Bonfire of the Vanities

From Bauhaus to Our House
by Tom Wolfe
Published 2 Jan 1981

Also by Tom Wolfe The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby The Pump House Gang The Painted Word The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine The Right Stuff In Our Time The Bonfire of the Vanities A Man in Full Hooking Up I Am Charlotte Simmons Tom Wolfe is the author of a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Bonfire of the Vanities, I Am Charlotte Simmons, and Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers. He lives in New York City. Notes 1 The government thought (quite mistakenly) that a new and cosmopolitan architecture might help transcend the country’s bitter racial and ethnic hostilities. 2 It was sometimes permissible to construct a “mono-pitch” roof, a roof with one sloping surface instead of two; and this exception to the rule for worker housing in the 1920s is given devout homage today, on a gigantic scale, in such office towers as the Citicorp Building in New York and Pennzoil Place in Houston. 3 Likewise, in the field of psychology.

Free Speech And Why It Matters
by Andrew Doyle
Published 24 Feb 2021

The Self-Censoring Artist Amid the rabble of tourists that typically undulate in and around Florence’s Piazza della Signoria, you would be forgiven for heedlessly stepping over the round marble plaque that marks the spot where the Dominican Friar Girolamo Savonarola was hanged and incinerated in 1498. His fate had a certain talionic quality, for only a year before, in this same square, his followers had orchestrated their famous ‘bonfire of the vanities’. In a frenzy of religious fervour, they had torched thousands of objects associated with sin and moral degeneracy: cosmetics, dresses, mirrors, perfumes, books and even musical instruments. The city had been spellbound by Savonarola’s fanaticism, and were purging themselves before the apocalypse that their new spiritual leader insisted was imminent.

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Index A abuses of state power 67 academic freedom 60–3 Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity (Williams) 63 Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin 21, 22 Almansor (Heine) 94 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 19, 93 Ancient Greeks 58 ‘anecdotal evidence’ 32 anti-censorship campaigners 17 anti-Semitism 18–19, 66, 80 Arendt, Hannah 72 Areopagitica (Milton) 3–4 ‘art’ 56 artists 55–8 Associated Press 50 Atwood, Margaret 26 Auschwitz 80 authoritarianism 89 avoidance of conflict 35–6 B Barrett, Lisa Feldman 70 ‘Battle of Cable Street’ 20 Benn, Tony 69 Berkeley, University of California 33 Bernstein, Eduard 97 big tech corporations 11–13, 45 ‘blackshirts’ 20 blasphemy 51 Boghossian, Peter 74 ‘bonfire of the vanities’ 55 books censors 4 destruction 94 humanistic culture 9–10 moral or immoral 83 Botticelli, Sandro 55 Boyle, Danny 84 Bradbury, Ray 11 Brexit 67 British Library 95 C cancel culture 25–30, 42–3, 63, 96 Cardozo, Benjamin 33 Catholic Church 9 Cato Institute 28 Cave, Nick 27 Censored (Coleman) 87 censorship and the censors 85 and criticism 16, 24 and the Internet 13 metaphor of sunlight 44 of printed texts 4 right-leaning tabloids 7 right-wing talking point 6 and social media 11, 45 tech giants 13 Charbonnier, Stéphane (‘Charb’) 50, 51, 53 Charlie Hebdo 50, 51–3 ‘Charter 77’ committee 3 Chomsky, Noam 26 Christakis, Erika 61 Christakis, Nicholas 61–2 ‘Clean Up TV’ campaign 83 Clinton, Chelsea 79 Coleman, Paul 87 College of Policing 88 comedians and comedy 49–50, 56 see also satire Communications Act 2003 (UK) 66, 89 Communications Decency Act 1996 (US) 12 concept creep 46–7, 68 consent 75 Cope, Edward Drinker 74 Cox, Jo 82 Crash (Cronenberg) 84 criticism 16, 24, 32, 57 Cronenberg, David 84 ‘crowded theatre’ argument 22–4 Crown Prosecution Service 88 ‘culture wars’ 2, 63–4 D Danning, Gordon 81 Darwin, Charles 74 Davis, Daryl 17–18, 69 ‘Day of Absence’ protests 62 debating defeated ideas 68 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen 10 decolonising authors 96 ‘Decolonising Working Group,’ British Library 95 Defending My Enemy (Neier) 19 democratic accountability 11 ‘despotism of custom’ (Mill) 57 dictatorships 90 ‘direct-effects model’ 84 Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) 88 disinformation 85 Dissertation on First-Principles of Government (Paine) 18 diversity 33 ‘dog whistle’ 16 Dorsey, Jack 12 dystopian fiction 11 E Eddo-Lodge, Reni 27–8 emotional and intellectual comfort 37 emotional pain 75 ‘The English People’ (Orwell) 59 Enlightenment 10 European Court of Human Rights 87 European Union referendum (2016) 59 Evergreen State College 62 F Facebook 12, 13 ‘fact-checking’ 13 Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury) 11 ‘fake news’ 12, 85 fascism 32–3, 67–8 feminism 71 First Amendment of the United States Constitution 10, 11 First Principles (Spencer) 43 forced conversions 43 Foucault, Michel 73 Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) 61 Founding Fathers 10, 11 France 50 Frankfurt School 83 ‘free speech crisis’ 89 ‘Free Speech Is Killing Us’ (Marantz) 81–2 French Revolution 10 Fritsch, Theodor 66 G Galileo 4 ‘gaslighting’ 25–6 gender identity 30 gender-neutral pronouns 89 gender self-identification 26, 71 Goebbels, Joseph 66, 80, 94 Gopnik, Adam 72 ‘gramophone mind’ (Orwell) 97 ‘grossly offensive’ online speech 89 H Haidt, Jonathan 70, 71 Hall, Radclyffe 84 Hardy, Thomas 75 Harper’s Magazine 26–7 Hate Crime Operational Guidance (College of Policing) 88 ‘hate crimes’ 88 ‘hate incidents’ 88 ‘hate speech’ 12, 19, 87–91, 96–7 ‘hate speech’ laws 22, 52–3, 66–7, 87 Havel, Václav 3 Hazlitt, William 43, 60 Heine, Heinrich 94 higher education 60–1 see also universities historical discrimination 33 Hitchens, Christopher 3 Hitler 10, 66 Hobbes, Thomas 6 Holland, Tom 73–4 Holmes, Oliver Wendell 22–3 Holocaust denial 68 House of Commons 82 humanistic culture 9–10 Humberside Police 1 Hutus 77 I identity issues 33–4 identity-obsessed activism 83 ‘identity quakes’ 74 inciting violence 77–85 Internet 13, 45, 96 see also social media Is Free Speech Racist?

How Money Became Dangerous
by Christopher Varelas
Published 15 Oct 2019

King, I’m Victor, one of the new summer associates.” Penn King was tall, blond, and—we soon learned—a legendary government bond salesman whose reputation extended far beyond Wall Street. The author Tom Wolfe had shadowed King, using him as the model for “Master of the Universe” Sherman McCoy in his bestselling novel The Bonfire of the Vanities. Penn King peered down at Victor, smiled graciously, and offered a hand to shake. We observed them from a distance, trying to hide our envy, while Victor confidently asked if he could sit in an empty chair not far from King. It wasn’t even a folding chair; it was the real deal, armrests and all.

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The article went on to talk about how much money he made, a topic of conversation that was very taboo on Wall Street at the time. Over the seven years since the Fortune cover, he’d risen to the top of Salomon’s M&A group. He was the quintessential aspiring Master of the Universe of 1980s Wall Street—pompous, smug, brimming with bravado—not quite suave enough for a place in The Bonfire of the Vanities, but he seemed to be auditioning for the part. Mike Soenen—just flown in from Kalamazoo, carrying an empty briefcase from meeting to meeting to keep up appearances—had never heard of David Wittig. Mike settled down in a chair facing the big desk, and Wittig slid an open binder across it to Mike.

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* * * Managing and refining one’s personal image was another way this desire to control information and perception was manifested. Through the 1980s and into the ’90s, the persona of the “investment banker” became firmly rooted in the public consciousness—spurred on by men real and imagined, like David Wittig and Gordon Gekko; bolstered by books like The Bonfire of the Vanities and Barbarians at the Gate; lionized in the public imagination by their portrayal in films, such as the iconic scene from American Psycho where a bunch of Wall Streeters are sitting around in a conference room trying to one-up one another with the design and quality of their business cards, and the stakes seem murderously high.

The Greed Merchants: How the Investment Banks Exploited the System
by Philip Augar
Published 20 Apr 2005

Wall Street became ‘Disneyland for adults’, in the words of one corporate finance executive eagerly anticipating a $9 million bonus in 1986. But Wall Street’s newfound fame turned sour for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The huge rewards led to conspicuous consumption, flash spending and growing media interest in life on Wall Street. In the late 1980s Tom Wolfe’s bestseller Bonfire of the Vanities, Michael Douglas’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street and Michael Lewis’s tale of the Salomon Brothers jungle, Liar’s Poker, picked out some not very attractive characteristics of investment banking people.16 A crop of insider trading and market manipulation cases – notably the Boesky and Milken affairs in America and the Guinness scandal in the UK – revived old memories of greed and corruption in financial circles.17 Ivan Boesky was a prominent risk arbitrageur – someone who takes stock market positions in the hope of profiting from takeover bids – who received a prison sentence and a $100 million fine in 1986 after admitting to trading on insiders’ tips.18 Boesky was well known in financial circles but what shocked the public at large was where the trail led.

