The Econometricians

This is the seventh book in a series of discussions about the great minds in the history and theory of finance. While the series addresses the contributions of scholars in our understanding of financial decisions and markets, this seventh book describes how econometrics developed and how its underlying assumptions created the underpinning of much of modern financial theory. The author shows that the theorists of econometrics were a mix of mathematicians and cosmologists, entrepreneurs, economists and financial scholars. The author demonstrates that by laying down the foundation of empirical analysis, they also forever determined the way in which we think about financial returns and the vocabulary we employ to describe them. Through this volume, the reader can discover the life stories, inspirations, and theories of Carl Friedrich Gauss, Francis Galton, Karl Pearson, Ronald Aylmer Fisher, Harold Hotelling, Alfred Cowles III, Ragnar Frisch, and Trygve Haavelmo, specifically. We learn how each theorist made an intellectual leap simply by thinking about a conventional problem in an unconventional way.

Colin Read is a Professor of Economics and Finance, former Dean of the School of Business and Economics at The State University of New York at Plattsburgh (SUNY), USA, and a columnist for the Plattsburgh New York Press Republican newspaper. He has a PhD in economics, a Juris Doctor (JD) degree in law, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA), a master's degree in taxation, and has taught environmental and energy economics and finance for 25 years. Colin's recent books include BP and the Macondo Spill: The Complete Story, The Fear Factor, Global Financial Meltdown: How We Can Avoid the Next Economic Crisis, The Rise and Fall of an Economic Empire: With Lessons for Aspiring Nations, Great Minds in Finance: The Life Cyclists, Great Minds in Finance: The Portfolio Theorists, Great Minds in Finance: The Efficient Market Hypothesists, Great Minds in Finance: The Rise of the Quants, Great Minds in Finance: The Corporate Financiers, and Great Minds in Finance: The Public Financiers.