about investing
mistakes, including confessions of
stupidity from some highly
successful people. Then he draws
lessons and offers original
practical steps that investors can
take to make wiser decisions.
Anyone who has ever looked back
on a financial decision and said,
"How could I have been so stupid?"
will benefit from reading this book.
Starred Review.
It's tempting to
blame your
upbringing or your
stingy boss, but the
real culprit in your
flawed relationship
with money is your
very own brain,
argues finance
writer Zweig.
Combining concepts
in neuroscience,
economics and
psychology, he
explains how our
biology drives us
toward good or bad
investment decision.
Our brains are
pretty
self-deceptive, it
turns out: we have
difficulty admitting
our lack of
knowledge about
finances; we
overestimate our own
wisdom and
performance; and our
preference for
mistakes of action
rather than inaction
often leads us to
irrational
investment
decisions. Most
tellingly, humans
believe we're smart
enough to forecast
the future even when
we have been
explicitly told that
it is unpredictable.
Among the book's fun
facts: the MRI brain
scan of a cocaine
addict is virtually
identical to that of
someone who thinks
he is about to make
money. Backed by
stellar research and
written in an
entertaining,
informal style that
makes a complex
subject accessible
to the layperson,
Zweig makes clear
how we can
understand what our
brains are doing and
how to use that
knowledge to get out
of our own way and
invest wisely.
(Sept.)
Copyright © Reed
Business
Information, a
division of Reed
Elsevier Inc. All
rights reserved.
- Publishers Weekly
"This short and
entertaining book
packs a vast amount
of serious
information about
your brain, about
your mind, and about
your money. You will
learn a lot when you
read it for the
first time and you
will probably want
to read it again to
learn some more."
- Daniel Kahneman,
professor of
psychology,
Princeton
University,
and winner of the
2002 Nobel Prize in
Economics
"Jason Zweig is one
of the world's
experts on the
investing process.
He has written the
best book yet on the
emerging science of
neuroeconomics. Buy
it, read it, and
become a more
thoughtful, and a
better, investor."
-Bill Miller,
Chairman and Chief
Investment
Officer, Legg Mason
Capital Management
