Interview with Dr. Andrew Odlyzko (U. of Minnesota) about investment bubbles, the Nigerian prince scam’s long history, and how to know when investors are gullible.
0:05 Intro
3:05 How a landscape painter arbitraged snooty aristocrats
6:40 Isaac Newton’s stock losses (the real story)
11:50 the South Sea Bubble
21:28 Investment bubbles in history
25:43 the South sea bubble wasn’t THAT crazy after all
29:45 An investment “of great advantage, but no-one to know what it is”
32:16 could we create a gullibility index?
33:48 the Nigerian prince scam pre-dates the internet
36:50 Why trust is key in bubbles
37:01 2 types of bubbles
40:31 Is failure good for society as a whole?
48:50 Conversations over coffee: explain what’s important
*Dr. Andrew Odlyzko is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota.
*Find his most recent writings about Isaac Newton and the South Sea Bubble here: https://physicstoday.scitation.org/journal/pto
*His website is here: http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/
*A list of his writings on financial history are here: http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/bubbles.html