Andrei Shleifer | Crisis of Beliefs: A New Model of Investor Psychology
Hidden Forces
Demetri Kofinas
4.8 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2018
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 70 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Andrei Shleifer, professor of economics at Harvard University. Dr. Shleifer is the most cited economist in the world according to RePEc's database. Throughout the course of his career, Andrei Shleifer has worked in the areas of comparative corporate governance, law & finance, behavioral finance, as well as institutional economics. He has published seven books, including, A Crisis of Beliefs: Investor Psychology and Financial Fragility with his co-author Nicola Gennaioli.
Demetri's conversation with Andrei centers on the subject of beliefs: how they impact markets and how economists and financial practitioners are attempting to model them using data about people's expectations, assumptions, and attitudes in order to make better-informed investment and policy decisions.
The first half of the episode is devoted to exploring the mechanics of the 2007-2008 credit crisis, and the role played by structured products and derivatives, off-balance sheet vehicles, money market funds, GSE's, and a policy of ultra-low interest rates that fueled over-confidence in the power of regulators and in the sustainability of the status quo. In the second half, Dr. Shleifer provides us with a more formal approach to thinking about Hyman Minsky's instability hypothesis and how market participants can draw radically different conclusions about that same data when their beliefs about the world change dramatically.
Given the destabilizing forces of populist politics, trade tensions, and changing geopolitical fault lines, the ability to draw valuable insights from data about expectations and beliefs is invaluable for any investor or policymaker looking to gain a sense of market sentiment: where it stands and where it might be going.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Today's episode of Hidden Forces is made possible by listeners like you. |
| 0:04.7 | For more information about this week's episode or for easy access to related programming, |
| 0:09.8 | visit our website at hidden Forces. I.O. and subscribe to our free email list. |
| 0:16.3 | If you listen to the show on your Apple Podcast app, remember, you can give us a review. |
| 0:21.3 | Each review helps more people find the show and join our amazing |
| 0:25.6 | community. And with that, please enjoy this week's episode. |
| 0:31.4 | What's up everybody? I'm Demedricofenus and you're listening to Hidden Forces where each |
| 0:36.8 | week I speak with experts in the fields of technology, science, finance, and culture to help you gain the tools to better navigate an increasingly |
| 0:47.0 | complex world so that you're less surprised by tomorrow and better able to predict what happens next. |
| 0:54.0 | My guest this week is Andre Schliefer, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, |
| 1:00.0 | and one of the most cited economists in the world. |
| 1:04.0 | Schliefer has worked in the areas of comparative corporate governance, law and finance, |
| 1:09.0 | behavioral finance, as well as institutional economics. He has published seven books including his latest |
| 1:16.6 | a crisis of beliefs, investor psychology and financial fragility with his co-author |
| 1:22.7 | Nikola Genayoli. |
| 1:24.4 | Our conversation today centers on the subject of beliefs, |
| 1:29.0 | how they impact markets and how economists and financial practitioners are attempting to model them using |
| 1:35.9 | data about people's expectations, assumptions, and attitudes in order to make better informed investment and policy decisions. |
| 1:45.7 | The first half of the episode is devoted to exploring the mechanics of the 2007-2008 credit crisis and the role played by structured products and derivatives off-balance sheet vehicles, |
| 1:59.0 | money market funds, GSEs, and a policy of ultra-low interest rates that fueled overconfidence in the power of regulators |
| 2:08.8 | and in the sustainability of the status quo. |
| 2:12.3 | In the second half we devote time to exploring a more formal |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Demetri Kofinas, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Demetri Kofinas and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.