A Tenured Professor

by John Kenneth Galbraith

Book Overview

When America's most distinguished economist turned his observant eye and celebrated brilliance to fiction, the result was hailed by the New York Times as "his wisest and wittiest" novel yet. A respected Harvard professor creates an economic forecasting model identifying speculative folly, enabling him of society's hidden agendas that is at once a morality tale and a comic delight.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395471001
• ISBN13: 9780395471005
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 197 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.

Customer Reviews

CLASSIC BOOK

A classic book that you'll want to read, especially if you have ever worked in the area of quantitative investing. A satire, but informative as well.

Among my most favorites!

I LOVED this story! John Kenneth Galbraith is one of America's greatest intellectuals, a genuine treasure. His fiction is delightful! Should be on everyone's reading list.

A Satire of Academia, Politics or Economics?

Though "A Tenured Professor" was written in 1990, it's just as topical for the post-Internet boom world as it was for Reaganomics and Bush Senior's recession. A story of a liberal economics professor who finds the key to predicting boom and bust cycles for stocks based on consumer hysteria or pessimism, it is told as a satire, but it cannot escape the sting of realism from time to time.Galbraith himself, aside from being a Professor Emeritus of economics at Harvard, has a great deal of familiarity with the country's political landscape, having been, among other things, a former US Ambassador to India. His familiarity with Washington politics in both parties comes through with striking clarity. At times he need only to refer to a Senator or Congressman obliquely for me to know exactly who he speaks of. Economically, as well, the book sparkles with a cynicism and perpetual questioning of whether or not economic interests control political ones. Even his academic knowledge is impressive - it's obviously that he is both very fond and somewhat sardonic of Harvard at the same time - but it is not so much a book about academics as it is about the direction of our country.If it struggles anywhere, this book struggles with it's own style. Galbraith is obviously highly intelligent and an accomplished economist. He is not, however, first a novelist. This becomes apparent when he has to push the plot along from time to time in with forced dialogue or grope for it within his satirical meanderings. However, he has enough experience with the novel as a form that it never grinds to a halt.In spite of it's form - or maybe because of it, this book does have an important comment to make about the interplay between politics and economics in the United States today. He does so so effectively, in fact, that you worry where satire leaves off and cynical reality begins. I found myself reading this book hoping for the former and worrying over the latter. I would recommend anyone with an interest in modern history or the process of government-running to read this and judge for themselves.

Hilarious Story Contains Human as well as Economic Insights

A Tenured Professor is a great read for those of us who find the financial markets fascinating. The plot weaves events and interactions of a professor who discovers a formula for predicting and profiting from others' irrational investment behavior. Using a host of funny and realistic characters, Galbraith shows how economic insight can cause some humorous personal problems.And the insight for us trader wannabe's? Can't tell -- it would spoil the story!