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Stiglitz, Joseph, The Roaring Nineties (Allen Lane, 2003), pp. 87–114; Krugman, Paul, The Great Unravelling (Penguin Books, 2004), pp. 295–325. 14. Augar, Philip, and Palmer, Joy, The Rise of the Player Manager (Penguin Books, 2002), p. 12. 15. Lowenstein, Roger, Origins of the Crash (Penguin Press, 2004), pp. 24–5. 16. Wolfe, Tom, The Bonfire of the Vanities (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1987); Wall Street (American Entertainment/20th Century Fox, 1987); Lewis, Michael, Liar’s Poker (Hodder & Stoughton, 1989). 17. Bruck, Connie, The Predators’ Ball (Penguin Books, 1989); Stewart, James B., Den of Thieves (Simon & Schuster, 1991); Kochan, Nick, and Pym, Hugh, The Guinness Affair (Christopher Helm, 1987). 18.

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Index 401K amendment, US tax code 9 accounting treatment/rules fees 177 stock options 201, 209 Ackermann, Josef 122 acquisitions see M&A (mergers and acquisitions) advisory work, fees 90–91, 94–5, 96–7 Alper, Andrew 182 American Express 40 American model, spread of 169–71, 199 analysts 65–9, 207, 213 bubble, role in creating 159, 160 ‘buy’ recommendations, prevalence of 67–8, 72, 141, 159, 196 company valuations 72–3 as competitive tool 145–8 increase in prominence 140–44 pressure facing 196 regulation of 19, 201–2 anti-trust action/legislation 5–6, 7–8, 26 AOL 13, 14, 76–7 auditors 21, 161, 200 Banerji, Arnab 184 Bank of America 31 Bankers Trust 11–12, 44, 78, 127–8 Barings 11, 128 barriers to entry 102–3, 140, 146, 149, 168, 213 basis point pricing 91–3 Bear Stearns 30, 34, 36, 37, 45–6, 112, 117 bid offer spread 115 Blankfein, Lloyd 117–18 block trades 87–8 Blodgett, Henry 19, 136 Bloomberg, Michael 182 boards of directors 163, 178–9, 200–201, 203–4 Boesky, Ivan 10 Boisi, Geoffrey 35 Bollinger, Judy 140–41, 142, 148 bond market crash, 1994 127–8 bond traders 133 Bonfire of the Vanities 9 book-building 92 boutiques, advisory 32, 164 Brandeis, Louis D. 6 brokers 15–16, 66–7, 69, 133, 165 fees 191, 192, 194 and fund managers 190–91, 192, 204, 209 and proprietary trading 192 and structural reform 211–14 Brown, Edgar D. 7 Brown, Tom 143–4 bubble 12–13, 158–60 Buffett, Warren 41, 79, 201 ‘bulge-bracket’ firms, overview of 30–31, 36–44 bull market mentality 3–5, 12–13, 64, 65, 71–3 bundling 193, 209 Bush, President George W. 18 ‘buy’ recommendations, prevalence of 15–17, 67–8, 72, 142, 159, 196 capital, forms of 54 Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) 57–8 capital markets, development of 63–4, 125 cartel, presence of in investment banking 25–6, 98–103, 168, 199–200 competition, driving out 145–9, 151 entry into top group of banks 44–6, 48 market concentration 46–7, 98–9 pricing 93–8, 100–103 and structural reform 214–15 Cayne, James 46 Cazenove 32 CEOs 174–8, 179, 201, 203–4 courting of 150–51 and M&A (mergers and acquisitions) 162, 163 power of 163 Chase Manhattan 45 Chen, Hsuan-Chi 90, 94–5 Citigroup 20, 31, 37, 42–3, 149, 207–8 block trading 87 corruption/malpractice 41–2, 150–51 and Enron 42, 82–3, 182–3 and Parmalat 84 class actions 20, 21 client analysis 163 client trading, and proprietary trading 115–16, 117–19, 211–12 Coffee, Professor John 181 collusion, and free markets 171–2 commercial banks 121, 127 compensation 51, 58–60, 99–100, 165–6 as anti-competitive tool 146–9 and corruption/malpractice 196 and cost control 134–6, 138 excess, source of 166–7 competition, extent of see cartel, presence of in investment banking complex derivatives 78, 80, 81–4, 89, 161–2, 202–3 concentration 46–7, 98–9 confidentiality, and lack of price negotiation 176–7 conflict of interest 16–17, 22–3, 120, 144–5, 151–2, 210–11 boards of directors 178–9 fund managers 191, 194–5 reform, efforts by banks 24, 118, 205–6 regulation 19, 185–6, 187–90, 201–2, 205, 210 structural reform 211–13 UK 170–71 corporate control 162, 163–4, 193–5, 203–4 corporate finance 9, 119–21, 142 corporate governance, recent reform 200–201 corruption/malpractice 9–12, 14–18, 21–3, 151–54, 160, 173–4, 195–8 ‘clean-up’ following 19–20, 200–211 corporate corruption 161–2 CSFB 17, 43–4, 83, 121, 137–8, 151 culture of 168–9 derivatives 11–12, 44, 81–4, 151, 161–2 Enron 41, 81, 82–3, 121, 182–3 explanations of 65 fund managers 190–91, 194–5 future prospects 208–9, 215–16 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) 17–18, 19, 43, 137, 144–5, 160, 196 and regulation 22, 23, 185–6, 202–3 Salomon Brothers/Salomon Smith Barney 17, 41–43, 137, 150–51 WorldCom 17, 121, 150–51, 161 Corvis 71–2 Corzine, Jon 4, 65, 182, 188 cost control 45, 134–9 cost of equity capital 57–8 crashes 125–6 1987 126–7 1994 (bond market) 127–8 2000 13–14, 125–6 emerging markets crisis (1998) 130 credit derivatives 47, 82 Credit Suisse 20, 31, 32 cross-selling 122 CSFB (Credit Suisse First Boston) 37, 43–4, 136–7 corruption/malpractice 17, 43–4, 83, 121, 137, 151 cost control 137–8 and emerging markets crisis, 1998 130 CSFP (Credit Suisse Financial Products) 78, 136 Culhane, Simon 184 cynicism, culture of 151–3 Davies, Sir Howard 189 debt capital 54 Dell, Michael 151 Den of Thieves 107 Derby, Peter 205 deregulation 8, 180–81, 199 derivatives 33, 77–84, 100, 161–2 margins on 88–9 misselling scandals 11–12, 44, 151 regulation of 183, 202–3 Deutsche Bank 31, 32, 37 Dillon Read 34, 36 Dinallo, Eric 15, 24, 188–9 Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette 137, 143–4 Donaldson, William 23–4, 143, 187, 205 dot-com companies 4, 13, 71, 188 Drexel Burnham Lambert 10, 26, 44, 127 Drucker, Peter 54 e-mails, as evidence of malpractice 16–17 Ebbers, Bernard J. 150, 151 economy, performance of, role of investment banks 25, 63–5, 100, 157–8, 199, 214 efficient market theory 69 Electric Storage Battery, takeover of 35 emerging markets crisis, 1998 130 employees nature of 123, 197, 198 numbers of 61, 136, 138 see also compensation Endlich, Lisa 114 Enron 42, 81, 82–3, 121, 182–3 equity capital 54–8 ‘Fannie Mae’ 80–81 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation 80 fees accounting treatment 177 advisory work 90–91, 94–5, 96–7 brokers 191, 192, 193 bundling 193, 209 fixed commissions, abolition of 34–5 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) 89–90, 91–3, 94–5, 96, 177, 179–80 M&A (mergers and acquisitions) 90–92, 96, 176–8 see also prices First Boston 34, 36, 37 Fisher, Peter 182 fixed commissions, abolition of 34–5 fixed income, growth of 133 free market ideology 8, 12, 20, 168–72, 173–4, 194, 197, 215 Freeman, Robert 11, 107 Friedman, Stephen 182 front running 111 Fuld, Richard 124–5 fund manager services 65–9, 133, 165, 204 fund managers 190–95, 204, 209 funds, performance of 164–5, 190 futures 77, 126 General Electric 44–5, 80 Giuliani, Rudolph 10 Gleacher, Eric 32, 38, 164 Global Crossing 82 global operations/globalization 32–3, 63, 128, 133–4 Goldman Sachs 11, 30, 32, 34, 36, 37–8, 111, 148 and conflict of interest 206 earnings, recent 61 and emerging markets crisis, 1998 130 narcissism 198 political contributions 181 prices 86 proprietary trading 114, 117 risk management 112–13 value-at-risk 117 Google IPO 44, 90, 203 governments 180–84 Gramm, Phil 183 Gramm, Wendy 183 Grasso, Richard 187 Great Crash 6–7 Greenberg, Ace 45 Greenhill, Robert 32, 38, 164 Greenspan, Alan 4, 78–9, 158, 209 Gregory, Professor Alan 170 Grubman, Jack 16, 19, 161, 195 Guinness 11 Gutfreund, John 41 Hanbury, Jim 108 hedge funds 69, 133, 160, 165, 194 Heywood, Jeremy 184 Hintz, Brad 88 history/development of investment banking 5–13, 34–6, 134, 199 HSBC 31 hubris 198 IBM 35 ICI 170 illegality see corruption/malpractice importance of investment banks 29, 32 inflation, and return on equity (ROE) 55, 56 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) 4, 14, 69–74 analysts, role of 142–3, 144–5 and bubble 159–60 corruption/malpractice 17–18, 19, 43, 137, 144–5, 160, 196 fees 89–90, 91–3, 94–5, 96, 177, 179–80 Google 44, 90, 203 long term performance 73 offer price 70–73, 179–80 reform of system 203 regulation of 202 standards, lowering of 159–60 innovation 131–4, 208–9 insider trading 9–11 integration 22, 33, 107–8, 111, 119, 122, 168 as anti-competitive tool 145–6, 148–9, 151 and conflict of interest 22–3, 118, 206, 211–12 and corporate finance 119–21 development of 140–45 as flawed concept 151–53 and identification of profits 192–3 and regulation 22, 23, 24, 185–6 structural reform 211–15 in UK 170–71 International Swaps Dealers Association 183 internet 4, 129 stocks 4, 13, 71, 188 Investment Banking: A Tale of Three Cities 131 IT revolution, 1990s 129 J.

