Capital Ideas

Capital Ideas traces the origins of modern Wall Street, from the pioneering work of early scholars and the development of new theories in risk, valuation, and investment returns, to the actual implementation of these theories in the real world of investment management.

Starting with the French mathematician Louis Bachelier—who wrote about the unpredictability of stock prices in the early 1900s—Bernstein brings to life a variety of brilliant academics who have contributed to modern investment theory over the years:

Harry Markowitz, who wrote about optimising the trade-off between risk and reward; William Sharpe, who shook the pillars of the investment establishment by asserting that the market cannot be beaten; Fischer Black, Myron Scholes, and Robert Merton, who paved the way for the creation of financial derivatives and new ways of controlling risk; Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller, who extolled the central role of arbitrage in determining the value of securities.

Filled with in-depth insights and timeless advice, Capital Ideas reveals how the unique contributions of these talented individuals profoundly changed the practice of investment management as we know it today.