The Hour between Dog and Wolf: Risk Taking, Gut Feelings, and the Biology of Boom and Bust

by John Coates

Overview

“Brilliant.” —David Brooks, The New York Times

“A profoundly unconventional book . . . So absorbing that I wound up reading it twice.” —Bloomberg

Finalist for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year

What happens to your body when you take risks? What happens to it when you make or lose a lot of money? 

In this startling book, physiologist and former Wall Street trader John Coates vividly illustrates what happens to your body when you engage in risk taking. You transform into a different person, a change Coates refers to as "the hour between dog and wolf." He tells a gripping story of a group of traders caught in a bull market and then a crash. As the excitement builds he takes us inside the traders' bodies to see the biology of risk taking at work, a biology shared by athletes, politicians, soldiers - anyone who ventures beyond their safety zone.

Coates also discusses how men and women excel at different types of risk; how the stress of failure damages our health; and how we can train our bodies so that they help rather than hinder our risk taking. Revealing the biology behind bubbles and crashes, The Hour Between Dog and Wolf sheds new and surprising light on issues that affect us all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101583630
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/14/2012
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Coates, Research Fellow in neuroscience and finance at the University of Cambridge, previously traded derivatives for Goldman Sachs, and ran a trading desk for Deutsche Bank. He now researches the biology of risk taking and stress. His book, The Hour Between Dog and Wolf, was shortlisted for the FT-Goldman Business Book of the Year, and the UK Wellcome Trust Science Prize. It was also chosen as book of the month by the British Army. His research on risk taking has attracted interest from business, medicine, and the military, as well as elite sports teams.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

One of Financial Times' Best Books of 2012

"A profoundly unconventional book... It's also so absorbing that I wound up reading it twice... From the first page to the last, Coates challenges deep-seated assumptions."
—Bloomberg Businessweek

"If anyone is qualified to unify the seemingly disparate subjects of financial markets and neurology, it's John Coates... The Hour Between Dog and Wolf is a powerful distillation of his work—and an important step in the ongoing struggle to free economics from rational-actor theory."
—The Daily Beast

"[I]t makes intuitive sense that biological responses inform the mood of the markets. This book puts flesh on that idea."
—The Economist

"[A] scintillating treatise on the neurobiology of the business cycle. Coates... draws an intimate portrait of life on a trading floor…The result is a provocative and entertaining take on the irrational exuberance—and anxiety—of the modern economy."
—Publishers Weekly

"A provocative challenger to rational choice views of high finance, Coates makes an exceptionally clear, readable presentation that is bound to influence arguments about the regulation of Wall Street.”
—Booklist

"The picture of humans as rational economic machines has gone down the tubes. This book looks at the biology of why Homo economicus is a myth, and no one is better positioned to write this than Coates—he is a neuroscientist AND an economist AND an ex-Wall Street trader AND a spectacular writer. A superb book."
—Robert Sapolsky, neuroscientist, Stanford University

Editorial Reviews

As a successful Wall Street derivates trader, John Coates saw that market trends were stoked by testosterone; as a respected Cambridge neuroscientist, he learned to better understand how body chemistry has caused major global stock fluctuations. His new book draws on cutting-edge research to show how investors' unconscious disposition towards risk-taking shapes real-world decisions that affect us all. In this era of volatile markets, an especially significant book.

A former financial trader, Coates combines his real-world experience and his clinical study of human physiology into a story of Wall Street speculators in action…A provocative challenger to rational-choice views of high finance, Coates makes an exceptionally clear, readable presentation that is bound to influence arguments about the regulation of Wall Street.”

Booklist

A vivid and brilliantly written narrative: by integrating his knowledge of neuroscience with his experience as a Wall Street trader, Coates pulls back the curtain on the physiological mechanisms that prepare some individuals to thrive and others to be devastated by confronting risk.”

Stephen W. Porges

John Coates brings finely honed scientific insight to his insider’s look at the world of high-wire high finance to produce a vivid depiction of the minds, brains, and bodies of economic movers and shakers living on the edge.”

Gabor Maté

Compelling.”

New Scientist

[A] profoundly unconventional book. It’s also so absorbing that I wound up reading it twice…From the first page to the last, Coates challenges deep-seated assumptions.”

Bloomberg Businessweek

If anyone is qualified to unify the seemingly disparate subjects of financial markets and neurology, it’s John Coates…The Hour Between Dog and Wolf is a powerful distillation of his work—and an important step in the ongoing struggle to free economics from rational-actor theory.”

Daily Beast

A terrific read—better than any amount of economic analysis because it explains what lies at the root of economic disaster—those biological drivers that cause sane and clever people to make catastrophic decisions. Every banker should be made to read it.”

author of Mapping the Mind Rita Carter

It makes intuitive sense that biological responses inform the mood of the markets. This book puts flesh on that idea.”

Economist

"A profoundly unconventional book… It's also so absorbing that I wound up reading it twice…From the first page to the last, Coates challenges deep-seated assumptions."
Bloomberg Businessweek

One of Financial Times' Best Books of 2012

"A profoundly unconventional book... It's also so absorbing that I wound up reading it twice... From the first page to the last, Coates challenges deep-seated assumptions."
Bloomberg Businessweek

"If anyone is qualified to unify the seemingly disparate subjects of financial markets and neurology, it's John Coates... The Hour Between Dog and Wolf is a powerful distillation of his work-and an important step in the ongoing struggle to free economics from rational-actor theory."
The Daily Beast

"[I]t makes intuitive sense that biological responses inform the mood of the markets. This book puts flesh on that idea."
The Economist

"[A] scintillating treatise on the neurobiology of the business cycle. Coates... draws an intimate portrait of life on a trading floor…The result is a provocative and entertaining take on the irrational exuberance-and anxiety-of the modern economy."
Publishers Weekly

"A provocative challenger to rational choice views of high finance, Coates makes an exceptionally clear, readable presentation that is bound to influence arguments about the regulation of Wall Street.”
Booklist

"The picture of humans as rational economic machines has gone down the tubes. This book looks at the biology of why Homo economicus is a myth, and no one is better positioned to write this than Coates-he is a neuroscientist AND an economist AND an ex-Wall Street trader AND a spectacular writer. A superb book."
Robert Sapolsky, neuroscientist, Stanford University

"If anyone is qualified to unify the seemingly disparate subjects of financial markets and neurology, it's John Coates…The Hour Between Dog and Wolf is a powerful distillation of his work-and an important step in the ongoing struggle to free economics from rational-actor theory."
The Daily Beast

"[I]t makes intuitive sense that biological responses inform the mood of the markets. This book puts flesh on that idea."
The Economist

From the Publisher