Other People's Money: Masters of the Universe or Servants of the People?
by John Kay
Published 2 Sep 2015

I shall then move on to the broader economic effects of financialisation on economic stability, on the performance of business and on economic inequality. The rise of the trader No sooner did you pass the fake fireplace than you heard an ungodly roar, like the roar of a mob … It was the sound of well-educated young white men baying for money on the bond market. Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1987 We are Wall Street. It’s our job to make money. Whether it’s a commodity, stock, bond, or some hypothetical piece of fake paper, it doesn’t matter. We would trade baseball cards if it were profitable. … We get up at 5am & work till 10pm or later. We’re used to not getting up to pee when we have a position.

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The elements of the new trading culture – based around fixed income, currency and commodities, and turbo-charged by derivatives – were now in place. Markets in shares were no longer the centre of speculative activity. Fixed interest, currency and, later, commodities (FICC) were central to the new trading culture. Sherman McCoy, the vainglorious anti-hero of Wolfe’s 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, was, like Nick Carraway, a bond trader. But the environment in which McCoy worked was very different from that experienced by Nick Carraway. The changes that occurred in the structure of financial services firms are described in more detail below, but with these firms the dominant ethos changed radically.

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Whittard, D., 2012, ‘The UK’s External Balance Sheet: The International Investment Position (IIP)’, Office for National Statistics, March, http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bop/the-international-investment-position/2010/art-uk-s-iip.html. Wolf, M., 2008, Fixing Global Finance, Baltimore, MD, The Johns Hopkins University Press. Wolfe, H., 1930, The Uncelestial City, London, Gollancz. Wolfe, T., 1987, The Bonfire of the Vanities, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Woodward, R.U., 2001, Maestro: Greenspan’s Fed and the American Boom, New York and London, Simon and Schuster. Zeleny, J., 2008, ‘Obama Weighs Quick Undoing of Bush Policy’, The New York Times, 9 November. Ziegler, P.S., 1988, The Sixth Great Power: Barings, 1765–1929, London, Collins, 1988.

The Kingdom of Speech
by Tom Wolfe
Published 30 Aug 2016

v=-72JNZZBoVw. 157 Rachel Feltman, “Birdsong and Human Speech Turn Out to Be Controlled by the Same Genes,” Washington Post, December 11, 2014. 158 Marc Hauser, et al., “The Mystery of Language Evolution,” Frontiers in Psychology, May 7, 2014. 159 Chris Sinha, “Language and Other Artifacts: Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Niche Construction,” Frontiers in Psychology, October 20, 2015. 160 Andy Clark, Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997), 193. About the Author Tom Wolfe is the author of more than a dozen books, among them The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full, I Am Charlotte Simmons, and Back to Blood. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he earned his BA at Washington and Lee University and a PhD in American Studies at Yale. He received the National Book Foundation’s 2010 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in New York City.

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Also by Tom Wolfe The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby The Pump House Gang The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers The Painted Word Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine The Right Stuff In Our Time From Bauhaus to Our House The Purple Decades The Bonfire of the Vanities A Man in Full Hooking Up I Am Charlotte Simmons Back to Blood Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital. To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest ebooks and apps, sign up for our newsletters. Sign Up Or visit us at hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters Contents Cover Title Page Welcome Dedication Chapter I The Beast Who Talked Chapter II Gentlemen and Old Pals Chapter III The Dark Ages Chapter IV Noam Charisma Chapter V What the Flycatcher Caught Chapter VI The Firewall Notes About the Author Also by Tom Wolfe Newsletters Copyright Copyright © 2016 by Tom Wolfe Cover design by Keith Hayes Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The America That Reagan Built
by J. David Woodard
Published 15 Mar 2006

Greed in all its forms—greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed—you mark my words—will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much. The same theme was addressed in literature. In 1990, one of America’s foremost writers, Tom Wolfe, released a blockbuster bestseller entitled The Bonfire of the Vanities.6 The book dealt with what Wolfe called the ‘‘big, rich slices of contemporary life,’’ in this case the heady materialism of the 1980s. The plot followed the life of Sherman McCoy, a prodigiously successful bond trader at a prestigious Wall Street firm. One night Sherman, accompanied by his mistress, fatally injures a black man in a car accident.

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Lou Cannon, President Reagan (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991), p. 516. CHAPTER 4: A RISING TIDE 1. International Financial Statistics: 1957–1998. 2. National Review, August 31, 1992. 3. Barron’s, February 11, 1984. 4. John Ehrman, The Eighties (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005). 5. Wall Street, imdb.com. 6. Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1987). 7. Theodore Dreiser, An American Tragedy (New York: Modern Library, 1956). 8. Janet Lowe, Secret Empire: How 25 Multinationals Rule the World (Homewood, IL: Business One Irwin, 1992), p. 5. 9. Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, Barbarians at the Gate (New York: Harper and Row, 1990). 10.

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White, John Kenneth. The Values Divide. New York: Chatham House, 2003. Williamson, Murray, and Robert H. Scales, Jr. The Iraq War. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 2003. Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Wolfe, Tom. The Bonfire of the Vanities. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1987. Woodard, J. David. The New Southern Politics. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Press, 2006. Woodward, Bob. The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994. Woodward, Bob. The Choice. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. York, Byron.

Melting Pot or Civil War?: A Son of Immigrants Makes the Case Against Open Borders
by Reihan Salam
Published 24 Sep 2018

And in the summer of 1991, riots broke out in Crown Heights after an Orthodox Jewish man crashed his car into the home of a Guyanese immigrant family, killing the family’s young son. These incidents were only the most vivid manifestations of a general sense that the city was coming undone. Throughout these years, violent crime was terrifyingly high, and Brooklyn, my native borough, was a watchword for joblessness and urban decay. In The Bonfire of the Vanities, one of Tom Wolfe’s characters memorably described Brooklyn’s remaining bourgeois enclaves as little white Hong Kongs amidst a sea of black and brown poverty. These were years when New Yorkers of all colors fled the city in droves, and those of us who remained feared that class and racial conflict might at any moment spin out of control.

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Casey Foundation, 35 anti-gentrification, 20–21, 23–24 anti-immigrant bias, 72–73 anti-poverty spending, 46, 48, 176–77 “Asian values,” 41 assimilation, 12, 13, 20, 63–72, 182–83 immigrants, two kinds of, 69–72 automation, 12–13, 94–96, 107–23, 127–28 cosmopolitan case for, 107–16 baby boomers, intergenerational wealth transfer, 21–22 Bachmeier, James, 117 Backlash Paradox, 88–91 Baldwin, Richard, 148 Bangladeshi immigrants, 2–3, 64, 74–78, 94, 145 Bean, Frank, 117 Betts, Alexander, 146–47 between-group inequality, 26–27 bigotry, 72–73, 88, 90, 91 birthrates, 32–33, 73 birthright citizenship, 57, 59, 60 Bitler, Marianne P., 178 Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 182 Borlaug, Norman, 152–53 bracero program, 111–12, 119 Brahmins, 40 Brin, Sergey, 39 British immigrants, 73–74 Brookings Institution, 142 Brown, Susan, 117 Bush, George W., 49 Canada, 26, 60, 170 Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 52 Center for Global Development, 108 Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), 167 “chain migration,” 78.

Lonely Planet Florence & Tuscany
by Lonely Planet , Virginia Maxwell and Nicola Williams
Published 1 Dec 2013

In a reaction against the splendour and excess of the Medici court, the city fell under the control of Girolamo Savonarola, a humourless Dominican monk who led a stern, puritanical republic. In 1497 the likes of Botticelli gladly consigned their ‘immoral’ works and finery to the flames of the infamous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’. The following year Savonarola fell from public favour and was burned as a heretic. The pro-French leanings of the subsequent republican government brought it into conflict with the pope and his Spanish allies. In 1512 a Spanish force defeated Florence and the Medici were reinstated. Their tyrannical rule endeared them to few and when Rome, ruled by the Medici Pope Clement VII, fell to the emperor Charles V in 1527, the Florentines took advantage of this low point in the Medici fortunes to kick the family out again.

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Whenever the city entered one of its innumerable political crises, the people would be called here as a parlamento (people’s plebiscite) to rubber-stamp decisions that frequently meant ruin for some ruling families and victory for others. Scenes of great pomp and circumstance alternated with those of terrible suffering: it was here that vehemently pious preacher-leader Savonarola set fire to the city’s art – books, paintings, musical instruments, mirrors, fine clothes and so on – during his famous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ in 1497, and where he was hung in chains and burnt as a heretic, along with two other supporters a year later. The same spot where both fires burned is marked by a bronze plaque embedded in the ground in front of Ammannati’s Fontana di Nettuno MAP GOOGLE MAP (Neptune Fountain;). With its pin-headed bronze satyrs and divinities frolicking at its edges, this huge fountain is hardly pretty and is much mocked as il biancone (the big white thing), not to mention a waste of good marble, by many a Florentine.

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Religious reformer Savonarola took an even darker view of Lorenzo and the classically influenced art he promoted, viewing it as a sinful indulgence in a time of great suffering. When Savonarola ousted the Medici in 1494, he decided that their decadent art had to go, too, and works by Botticelli, Michelangelo and others went up in flames in the massive ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ on Florence’s Piazza della Signoria. HOW MACHIAVELLIAN! Few names have such resonance as Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), the Florentine scholar and political thinker who said ‘the times are more powerful than our brains’. He was born into a poor offshoot of one of Florence’s leading families and his essential premise – ‘the end justifies the means’ – is one that continues to live with disturbing terrorism five centuries on.

