A World of Chance
Betting on Religion, Games, Wall Street
Aaron Brown author Reuven Brenner author Gabrielle A Brenner author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:4th Aug '08
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£30.99(9780521711579)
This book shows how some societies created more chances for their members than others and, as a result, prospered.
A World of Chance shows how some societies created more chances for their members than others and, as a result, prospered. The book looks at events through the prism of risk-taking, games of chance, futures, and financial markets, and how religion, politics, and finance interacted to bring about the situation societies find themselves in today.Although financial markets often try to distance themselves from gambling, the two factors have far more in common than usually thought. When, historically, there were no financial institutions such as banks, lotteries constituted the ways by which expensive items were disposed of, and governments raised money quickly. Gambling tables fulfilled roles that venture capital and banking do today. 'Gamblers' created clearinghouses and sustained liquidity. When those gamblers bet on price distributions in futures markets, they were redefined as 'speculators'. Today they are called 'hedge fund managers' or 'bankers'. Though the names have changed, the actions undertaken have essentially stayed the same. This book shows how discussion on 'chance', 'risk', 'gambling', 'insurance', and 'speculation' illuminates where societies stood, where we are today, and where we may be heading.
'Did you know that the modern insurance industry is a direct outgrowth of gambling? Did you know that poker provided one of the most important sources of capital for penniless Western frontiersmen in the United States? Did you know that major opera houses of Europe began as gambling halls with the theaters attached (history, if not always the quality of music, repeats itself in Las Vegas)? Do you know the real reason the NFL resists the legalization of sports betting in America? For the fascinating answers and insights into the politics, the finance and the economics of that over-maligned pastime, gambling, and, yes, including the surprising role it has frequently played in finance – read A World of Chance. The odds are strong that you will love it.' Henry G. Manne, Dean Emeritus, George Mason Law School
'No one since Joseph Schumpeter has done more than Reuven Brenner to put risk-taking and innovation at the center of economic theory.' Laury Minard, Forbes
'A World of Chance undermines our usual view of 'economic man' and substitutes the angst-ridden, uncertain denizen of a world that offers no certainties and requires risk-taking as a matter of survival. … For providing a theoretical foundation for the counter-intuitive behavior of American taxpayers, the Brenners deserve the Nobel Prize in economics.' Asia Times
ISBN: 9780521884662
Dimensions: 229mm x 157mm x 23mm
Weight: 650g
358 pages