Patterns of Speculation: A Study in Observational Econophysics - Hardcover

Roehner, Bertrand M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521802636 ISBN 13: 9780521802635

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2002

Synopsis

The main objective of this book is to show that behind the bewildering diversity of historical speculative episodes, it is possible to find hidden regularities. Speculative bubbles require the study of various episodes in order for a comparative perspective to be obtained and the analysis developed in this book follows a few simple but unconventional ideas. To that end, the author demonstrates how some of the basic concepts of dynamical system theory, such as the notions of impulse response, reaction times and frequency analysis, play an instrumental role in describing and predicting speculative behavior.

About this title

Book Description

The main objective of this book is to show that hidden regularities lie behind the bewildering diversity of historical speculative episodes. Studying these regularities will help prepare the way for a unified theory of market speculation. By comparing stock trading with that of other commodities, the author demonstrates how the basic concepts of dynamical system theory play an instrumental role in describing and predicting speculative behavior. This book is therefore a useful introduction for students of econophysics, and gives an insight into economics as seen from the perspective of physics.

About the Author

A theoretical physicist by education, Dr Bertrand M. Roehner has been investigating social and economic phenomena during the past 15 years. He is the author of Theory of Markets (1995) which explored the space-time structure of commodity prices, and also of Hidden Collective Factors in Speculative Trading (2001). The approach used in these books demonstrates how the observational strategy invented by physicists and successfully applied in astrophysics and biophysics, can be fruitfully applied in the social sciences as well. Professor Roehner has been a visiting scholar at the Harvard Department of Economics (1994 and 1998) and at the Copenhagen Institute of Economics (1996); and he currently serves on the physics faculty of the University of Paris VII.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0521802636
• ISBN 13: 9780521802635
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 252