Florence & Tuscany
by Lonely Planet

In a reaction against the splendour and excess of the Medici court, the city fell under the control of Girolamo Savonarola, a humourless Dominican monk who led a stern, puritanical republic. In 1497 the likes of Botticelli gladly consigned their ‘immoral’ works and finery to the flames of the infamous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’. The following year Savonarola fell from public favour and was burned as a heretic. The pro-French leanings of the subsequent republican government brought it into conflict with the pope and his Spanish allies. In 1512 a Spanish force defeated Florence and the Medici were reinstated. Their tyrannical rule endeared them to few and when Rome, ruled by the Medici pope Clement VII, fell to the emperor Charles V in 1527, the Florentines took advantage of this low point in the Medici fortunes to kick the family out again.

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Whenever the city entered one of its innumerable political crises, the people would be called here as a parlamento (people’s plebiscite) to rubber-stamp decisions that frequently meant ruin for some ruling families and victory for others. Scenes of great pomp and circumstance alternated with those of terrible suffering: it was here that vehemently pious preacher-leader Savonarola set fire to the city’s art – books, paintings, musical instruments, mirrors, fine clothes and so on – during his famous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ in 1497, and where he was hung in chains and burnt as a heretic, along with two other supporters a year later. The same spot where both fires burned is marked by a bronze plaque embedded in the ground in front of Ammannati’s Fontana di Nettuno (Neptune Fountain). With its pin-headed bronze satyrs and divinities frolicking at its edges, this huge fountain is hardly pretty and is much mocked as il biancone (the big white thing), not to mention a waste of good marble, by many a Florentine.

…

Religious reformer Savonarola took an even darker view of Lorenzo and the classically influenced art he promoted, viewing it as a sinful indulgence in a time of great suffering. When Savonarola ousted the Medici in 1494, he decided that their decadent art had to go, too, and works by Botticelli, Michelangelo and others went up in flames in the massive ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ on Florence’s Piazza della Signoria. THE ORIGINAL MACHIAVELLI Tuscany’s Renaissance legacy was almost lost by the 1966 Great Flood of Florence that left thousands homeless and three million manuscripts and thousands of artworks under mud, stone and sewage. Those heroes who helped dig the treasures from the mud are honoured as gli angeli del fango (angels of mud).

Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance
by Ian Goldin and Chris Kutarna
Published 23 May 2016

The 2008 financial crisis has already taught us to respect this class of threat, but we do not yet appreciate how widespread it has become. Systemic risks are also growing within our national and geo-politics. A Renaissance age creates big winners and big losers. Our social bargain is weakening, just when the technologies to summon solidarity, or rally rebellion, are made common and powerful. Five hundred years ago, the Bonfire of the Vanities, religious wars, the Inquisition and ever-more-frequent popular revolts tore at the peace in which genius labored and smothered some of the brightest lights of the age. Now, voices of extremism, protectionism and xenophobia likewise seek to tear apart the connections that spark present-day genius, while popular discontent has sapped our public institutions of the legitimacy needed to take bold actions.

…

—Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498)1 Empowered prophets In early February 1497, the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola and his band of fanatic youth followers gathered up all the tangible evidence of this strange new age they could lay their hands on—immoral books, heretical texts, nude paintings and sculptures, indecent perfumes, new musical instruments and baubles from far away—and piled them into a giant heap in Florence’s central piazza, rising 60 feet high in seven tiers to represent the seven deadly sins. On February 7, Carnival Day, Savonarola set fire to the lot in an event that became known to history as the Bonfire of the Vanities. By itself, that act wasn’t so remarkable. Public bonfires to burn away sin had been lit by Italian clergy before—by Bernardino da Siena in the 1420s, and more recently by Bernardino da Feltre in 1483.2 Nor was Savonarola’s message new. He spoke, in a loud and gifted voice, against moral corruption in society and against the church’s complicity with it, but the same could have been said of many preachers before him.3 In a previous time and place, Savonarola might have been marginalized and ignored.

…

See also Copernicus, Nicolaus Australia, 20, 43, 225 automation, 116, 146, 167 Aztecs, 9, 19, 93 al-Baghdadi, Bakr, 207, 208–9 Barker, Robert, 30 Berlin Wall, 4, 7, 10, 21–2, 77–8 Bhopal Union Carbide disaster, 99 bin Laden, Osama, 166, 210 Black Death, 1, 70, 72–3, 93, 143, 173–5, 177, 184 Bohr, Niels, 124 Bonfire of the Vanities, 8, 203–4. See also Savonarola, Girolamo Botticelli, Sandro: Madonna of the Book, 109 Brahe, Tycho, 29, 35, 106, 263 Brant, Sebastian, 26 Brazil, 43, 54, 68, 248, 262 Brunelleschi, Filippo, 90, 93, 109, 142, 204, 239, 246 Buonarroti, Michelangelo, 6, 109, 132, 142, 246, 266 Creation of Adam, 1, 151, 240 David, 2, 3, 235–6 Dying Slave, 110 Sistine Chapel ceiling, 1, 9, 240 Bush, George H.

Arguing With Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future
by Paul Krugman
Published 28 Jan 2020

Surveys carried out by the University of Michigan have also shed useful light on income distribution, in particular on the dynamics of income over time. There is also anecdotal evidence: Tom Wolfe noted the soaring demand for apartments in Manhattan’s “Good Buildings” well before academics had started to take the growing concentration of wealth seriously, and indeed his Bonfire of the Vanities arguably tells you all you need to know about the subject. WHAT THE CENSUS SHOWS Most academic studies on the distribution of income in the United States rely on Census data, compiled from the Current Population Survey. These data have certain limitations, to which I will turn in a moment.

…

Economics,” 125 Baily, Martin, 127 Baker, Dean, 169 Bangladesh, 243–44 banking system: unregulated “shadow” of, 9 vulnerability to panics, 82, 89 banknotes, 411, 412, 413 Bank of England, 103, 128 Barnhart, Jo Anne, 26 Barrasso, John, 57 Bartley, Robert, 271, 276 Batchelder, Lily, 239 Beck, Glenn, 356 behavioral finance, 145–46 benefits enhancement, 210, 211–12 Berlin Wall, fall of, 188, 358 Bernanke, Ben, 82, 130, 140, 141 and financial crisis (2007–2008), 89, 147 on income inequality, 282, 283 bin Salman, Mohammed, 371 bipartisanship, 198 Bitcoin, 411–14 Black, Duncan, 157 Blackwater affair, 299 Blanchard, Olivier, 130, 139, 194, 203–5 Blasey Ford, Christine, 345, 346 Bloomberg, Michael, 306 Boehner, John, 362 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe), 262, 270 bothsidesism, 297–98, 375, 378 Bowles, Erskine, 198, 199, 203, 218 Bowyer, Jerry, 44 “Bridge Too Far, A” (Krugman), 175–77 Britain: Brexit, 158 budget surpluses of, 154 currency of, 180 economy of, 180 hard-money policy in, 185 health care in, 45, 47, 48 retirement system in, 22–24 Brunnermeier, Markus, 412 bubbles: ends of, 87 see also specific bubbles Buckley, William, 408 budget, balancing, 6 budget deficits, 96, 104, 105, 107, 120, 157–58, 179 “deficit scolds,” 194, 207, 209 deficit spending, 153, 218 budget surplus, 154 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 87 Bush, George H.

…

(Dew-Becker and Gordon), 283 Whitaker, Matthew, 333 white nationalism, 343, 346, 360 “Why Not the Worst?” (Krugman), 343–44, 350 wildfire, growing risks of, 332 Will, George, 381 Wilson, William Julius, 292 When Work Disappears; The World of the New Urban Poor, 286–87 wing-nut welfare, 303 Wisconsin, Republican Party in, 369 Wolfe, Tom, Bonfire of the Vanities, 262, 270 Wolff, Edward, 270 working class: anti-worker bias in politics, 290, 318, 351–53 falling incomes of, 96, 244 family values of, 286 and health care, 352 and income inequality, 259–60, 272, 273 and “skills gap,” 167–68 stagnating wages of, 92, 168, 288, 289 tax increases on, 20, 221–23 and trade war, 372 and unions, 218, 289–90, 317 work opportunities available to, 286–87, 292 World Trade Organization (WTO), 247, 252 World War I, war debts from, 254 World War II: postwar economic growth, 219, 234 postwar trading system, 244, 250 wage controls in, 270 Wren-Lewis, Simon, 5, 385–86 “WSJ calculation,” 280 Yellen, Janet, 97 Yunus, Muhammad, 388 Zandi, Mark, 113 “zero lower bound” interest rates, 142–43, 153 zombie ideas: on climate change, 4 cutting taxes on the rich, 4, 215–17 eating people’s brains, 3–4 and health care, 216 on impossibility of universal health coverage, 4 invasion of, 259 in movement conservatism, 8 and racism, 4 Zucman, Gabriel, 238–39, 349 ALSO BY PAUL KRUGMAN End This Depression Now!

For Profit: A History of Corporations
by William Magnuson
Published 8 Nov 2022

The role of corporations in these developments, of course, has not always been positive. Roman publicans became renowned for their greed and corruption, leading to their eternal association with sinners in the Bible. The Medici Bank in Florence was denounced for engaging in usury, and the Dominican friar Savonarola led bonfires of the vanities to campaign against their vices. Big Tech is under assault on any number of fronts, from its privacy practices to its monopoly positions to its handling of free speech. Sometimes corporations are the hero. Sometimes they are the villain. But they are always on the stage. This book is divided into eight chapters, each devoted to a single corporation.

…

The new government confiscated the Medici Bank’s assets, and the bank disappeared from existence, never to return. The Medici Bank’s days at the center of the Renaissance were finally over. Soon after, Florence would fall under the thrall of a very different master, Girolamo Savonarola, the fanatical Dominican friar who railed against the vices of the rich and led bonfires of the vanities in Florence’s piazzas, burning sinful luxury objects such as books, mirrors, musical instruments, and paintings. But the legacy of the Medici Bank continues to this day. Its innovative financial products, originally created to circumvent the Vatican’s harsh usury laws, transformed the European economy.

