Author of 'The Myth of the Rational Market' to speak at Wake Forest Schools of Business

Justin Fox, author of “The Myth of the Rational Market,” will speak Friday, Sept. 11, at the Wake Forest University Schools of Business. The Accounting Club at the University is hosting the event, which is scheduled from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the Worrell Professional Center, room 1312.

Fox is the economics and business columnist for Time magazine and writes the Curious Capitalist blog on Time.com. Before joining Time in 2007, Fox spent more than a decade at Fortune magazine, where he covered a variety of topics related to economics, finance and international business. Fox, who has also worked for several newspapers, including American Banker, holds a degree in international affairs from Princeton University. The book, his first, offers a look at the “rise and fall of the efficient market hypothesis –the influential academic theory that financial markets are nearly perfectly rational and correct,” his Web site says.

Through his writing, Fox sends the message that “financial markets possess many wonderful traits, but that rationality is not always among them … Relying on markets to be right all the time can be a very dangerous thing to do.”

Fox’s book, his web site says, “introduces a new wave of scholars who no longer teach that investors are rational or that markets are always right.” Publisher HarperCollins says the book “is as much an intellectual who dunit as a cultural history of the perils and possibilities of risk.”

National reviews for “The Myth of the Rational Market” have been positive. Publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Barron’s and Financial Times have weighed in on the merits of Fox’s work. Publishers Weekly writes the book is a “rare business history that reads like a thriller. … A must-read for anyone interested in the markets, our economy or government, this dense but spellbinding work brings modern finance and economics to life.”

Matt Woeste 2010 Wake Forest MSA candidate and president of the Wake Forest Schools of Business Accounting Club, who asked the author to speak at the University, said, “The financial turmoil of the last year has brought the efficient market theory under increased scrutiny. While we’ve discussed the theory in class we haven’t had extensive exposure to its criticisms. This is a great opportunity to have an expert like Mr. Fox discuss his views on the theory.”

Fox is also scheduled to attend the 2009 Bookmarks Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12. The free book festival will be held in the Arts District, which centers on Trade and Sixth streets in downtown Winston Salem.

The goal of the Accounting Club at Wake Forest is to foster academic, personal and professional development of its members so they may contribute effectively and ethically to society and their organizations.