Alexey Markov “Hoolinomics. Rogue Economics. Financial Markets for Those Who Couldn’t Care Less”

Honestly, I came across this book completely by chance, and it was the title that grabbed my attention. So, kudos to the marketers (or maybe the author himself) for that.

The topic of economics and finance has always interested me, but somehow it always eluded me. In my work, I often approach projects from a business and budget perspective, but as a science, economics never really clicked for me. It all started at university, where I managed to score a failing grade on my economics exam. Over the summer, I read Economics, really got into it, and almost got a perfect score on the retake, but I declined an additional question because I just didn’t expect to go from failing to excellent.

Since then, the subject has popped up now and then—after all, work is always about business, and business is always about finance and economics.

But let’s get back to the book.

Alexey Markov is quite an unconventional figure, judging by his website. As he describes himself, he’s an “entrepreneur, musician, and lecturer with a lively and curious mind.” He teaches finance at the master’s level and also invests in various assets.

This book is a printed version of his articles, compiled into a “book,” including those available on his website. He even admits that much of it is an adaptation and rethinking of Robert Shiller‘s lecture series.

The book is divided into three parts: an introduction for absolute beginners, followed by more complex topics, and finally, some truly mind-boggling material. At least, that’s how he presents it. In my view, the distinction between these sections isn’t all that noticeable, to be honest.

The main difference between this book and others on similar topics is the language. It’s vibrant, straightforward, full of examples, and, as you might guess from the title, not shy about using foul language. But let’s be honest—there’s not as much swearing as you might expect. Overall, it doesn’t feel forced, although some purists might refuse to read it for that reason alone. Personally, I’m not a fan of swearing, but it didn’t bother me here.

However, the content isn’t as rosy. On the one hand, the book is easy to read, sometimes even amusing. It presents knowledge about what is usually considered a boring subject in a simple way.

On the other hand, the book lacks coherence. Each chapter covers some aspect of the market, but why the chapters are in this particular order and why the author focuses on certain aspects is unclear. Many basic economic concepts that also strongly influence financial markets are left out. And in some chapters, I wasn’t even sure what the author was trying to convey. It was interesting to read, but the message got lost.

It’s also impossible to avoid formulas and numbers in a book about finance. While there aren’t too many of them, they do disrupt the flow of reading. Even as someone with a background in mathematics, I often felt like skipping these parts, as they felt out of place in the narrative.

And then there’s the issue of repetition. When you catch the author using the same example several times, it just feels sloppy.

Another thing that bothered me was the author’s blatant lack of political correctness. I don’t know why, but he occasionally takes jabs at Black people or Jews, which I found off-putting.

My main impression is that this feels more like a collection of articles or lectures rather than a coherent book with a clear message and structure.

Despite these drawbacks, the book is highly readable and brings a lot of enjoyment (and, of course, knowledge). While you won’t immediately be ready to start trading stocks or building an investment portfolio, you’ll certainly have a solid foundation.

As an experiment, here are selected quotes from the book:

Boards of directors often fire managers who “failed to transform the company,” when in reality they were merely dealing with the consequences of the previous director’s work. It’s like, you hired a genius, but the business is tanking—so, the genius must be fired. They think, “Well, damn, we made a mistake again—he seemed so promising!” However, it could be that the entire industry is dying—take film photography or print media, for example. You can’t always blame the director for everything. But people tend to be extreme in their judgments. There’s something almost bipolar about it: first, they hire the golden boy, then they’re fatally disappointed and replace him with the next one, and the cycle repeats.

Corrupted capitalist managers have multiplied and strengthened. Many CEOs have declared themselves chairmen of the board and distributed board seats to their cronies and lackeys. Something terrible has happened: purple-headed chief accountants and lousy sales managers have infiltrated the boards. Instead of setting strategic goals for the company and keeping the sly managers in check, the boards have turned into a sad parody of the once dignified and noble gatherings.

Managers have simply stopped working for the shareholders and started working exclusively for themselves. Increasing shareholder value? Why bother when you can just give yourself a bonus? If the market drops by 10%, but the company only by 5%, that’s cause for celebration, and the entire industry will hear about how brilliant the company’s director is. In Freakonomics, there’s a great example from the movie business: a publisher hires a new director, and suddenly the company starts releasing hit after hit. No one realizes that all these films were in the works under the previous director, who was shamefully fired for the failures set up by his predecessor.

AND REALLY, IT’S A BIG QUESTION WHETHER A CEO ACTUALLY INFLUENCES A COMPANY’S PROFIT OR IF IT’S JUST A BOURGEOIS TRADITION TO BELIEVE IN SOME, EXCUSE THE LANGUAGE, BULLSHIT IN A TIE.

Science is, above all, skepticism. Faith is the opposite of that. Homeopaths, anti-vaxxers, Reiki masters, bioenergy therapists, vegans, fierce opponents of GMOs, astrologers, and psychics—they’re all part of the same group of lunatics. Not only are they completely convinced of their own heresy and deaf to the voice of reason, but they also aggressively preach their delusional views. This unhealthy conviction in one’s own righteousness is the scourge of the century.