…

Over the next several decades, the Medici family would navigate the complex political situation to perfection, taking control of the bankers’ guild, winning over the Vatican, and turning Florence into the financial center of all of Europe. The Medici then lavished their great riches on arts and learning, and their largesse in a very real sense ushered in the Renaissance. But by the end of the century, the Medici Bank was gone, the Medici family had been exiled, and the friar Savonarola was conducting bonfires of the vanities in Florence’s piazzas. The causes of this dramatic decline were many and complicated—resentment, negligence, malfeasance, and wider economic conditions all played a role—but at the heart of the matter was a failure to think for the long term. This might strike a casual observer as surprising: the Medici, after all, spent lavishly on the art and architecture of Florence, the results of which still redound to the glory of the city and the genius of its artists today—and didn’t they make these donations for the sake of eternity and their everlasting souls?

Swimming With Sharks: My Journey into the World of the Bankers
by Joris Luyendijk
Published 14 Sep 2015

This is a former managing director talking me through the listing of a new company on the stock exchange. Until he fell into a depression and dropped out, he had been a classic ‘Master of the Universe’ banker. To my surprise, this type of banker seemed perfectly happy with the name, even though Tom Wolfe coined it in Bonfire of the Vanities in the eighties to satirise the overwheening confidence of the ambitious young men who racked up millions on Wall Street. Many Master of the Universe bankers did not seem to know the providence of their nickname, nor did they seem to care. Neither for the literature nor for the irony. That said, whenever they described their work I couldn’t help but feel a sense of recognition, affinity even.

…

Index ABN Amro 1, 2 accountancy firms 1, 2, 3 and incentives 1 Adoboli, Kweku 1 AIG 1, 2, 3 al-Qaida 1 amorality 1, 2, 3, 4 Anderson, Geraint 1 Ankenbrand, Bernd 1 Asperger’s syndrome 1, 2 asset management 1 author’s Guardian blog 1 (see also Guardian) first interviews posted on 1 ‘Going native …’ subtitle of 1 readers’ comments posted on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 responses to interviews on 1, 2 traditional banking said to be under-represented on 1 Back from the Brink (Darling) 1, 2, 3 back office 1, 2 Bank of America, mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 banker types: blinkered 1, 2 cold fish 1 and Faustian pacts 1 legality defines ‘ethics’ of 1 corresponding to animals 1 delusional 1, 2 Masters of the Universe 1 passim, 1, 2 cold fish’s scorn for 1 criticism of sector resented by 1 sector readily defended by 1 neutrals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 nicknames for 1 teeth grinders 1, 2, 3, 4 bankers (see also banks): in back office 1, 2 evaluation of colleagues by 1 and Faustian pacts 1 and hopping between jobs 1, 2 leisure-time spending by 1, 2 (see also financial sector: remuneration in) and love life 1 in middle office 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 more power and status in, post-crash 1 nicknames used by 1 not alone in causing financial crisis 1 (see also global financial crisis) and religion 1 types of, see banker types working hours of 1, 2, 3, 4 banks (see also bankers; central banks; financial sector): ABN Amro 1, 2 abusive culture in 1 accountancy firms used by 1, 2, 3 annual results announcements of 1 balances of, as ‘blackest of black holes’ 1 Bank of America, mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 Barclays, mixed investment– commercial nature of 1 Barings 1 rogue trader at 1 BNP Paribas, mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 capital buffers of 1, 2, 3 capital buffers of 1, 2 Casenove 1 and caveat emptor 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Citigroup 1, 2 mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 ‘close and continuous supervision’ of 1 (see also regulators) combined investment–commercial nature of 1 commercial: definition of, clarified 1 vs investment 1, 2 investment banks taken over by 1 Deutsche Bank 1 mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 divide between different types of 1 as dog-eat-dog world 1 Goldman Sachs 1 as exception to short-termism 1 as ‘pure’ investment bank 1 Smith’s book on 1 Smith’s NYT piece on 1, 2 HR personnel in, and redundancy 1 HSBC 1 annual results announcement of 1, 2 and drugs money 1, 2 mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 and incentives: ‘perverse’ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 short-termism encouraged by 1 insurance’s overlap with 1 as ‘intensely political’ workplaces 1 investment: ‘animal’ types within 1 books about 1 as ‘casinos’ 1, 2, 3 and ‘castes’ 1 vs commercial 1, 2 commercial banks begin to take over 1 culpability of, in global financial crash 1 daily routine of 1, 2, 3 definition of, clarified 1 and dot-com bubble 1, 2, 3 job titles within 1, 2, 3 radically changed ownership structure of 1 and risk and compliance 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (see also regulators) risk-taker–risk-bearer dichotomy in 1 and ‘rock’n’roll traders’ 1 speculation by 1 subcultures engendered by 1 and IT 1, 2 patches and workarounds in 1 JP Morgan 1 rogue trader at 1, 2 Lehman Brothers: collapse of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 inadequate buffers of 1 as ‘pure’ investment bank 1 Lloyds, annual results announcement of 1, 2 mega- 1 investment banks’ mutation with 1 speculate with people’s savings 1 Merrill Lynch 1 Morgan Grenfell 1 and prop trading 1, 2, 3, 4 rating agencies paid by 1 (see also credit-rating agencies) RBS, annual results announcement of 1, 2 recruitment in 1, 2 and redundancy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 as ‘enhanced severance’ 1 as rite of passage 1 termed ‘the cull’ 1 in UK vs US 1, 2 and work-related visas 1 and regulators 1 fighting symptoms rather than cause 1 and Financial Services Authority, Financial Conduct Authority, Prudential Regulation Authority 1 identification of, with financial sector 1 ‘idiots’ description applied to 1, 2 ‘losing people at all levels’ post-crash 1 numbers working for 1 and self-declaration 1 Salomon Brothers 1 Samuel Montagu 1 Schroders 1 silo mentality in 1 Société Générale: mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 rogue trader at 1 and ‘too big to fail’ concept 1, 2, 3, 4 and ability to blackmail 1 and ‘too big to manage’ concept 1 UBS 1 rogue trader at 1, 2 unpopularity of employees in 1 zero job security in 1, 2 and diminishing employee loyalty 1, 2, 3 Barbarians at the Gate (Burrough, Helyar) 1 Barclays: mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 Sants offered top job at 1 Barings, rogue trader at 1, 2 Binge Trading: The Real Inside Story of Cash, Cocaine and Corruption in the City (Freedman) 1 Blair, Tony, ‘adviser’ role of 1, 2, 3 blinkered bankers 1, 2 (see also banker types) BNP Paribas, mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe) 1 bonuses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (see also remuneration) Labour’s plan to levy extra tax on 1 Brown, Gordon, financial sector praised by 1 buffers, see capital buffers Buiter, Willem 1 Canary Wharf 1 capital buffers 1, 2, 3, 4 ‘capture’ 1 Casenove 1 caveat emptor 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 CDOs (collateralised debt obligations) 1, 2, 3, 4 ‘hybrid’ 1, 2 and rating agencies 1 ‘squared’ 1 ‘synthetic’ 1, 2 central banks 1, 2 (see also banks) Bank of England 1 reaction of, to global financial crisis 1 Swiss 1 CERN 1 charity donations 1 Chinese walls 1, 2, 3 Citigroup 1, 2 mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 City (see also banks; financial sector): amorality in 1, 2, 3 anti-Semitism, sexism, snobbery and homophobia in 1 codes and mores of 1 collection of interviews from (City Lives) 1 crude terminology used in 1 and discrimination 1 ethical dilemmas in 1 greed-driven as popular image of 1 ‘it’s only other people’s money’ mentality in 1 jargon and language of 1 law firms that dominate (‘magic circle’) 1 long-term relationships in 1 and ‘my word is my bond’ 1, 2 as term 1 UK and Europe reshaped in image of 1 City Lives (Courtney, Thompson) 1 Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile (Anderson) 1, 2 Clinton, Hillary 1 code of silence 1, 2, 3, 4 cold fish 1 (see also banker types) and Faustian pacts 1 legality defines ‘ethics’ of 1 collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) 1, 2, 3, 4 ‘hybrid’ 1, 2 and rating agencies 1 ‘squared’ 1 ‘synthetic’ 1, 2 commercial banks (see also banks): definition of, clarified 1 vs investment 1, 2 investment banks taken over by 1 Confessions of a City Girl: The Devil Wears Pinstripes (Stcherbatcheff) 1 confidentiality 1 Cooper, George 1 credit-default swaps (CDSs) 1 credit-rating agencies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and CDOs 1 Moody’s 1, 2 ‘oligopoly’ of 1 paid by banks 1 Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Banker (Leveraged Sell-Out) 1 Darling, Alistair 1, 2, 3 memoir of, see Back from the Brink Darwinism, social 1 Das, Satyajit 1 Davies, Howard 1 deals, code names for 1 Deloitte 1 delusional bankers 1, 2 (see also banker types) Der Spiegel 1 Derman, Emanuel 1 Deutsche Bank 1, 2 mixed investment–commercial nature of 1 dot-com bubble 1, 2, 3 economists, unhelpful 1 ‘enhanced severance’ 1 (see also redundancy) Ernst & Young 1 European Banking Union 1 European Commission 1 executive search 1 Financial Conduct Authority 1 financial crash 1 passim bankers not alone in causing 1 books written about 1, 2 and domino effect 1, 2 and government bail-outs 1 harrowing beginnings of 1 ignorance about 1, 2 ignorance of real threat posed by 1 indifference towards 1 investment banks’ culpability in 1 more ‘cock-up than conspiracy’ 1 next 1 parliamentary commissions into 1, 2 political impasse before and after 1 and redundancy 1 regulators’ personnel losses since 1 regulators’ symptoms-overcause response to 1 seen as ‘black swan’ 1 Western world ‘crippled’ by 1 The Financial Crisis: Who Is to Blame?

