The Fama of modern finance

When Eugene Fama enrolled at Chicago Booth School of Business in 1960, “finance was a joke”, he says in a candid and fascinating insight into his more than 50 years as a student, academic and teacher at the university.

The essay, published by Chicago Booth’s Capital Ideas, details Fama’s own history but also a short history of finance including how the efficient-market hypothesis was born.

Fama, who is often called the “father of modern finance”, calls the Black-Scholes paper on option pricing the most important paper in economics of the twentieth century.

“No other paper has to be learned by every single economist getting a PhD and has also created an industry – the derivatives industry.”

Fama, who also got into Harvard, chose to go to Chicago because he was advised that “it was more academically oriented than Harvard”.

He is the Robert R McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, and received a MBA and PhD from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Sponsored Content

“I love my work,” he says in the essay. “I have no intention of stopping as long as I’m breathing – and I may even do it after that.”

To read the full essay, click here.

Leave a Comment

Sort content by

SWF investors in Citi to face dilemma if US govt ups its stake

Greater US government ownership of Citigroup could bring a dilemma to one of the troubled bank’s major stakeholders, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), according to US financial services consultancy Aite group. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Asia and South America focus for SWFs

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), with assets of about US$5 trillion, see Brazil, China and areas of Central America as the most attractive geographical regions for investment, while 70 per cent plan to increase their allocations to equity markets in the second half of the year, according to new research by Financial Dynamics International (FDI). mrec4inarticleinline

Investors not willing to pay for alpha: Mercer

Pension funds could soon hold bargaining power over funds managers, particularly in the alternative asset classes, with asset management fees predicted to decrease in 2009 and beyond. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Endowments need to think short term to counteract GFC

Endowments and foundations need to adapt their investment policies to incorporate more short-term alterations as a way to meet liquidity challenges presented by the global financial crisis, according to new research by Russell Investments. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

CalSTRS to vote on tactical asset shift, new “innovation portfolio”

The US$161 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) is set to vote next week on a proposal which would see $6 billion tactically invested in the debt markets, as well as the conception of a new “innovation portfolio”. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Canada consults on private pensions

Canada’s ministry of finance will begin public consultations on the legislative and regulatory framework for federally regulated private pension plans in mid-March. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Previous