The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Risk-taking, Gut Feelings and the Biology of Boom and Bust - Softcover

Coates, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007490690 ISBN 13: 9780007490691

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2012

Synopsis

In this time of financial crisis, a resonant and singular exploration of economic behaviour and its ramifications.

When we talk about a gut feeling, what do we mean?

Neuroscientist and former Wall Street trader John Coates explains what we have long suspected: that we think with our body as well as our brain. It happens when we take risks – in sport, on the battlefield and even in the financial markets. Making and losing money provokes an overwhelming biological response. Could this bodily turmoil lead to the kind of irrational behaviour destabilises the global economy?

In a series of groundbreaking experiments, Coates has shown that under the pressure of risk our biology transforms us into different people, from revved-up and aggressive to nervous and risk-averse. He refers to this transformation as the hour between dog and wolf. Traders and investors are especially prone. The Hour Between Dog and Wolf reveals the biology of bubbles and crashes and sheds new and surprising light on issues that affect us all.

About this title

About the Author

John Coates is a senior research fellow in neuroscience and finance at the University of Cambridge. He previously worked on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs, and ran a trading desk for Deutsche Bank. In 2004 he returned to Cambridge to research the biology of financial risk-taking. His work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the Financial Times and been cited in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, New Scientist, Wired and Time.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0007490690
• ISBN 13: 9780007490691
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288