Leonardo Da Vinci
by Walter Isaacson
Published 16 Oct 2017

In 1494 a radical friar named Girolamo Savonarola had led a religious rebellion against the ruling Medici and instituted a fundamentalist regime that imposed strict new laws against homosexuality, sodomy, and adultery. Some transgressions were punished by stoning and burning. A militia of young boys was organized to patrol the streets and enforce morals. On Mardi Gras of 1497 Savonarola led what became known as the “Bonfire of the Vanities,” in which books, art, clothing, and cosmetics were set aflame. The following year, popular opinion turned on him, and he was hanged and burned in the central square of Florence. By Leonardo’s return, the city had again become a republic that celebrated the classics and art, but its confidence was shaken, its exuberance dampened, and the finances of its government and guilds drained.

…

One pink cap.”3 These might seem like costumes from one of his plays or masquerades, but we know from contemporary accounts that he actually dressed like this when walking about town. It is a delightful image: Leonardo in an Arab hooded cloak or strolling in purple and pink garb, heavy on the satin and velvet. He was tailor-made for a Florence that had rebelled against Savonarola’s Bonfire of the Vanities and was again willing to embrace flamboyant, eccentric, and artistic free spirits. Leonardo made sure that his companion Salai, then twenty-four, was dressed with similar brio, usually also in pink and rose. In one entry Leonardo noted, “On this day I paid Salai three gold ducats which he said he wanted for a pair of rose-colored hose with their trimming.”

…

MILAN’S DELIGHTFUL DIVERSIONS To understand Leonardo, it is necessary to understand why he moved away from Florence, this time for good. One reason is simple: he liked Milan better. It had no Michelangelo, no cadre of half-brothers suing him, no ghost of his father hovering. It had royalty rather than republicans, with jubilant pageants rather than the after-stench of bonfires of the vanities. It had doting patrons rather than oversight committees. And the foremost patron there was the one who loved Leonardo the most, Charles d’Amboise, the French royal governor who had written a flowery letter reminding the Florentines how brilliant their native son was. But there was more to Leonardo’s move than merely a preference for life in Milan.

Age of the City: Why Our Future Will Be Won or Lost Together
by Ian Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin
Published 21 Jun 2023

When the printing press was first introduced in Europe, the Catholic Church expected it to unify Christendom by quickly and accurately reproducing a single authoritative version of scripture.9 In practice, the printing press made it possible for iconoclastic thinkers such as Savonarola to challenge church authority, fuelling the hysteria that led to the Bonfire of the Vanities, in which books and artworks were burned in a fit of zealotry. Ultimately, by fuelling the rise of protestantism, the printing press cleaved Christianity in two. The new technology allowed the Bible to be read directly in people’s own languages, and made possible the rapid dissemination of Luther’s sermons.

