The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market

THEORY. The Theory of Reflexivity. Reflexivity in the Stock Market. Reflexivity in the Currency Market. The Credit and Regulatory Cycle. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. The International Debt Problem. The Collective System of Lending. Reagan's Imperial Circle. Evolution of the Banking System. The "Oligopolarization" of America. THE REAL--TIME EXPERIMENT. The Starting Point: August 1985. Phase 1: August 1985--December 1985. Control Period: January 1986--July 1986. Phase 2: July 1986--November 1986. The Conclusion: November 1986. EVALUATION. The Scope for Financial Alchemy: An Evaluation of the Experiment. The Quandary of the Social Sciences. PRESCRIPTION. Free Markets Versus Regulation. Toward an International Central Bank. The Paradox of Systemic Reform. The Crash of '87. Epilogue. Notes.