This could become a bestseller this summer...
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Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
"It never ceases to amaze me how some financial experts can dissect the public financial markets in ways that would have allowed us to avoid some of the disasters we have seen lately had we had this advice in advance. Buy, Lie, and Sell High is a book written with such clarity and analysis that even the least experienced of us can greatly benefit. It is a great read, with excellent advice, and I highly recommend it. It may save you financially."—Senator Orrin Hatch, R, Utah
Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance
Why did the Internet and Enron stock collapses really happen? Was it arrogance? Greed? The "madness of crowds"? Just plain bad luck? Or something else entirely?
In Buy, Lie, and Sell High, Harvard Business School Professor D. Quinn Mills offers the first systematic analysis of both the Internet stock bubble and the Enron scandal. Drawing upon new research-including an extensive review of the latest lawsuits and securities documents-Mills uncovers both systemic causes and outrageous misbehavior. He demonstrates how each link in the "financial value chain," from venture funds to auditors and regulators, not only failed to protect small investors, but also actively contributed to their losses.
Mills demonstrates why it didn't have to be that way, comparing the U.S. experience with that of Germany, which experienced its own Internet stock bubble with far milder consequences to ordinary investors. He then offers practical and detailed recommendations for investors, citizens, and policymakers seeking to keep it from happening again.
Includes exclusive interviews with and contributions by:
* Ted Dintersmith, Charles River Ventures
* Julian Kurz, The Boston Consulting Group
* Robert Glauber, CEO/President, National Association of Security Dealers
* Barbara Boehnlein, Ph.D., ABN AMRO Rothschild
* Patrick Boos, entrepreneur, Webmiles
* Wilfried Beeck, entrepreneur, Intershop
* Christoph Peck, Management Angels
* Christiane Sommer, entrepreneur, BRAND EINS
* Juergen Kohr, entrepreneur, DATACOM
The Internet bubble: What really happened—and why.
* Includes the first detailed analysis of the Enron collapse
* Why the Internet stock collapse was no accident
* Who lost—and who benefited
* How the disaster could have been averted
* Avoiding the next speculative bubble: techniques for investors, recommendations for policymakers
Investors lost millions of dollars in the Internet collapse—and, according to conventional wisdom, they only have themselves to blame for being greedy, shortsighted, and ignorant of business fundamentals. But is that the real story? In this riveting and insightful book, Harvard Business School Professor D. Quinn Mills argues that the Internet bubble and subsequent collapse was no accident: Blame can be placed squarely at the feet of venture firms, investment banks, accountants, mutual funds, brokerages, federal regulators, and the Federal Reserve—not "dumb small investors." Through extensive original research and the contributions of many active participants, Buy, Lie, and Sell High offers authoritative answers to the questions every investor is asking: "What actually happened during the Internet bubble?" "Who got the money I lost?" "Why did it happen?" "Who's to blame?" "What can I do about it?" "Will it happen again, and how can I keep it from happening to me?"
Mills compares the U.S. Internet bubble with events in Germany, where an Internet bubble also arose—but with radically different and far less serious consequences. Drawing on the same ideas, he also offers the first detailed analysis of the Enron collapse. Then Mills presents a specific, rigorous analytical structure for helping investors avoid future bubbles—as well as the first detailed proposals for effective reform.
Through extensive original research and the contributions of many active participants, Buy, Lie, and Sell High offers authoritative answers to the questions every investor is asking: "What actually happened?" "Who got the money I lost?" "Why did it happen?" "Who's to blame?" "What can I do about it?" And most important of all, "Will it happen again, and how can I keep it from happening to me?"
About the Author
D. QUINN MILLS is Alfred J. Weatherhead, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he teaches about leadership, strategy, organizations, and human resources. Mills previously taught at MIT's Sloan School of Management. From 1967 through 1974, he had overall responsibility in the U.S. government for wages and prices in the construction industries, constituting about 14% of U.S. GDP. |