…

Index abortion here abstract mathematics here Achaemenid Empire here Adani, Gautam here agglomeration effects here agriculture here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and carbon emissions here and disease here, here productivity here, here vertical farming here Ahmedabad here air-conditioning here, here airports here, here, here, here Albuquerque here Alexandria here Allen, Paul here Allen, Thomas here Altrincham here Amazon here, here, here Amazon rainforest here Amsterdam here Anatolia here Anderson, Benedict here Anheuser-Busch here antibiotics here, here, here Antonine Plague here Anyang here apartment conversions here, here Apple here, here, here Aristotle here Arizona State University here Arlington here Assyrian merchants here Athens, Ancient here, here, here, here, here, here Atlanta here, here Austin here, here, here automation here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here axial precession here Baghdad, House of Wisdom here Baltimore here, here Bangalore here, here Bangkok here Bangladesh here, here, here, here Barlow, John Perry here Bauhaus here Beijing here, here Belmar redevelopment here Berkes, Enrico here Berlin here, here, here Berlin Wall, fall of here Bezos, Jeff here biological weapons here ‘biophilia’ here biospheres here bird flu here Birmingham here, here Black Death here, here, here Blake, William here Bloom, Nick here BMW here ‘bobo’ (bourgeois bohemian) here, here, here Boccaccio, Giovanni here Boeing here, here, here Bogota here Bologna here Bonfire of the Vanities here Borneo here Boston here, here, here Boston University here, here Brand, Stewart here Brazil here, here Brexit here, here, here Bristol here Britain broadcasting here deindustrialization here education here enclosure movement here foreign aid here high-speed rail here, here house prices here immigration here industrialization here, here infant mortality here ‘levelling up’ here life expectancy here mayoralties here per capita emissions here per capita incomes here remote working here social housing here Brixton riots here broadcasting here Bronze Age here, here, here, here bronze, and shift to iron here Brooks, David here Brynjolfsson, Eric here Burgess, Ernest here bushmeat here, here Byzantine Empire, fall of here Cairncross, Frances here Cairo here calendar, invention of here Cambridge, Massachusetts here Cambridge University here canals here, here, here ‘cancel culture’ here Cape Town here Catholic Church here C40 Cities partnership here Chadwick, Edwin here Chang’an (Xi’an) here, here, here, here Charles, Prince of Wales here charter cities here Chengdu here Chiba here Chicago here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here childbirth, average age at here childcare here, here, here, here, here China here ancient here, here, here, here call-centre workers here cereal production here civil strife here and Covid-19 pandemic here Cultural Revolution here definition of cities here economic liberalization here entry into WTO here Household Responsibility System here hukou system here One Child Policy here Open Coastal Cities here per capita emissions here rapid ageing here Special Economic Zones here technology here urbanization here China Towns here Chinese Communist Party here cholera here, here, here, here Chongqing here cities, definition of here Citigroup here city networks here civil wars here Cleveland here, here, here, here climate change here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here coastal cities here, here, here, here commuting here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Concentric Zone Model here Confucius here conspiracy theories here Constantinople here, here containerization here, here Copenhagen here, here Corinth here Cornwall here corruption here Coventry here, here covid-19 see pandemics crime rates here ‘cyberbalkanization’ here cycling here, here, here, here Damascus here Dark Ages here, here data science here de Soto, Hernando here deforestation here, here, here, here Delhi here Dell here Delphic oracle here democracy here, here, here Democratic Republic of Congo here, here, here, here, here, here Deng Xiaoping here dengue fever here Denmark here, here Detroit here, here, here, here, here, here, here Dhaka here, here, here, here, here Dharavi here Diana, Princess of Wales here diasporas here, here Dickens, Charles here district heating systems here Dresden here drought here, here, here, here, here, here, here Drucker, Peter here dual-income households here, here Dubai here, here, here Dunbar, Kevin here Düsseldorf here East Antarctic ice sheet here East China Sea here, here Easterly, William here Eastern Mediterranean here, here, here Ebola here Edinburgh here education here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here higher education here, here, here, here; see also universities Japanese school system here Egypt here, here Ancient here, here, here, here Ehrenhalt, Alan here electric vehicles (EVs) here Engels, Friedrich here Enlightenment here Epic of Gilgamesh here Erfurt here Ethiopia here, here Euripides here European Enlightenment here exchange rates here Facebook here, here, here fake news here famine here, here fertility rates here, here, here ‘15-minute city’ principle here Fischer, Claude here Fleming, Alexander here flooding here, here, here, here, here, here, here Florida, Richard here, here food shortages here Ford, Henry here, here foreign aid here fossil fuels here, here France here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Frankfurt here Franklin, Benjamin here Friedman, Thomas here, here Fryer, Roland here Fukuoka here, here Gaetani, Ruben here Galileo Galilei here Ganges River here Garden Cities here Garden of Eden here Gates, Bill here, here gay community here General Electric here General Motors here genetic engineering here gentrification here, here, here, here, here George, Andy here Germany here, here, here, here, here, here Gingrich, Newt here glaciers here Glasgow here Glass, Ruth here global financial crisis here, here, here global population, size of here globalization here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Goldstein, Amy here Google here, here, here Goos, Maarten here Grant, Adam here Great Depression here, here Greece, Ancient here, here, here, here, here Griffith Observatory here Gropius, Walter here Gruen, Victor here Gulf Stream here Haiti here Hamburg here Hanseatic League here, here Harappa here, here Harry, Prince here Harvard University here hate speech here Haussmann, Baron here, here Hawaii here Hazlitt, William here healthcare here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here heatwaves here, here Hebei here Heckscher, Eli here Herodotus here Himalayas here Hippocrates here Hippodamus here Hittite Empire here HIV here, here Ho Chi Minh City here Holocene here, here, here homophily here Hong Kong here house prices here, here, here, here, here, here, here Houston here, here, here Howard, Ebenezer here Hudson River here Hugo, Victor here Hume, David here Hurricane Katrina here hybrid working, see remote and hybrid working ice melting here, here import substitution industrialization here InBev here India here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here fertility rates here Indonesia here, here Indus River here Indus Valley here, here, here inequality here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here infant and child mortality here, here, here, here influenza here, here, here ‘information cocoons’ here Instagram here internet here, here, here, here, here, here invention here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here irrigation here, here, here, here Italy here Jacobs, Jane here, here, here Jakarta here, here James, Sheila here Japan here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here post-war development here schooling system here Jenner, Edward here Jesus Christ here Jobs, Steve here jobs apprenticeships here ‘lousy’ and ‘lovely’ here tradeable and non-tradeable here Justinian Plague here Kashmir here Kenya here Kinshasa here, here Kish here knowledge workers here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Koch, Robert here Kolkata here Korean War here Krugman, Paul here Kushim Tablet here Lagash here Lagos here, here, here, here, here, here, here Lahore here land titling programmes here Las Vegas here Latin language here Lee Kuan Yew here, here Leeds here, here Leicester here Leipzig here, here, here, here Letchworth here life expectancy here, here, here, here, here, here Liverpool here, here Ljubljana here London here, here, here, here, here, here, here bike lanes here Canary Wharf here, here Chelsea here, here, here China Town here cholera outbreaks here City of London here, here coffeehouses here and Covid-19 pandemic here financial services here gentrification here, here, here Great Stink here, here heatwaves here, here house prices here, here hybrid working here, here immigration here, here incomes here, here mayoralty here migration into inner London here population growth here, here, here poverty here, here public transport here, here, here slum housing here social housing here suburbanization here Los Angeles here, here, here, here Louisville here Luoyang here Luther, Martin here Luton Airport here Luxembourg here, here Lyon here McDonald’s here McDonnell Douglas here McLuhan, Marshall here Madagascar here malaria here, here, here, here Malaysia here Mali here malls, reinvention of here Manchester here, here, here, here, here, here, here Manila here Manning, Alan here Markle, Meghan here marriage here Marshall, Alfred here Marshall, Tim here Marx, Karl here Maya here, here measles here, here, here Meetup here mega regions here Mekong River here Memphis, Egypt here, here Mesoamerica here, here Mesopotamia here, here, here metallurgy here metaverse here methane here, here Mexico here Miami here, here, here microbiology here Microsoft here, here, here middle class, rise of here migration policy here millennial generation here Milwaukee here, here Minoan civilization here Mistry, Rohinton here MIT here MMR vaccine here ‘modernization’ theory here Mohenjo-Daro here, here Moretti, Enrico here, here mortality rates here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here motor car, invention of here Moynihan, Daniel here Mumbai here, here Mumford, Lewis here, here, here, here Munich here, here Mycenaean civilization here Nagoya here, here Nairobi here Nashville here National Landing, Arlington here Natural History Museum here natural resource exports here Nestlé here Netherlands here network effects here New Economics Foundation here New Orleans here, here New York here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here carbon emissions here and Covid-19 pandemic here gentrification here, here housing here, here, here incomes here, here Manhattan here, here, here, here, here population growth here, here and rising sea levels here slum housing here suburbanization here, here subway here waste and recycling here New York Central Railroad here New York World Fair here Newcastle here Nextdoor here Niger here Nigeria here, here, here, here Nilles, Jack here, here Nipah virus here Norway here, here Nottingham here Novgorod here ocean and air circulation here office rental and sales prices here Ohlin, Bertil here Oldenburg, Ray here online deliveries here OpenTable here Osaka here, here Oslo here Ottoman Empire here Oxford, population of here Oxford University here Pacific Belt Zone here Padua here Pakistan here, here, here pandemics here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and zoonotic diseases here paramyxovirus here Paris here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Paris Conference (2015) here Park Chung-hee, General here parks here Pasteur, Louis here Pearl River Delta here, here Peñalosa, Enrique here per capita income here Philadelphia here Philippines here, here Phoenix here, here Pixar here plague here, here, here, here Plato here plough, invention of here pollution here, here, here, here air pollution here, here, here, here population growth here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here PORTL here potter’s wheel, invention of here printing press here, here productivity here, here, here, here, here agricultural here, here Protestantism, rise of here public transport here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Putnam, Robert here, here quarantine here railways here, here, here, here, here high-speed rail here, here, here Ralston Purina here Reagan, Ronald here recycling here, here religion here remote and hybrid working here, here, here, here Renaissance Florence here, here, here renewable energy here, here Republic of Letters here République des Hyper Voisins here ‘resource curse’ here Rheingold, Howard here Ricardo, David here Rio de Janeiro here Riverside, San Francisco here robotics here Rockefeller, John D. here Roman Empire here, here, here Rome, Ancient here, here, here, here, here, here Romer, Paul here Rotterdam here Rousseau, Jean-Jacques here, here Sahel here, here sailboat, invention of here St Augustine here St Louis here, here, here Salesforce here San Diego here San Francisco here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here gentrification here, here hybrid working here, here San Francisco Bay Area here, here, here Santa Fe here São Paulo here Savonarola, Girolamo here Scientific American here Scott, Emmett J. here sea levels, rising here, here, here Seattle here, here, here, here, here, here Second Opium War here Seneca here Seoul here Shanghai here, here, here, here, here Shantou here Sheffield here, here, here Shen Nung here Shenzhen here, here Siemens here Silk Roads here, here Sinclair, Upton here Singapore here, here, here, here Slater, Samuel here smallpox here, here Smith, Adam here, here Snow, John here social capital here social housing here, here social media here, here, here, here, here Socrates here solar panels here South Africa here South Korea here, here, here, here, here, here Southdale Center here specialization here, here, here, here, here, here Spengler, Oswald here Starbucks here Stephenson, Neal here Stewart, General William here Stuttgart here Sub-Saharan Africa here subsidiarity principle here suburbanization here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here Sunstein, Cass here Sweden here, here Sydney here, here, here, here, here, here Syrian refugees here, here Taiwan here Tanzania here telegraph here Tempest, Kae here Thailand here Thames River here, here Thatcher, Margaret here, here, here ‘third places’ here Tianjin here Tocqueville, Alexis de here Toffler, Alvin here Tokyo here, here, here, here trade liberalization here trade routes here Trump, Donald here, here tuberculosis here, here, here Twain, Mark here Twitter here, here typhoid here, here typhus here, here Uber here Uganda here Ukraine here, here Umayyad Caliphate here unemployment here, here United Nations here, here United States anti-global populism here anti-trust regulation and industrial consolidation here anxiety and depression here broadcasting here car registrations here cost of education here decline in trust here deindustrialization here Gilded Age here Great Migration here house prices here, here immigration here industrialization here inequality here labour mobility here ‘magnet schools’ here parking spaces here patent filings here per capita emissions here, here per capita incomes here remote working here, here, here return on equity here Rust Belt here schools funding here slavery here socioeconomic mobility here suburbanization here tax revenues here US Federal Housing Authority here US General Social Survey here US Trade Adjustment Assistance Program here universities here, here, here University College London here University of Texas here university-educated professionals here Ur here urban heat island effect here urbanism, subcultural theory of here Uruk here, here, here, here, here vaccines here, here Van Alstyne, Marshall here Vancouver here Venice here, here Vienna here, here Vietnam here voluntary associations here, here Wakefield, Andrew here walking here, here, here Wall Street here Warwick University here Washington University here WELL, The here Welwyn Garden City here wheel, invention of here wildfires here, here William the Conqueror here Wilson, Edward Osborne here, here Wilson, William here World Bank here, here World Health organization here World Trade Organization here World Wide Web here writing, invention of here Wuhan here, here Xiamen here Yangtze River here, here Yangtze River Delta here yellow fever here Yellow River here, here Yersinia pestis here Yokohama here YouTube here, here Yu the Great here Zhuhai here Zoom here Zoroastrianism here BLOOMSBURY CONTINUUM Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY CONTINUUM and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc This electronic edition first published in Great Britain 2023 Copyright © Ian Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin 2023 Ian Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work All rights reserved.

Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making for an Unknowable Future
by Mervyn King and John Kay
Published 5 Mar 2020

We buy trusted brands and rely on recommendations from friends or reviews on websites. Our supermarket, as well as our doctor, tries to build a relationship with us. Even in the most monstrous excesses of modern capitalism, social ties and reciprocity are important. In Tom Wolfe’s defining novel of 1980s New York, The Bonfire of the Vanities , a chapter is entitled ‘The Favor Bank’ and Tom Killian, attorney for the bond-trading anti-hero, assures him, ‘Everybody does favors for everybody else. Every chance they get, they make deposits in the Favor Bank.’ 14 The egregious email correspondence between the traders involved in fixing LIBOR and other London securities markets is replete with comments such as ‘I owe you’. 15 Even as they engaged in fraud, the participants engaged with each other through what an anthropologist would recognise as gift exchange.

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W., ‘Embers of Society: Firelight Talk Among the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , Vol. 111, No. 39 (2014), 14027–35 Wilde, O., The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) Williamson, O. E., Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications (New York: Free Press, 1975) Wilson, E. O., Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (London: Vintage, 1999) Wolfe, T., The Bonfire of the Vanities (London: Cape, 1988) Wood, D. (director), ‘The Missing Page’ in Hancock’s Half Hour: Volume I , BBC (1960) World Bank, ‘How are the Income Group Thresholds Determined?’ < https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/378833-how-are-the-income-group-thresholds-determined > (accessed 11 Jan 2019) World Bank, ‘Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.90 a Day (2011 PPP) (% of Population)’ (2019) World Health Organization, WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (2009) Wrangham, R., The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution (New York: Pantheon, 2019) Zabell, S.

…

question: and aeronautics, 354 , 355 ; central bank decision-making, 286 ; centrality of, 10 ; Churchill during Second World War, 26 ; as diagnostic process, 184–5 , 186 , 194–5 ; effective use of narrative, 218 , 225 ; experts claiming knowledge they don’t have, 46 ; failure to ask, 10 , 180 , 296 , 300 , 314 , 359 , 405 , 407 , 411 ; and financial theory, 320 , 334 , 335 , 336 , 348 , 367 , 393 ; and good decisions, 119 ; ‘hedgehog’ and the ‘fox’, 222 ; and HIV infections, 375–6 ; incremental changes to narratives, 285 ; and legal reasoning, 204 ; and NASA, 374 ; need for narrative, 315 ; no standardised spreadsheet answer to, 405 ; oil block auctions in USA, 256 ; and pragmatic approach, 209–10 ; predilection for apocalyptic narratives, 361–2 ; public role of the social scientist, 397 ; pursuit of practical knowledge, 383–4 , 385–6 , 388 ; puzzle–mystery distinction, 21 ; Ranke’s view of history, 188 ; in Rumelt’s classes, 10 , 178–9 , 180 , 184 ; Sloan at General Motors, 287 ; and ‘thick description’, 192–5 Whately, Archbishop, 165 wheel, invention of, 39 Whitelaw, William, 412 Wiessner, Polly, 216 Wilde, Oscar, 127 , 167 Wilson, E. O., 158 Wolfe, Tom, The Bonfire of the Vanities , 192 , 229 Woodford, Michael, 117 , 118 , 120 word frequencies, 236–7 World Bank, 99 , 390 World Health Organization (WHO), 375–6 Wozniak, Steve, 29 Wrangham, Richard, 161–2 Wright brothers, 275 Xerox Parc, 28 , 29 , 31 Yap (in Caroline Islands), 96 Yom Kippur war, 223 YouGov, 242 Yucatán asteroid, 32 , 42 , 70 , 72 , 86 , 238 , 402 Zimbabwe, 426 , 428 Zipf, George, 236–7

Grave New World: The End of Globalization, the Return of History
by Stephen D. King
Published 22 May 2017

We now know that underlying economic performance – as measured by productivity growth – was already slowing rapidly. And an important part of Minsky’s argument is that behaviour by central bankers can encourage irrational behaviour by others. See M. King, The End of Alchemy: Money, banking and the future of the global economy, Little, Brown, London, 2016. 13.Sherman McCoy, the protagonist in Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, is a Wall Street trader whose life goes horribly wrong just when it seemed to be going so well: he was a self-styled Master of the Universe. 14.For a discussion of the effects of dysfunctional belief systems, see R. Hausmann, ‘Through the Venezuelan looking glass’, Project Syndicate, August 2016, available at: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/venezuela-destructive-belief-systems-by-ricardo-hausmann-2016-08 15.The classic article on asymmetric information is George Akerlof, ‘The market for lemons: Quality, uncertainty and the market mechanism’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84:3 (1970), pp. 488–500. 16.See, for example, E.

…

Why Globalization Works, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2004 Wolf, M. Fixing Global Finance: How to curb financial crises in the 21st century, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2009 Wolf, M. The Shifts and the Shocks: What we’ve learned – and have still to learn – from the financial crisis, Penguin, London, 2015 Wolf, T. Bonfire of the Vanities, Random House, New York, 1987 Wolff, E.N. Household Wealth Trends in the United States, 1961–2013: What happened over the Great Recession?, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 20733, Cambridge, MA, December 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In a parallel universe, I might have been tempted to thank Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.

The Great Divergence: America's Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do About It
by Timothy Noah
Published 23 Apr 2012

But according to the Central Intelligence Agency (whose patriotism I hesitate to question), income distribution in the United States is now more unequal than in Uruguay, Nicaragua, Guyana, and Venezuela, and roughly on par with Argentina.35 Income inequality is actually declining in Latin America even as it continues to increase in the United States.36 Economically speaking, the richest nation on Earth is starting to resemble a banana republic. The main difference is that the United States is big enough to maintain geographic distance between the villa-dweller and the beggar. As Ralston Thorpe tells his St. Paul’s classmate, the investment banker Sherman McCoy, in Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities: “You’ve got to insulate, insulate, insulate.” Why do Americans tolerate this troubling state of affairs? The biggest likely reason is our enduring belief in upward mobility. Economic inequality is less troubling if you live in a country where any child, no matter how humble his or her origins, can grow up to be president.

…

Thompson, The Politics of Inequality: A Political History of the Idea of Economic Inequality in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007). Jeffrey G. Williamson, Inequality, Poverty, and History (Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1991). Jeffrey G. Williamson and Peter H. Lindert, American Inequality: A Macroeconomic History (New York: Academic Press, 1980). Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities (New York: Farrar Straus, 1987). 1. Three years before Willford I. King’s book appeared, Frank Hatch Streightoff, an instructor in economics at DePauw, published a book called The Distribution of Incomes in the United States (New York: Columbia University, 1912). But on page 155, Streightoff threw in the towel.

The Year That Changed the World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall
by Michael Meyer
Published 7 Sep 2009

Because it goes to the heart of democracy and the nation’s social and economic troubles.” Failure to reach what Geremek called a new “social contract” could lead to more than a war within the party. It could easily touch off a social “explosion.” The novelist Tom Wolfe, in his 1980s bestseller Bonfire of the Vanities, anointed one Reverend Bacon as the man who controlled “the steam” in New York, twisting a social safety valve to release pent-up pressure when racial relations approached the bursting point, or notching them up when he wanted to make a political point. In Poland in early 1989, that role fell to General Jaruzelski.

…

See also Iron Curtain Berlin Wall, The (Taylor), 223 Bernstein, Leonard, 204 Beschloss, Michael R., 222 Beyond the Wall (Pond), 227, 234 Bill of Rights, U.S., 30 Bismarck Strasse (Berlin), 15 Black Friday (Czech). See Velvet Revolution (Prague; 1989) Bloc That Failed, The (Gati), 39, 224 BMW, 72, 161, 228–229 Bogomolov, Oleg, 63 Bölling, Klaus, 121 Bolshevik Revolution (1917), 65–66, 85 Bond, James, 21 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe), 53 border guards at the Berlin Wall, 3, 5–10, 15–17, 27, 97–105 fall of Berlin Wall and, 5–10, 97–104, 168–170 Boyd, Gerald M., 222 Brain race, 21 Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall, 3, 15, 170, 204 Brazil, 217 Breslau, Karen, 167 Bretton Woods Agreement, 21 Brezhnev, Leonid, 39, 45, 71, 91, 225–226 Brezhnev Doctrine, 39, 45, 63, 91, 227 Brian Lapping Associates, 228 Brokaw, Tom, 9, 183 Brookings Institution, Nuclear Audit, 22–23, 223–224 Bucharest, 105–111 Ceaucescu’s home, 198–200 Ceaucescu’s palace, 107, 198–199 fall of communism and, 193–201 Warsaw Pact summit (1989), 91–95 See also Romania Buckley, William F., Jr., 223 Budapest fall of communism in Hungary, 28, 29–39, 41–42, 46, 61, 66–74, 125, 128, 137, 139–140, 143–145 People’s Picnic (1989), 66–67 reburial of Imre Nagy, 84–88 See also Hungary Bulgaria, fall of communism in, 190–191 Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 227 Bush, George H.

Liar's Poker
by Michael Lewis
Published 1 Jan 1989

His mouth never seemed to alter in shape; rather it expanded and contracted proportionally when he spoke. And out of that mouth came a steady stream of bottom-line analysis and profanity. The Piranha, that day, began by devouring the government of France. The French government had issued a bond known as the Giscard (yes, the one described by Tom Wolfe in Bonfire of the Vanities. Wolfe learned of the Giscard from a Salomon trader; in fact, to research his fictional bond salesman, Wolfe had come to 41 and sat spitting distance from the Human Piranha). The Piranha was troubled by the Giscard, so dubbed because it had been the brainchild of the government of Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

…

That morning I looked into the Japanese market, saw that it was indeed the case, and wondered why I had dreamed of it, since I couldn't recall having ever spoken of the subject. Gobbledygook to you, perhaps. A second language to me. *One of Alexander's financial heroics found its distorted way to the center of Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. Wolfe describes his protagonist, Sherman McCoy, getting himself in trouble with the gold-backed French government bonds, the so-called Giscard bonds It was Alexander who had first discovered the Giscard was mispnced, and far from getting himself in trouble he made many millions of dollars exploiting the mispncing Many of the trades that Alexander suggested followed one of two patterns.

Zero-Sum Future: American Power in an Age of Anxiety
by Gideon Rachman
Published 1 Feb 2011

By 2006, the richest 1 percent gobbled up 23 percent of national wealth.16 In the United States and the United Kingdom, the success of the free-market reforms of the 1980s was closely associated with a boom in the financial services industry, which was swiftly reflected in house prices and popular culture. In the States, the boom was captured in the film Wall Street, with its catchphrase “greed is good,” and in Tom Wolfe’s novel The Bonfire of the Vanities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which stood at 950 on the day Reagan took office, reached a peak of over 2,700 in August 1987—before the stock-market crash of October of that year.17 Some of Reagan’s critics on the left never accepted that his economic policies had succeeded. They saw them as a cruel sleight of hand, fueled by unsustainable tax cuts and deficit spending and hopelessly tilted towards the wealthy.

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INDEX Abalkin, Leonid, 56–57 Adelman, Kenneth, 167 Afghanistan, 55, 174, 199, 208–12, 244, 251–56, 258 as failed state, 10, 132, 181 U.S. war in, 96, 165, 167, 169, 174, 181, 185, 209–10, 212, 230, 233, 239, 240, 249, 252–53, 254, 268, 272, 273, 314n Africa, 7, 96, 195, 228, 235, 247, 274, 283, 289 global problems and, 205–8 African National Congress, 36, 69 African Union force, 210 Aganbegyan, Abel, 56–57 Age of Anxiety, 11, 171–292 Age of Optimism, 6, 11, 85, 91–170, 173–75, 183, 188, 191, 194, 195, 208, 231, 246–49, 259–62, 271, 272, 277, 280, 281, 286 antiglobalization movement and, 96, 153, 155–62 democracy and, 99–105 the East and, 135–43 Europe and, 145–53, 290 new world order in, 87, 93, 95–96, 230 peace and, 103, 118, 126–34, 140, 304n power and, 93, 96, 118, 162–70 progress and, 118–26 prosperity and, 107–18, 133, 134, 140, 173, 194 Age of Transformation, 11, 13–90 agriculture, 56, 125, 195, 206, 290 in China, 23, 25, 294n Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, 197, 227, 242, 244, 248 Ahmed, Kamal, 313n AIG, 201 air-traffic controllers, 39 Albright, Madeleine, 166 Aliber, Robert, 265 Allende, Salvador, 74 al-Qaeda, 10, 96, 156–57, 161–62, 210, 252, 256 American Enterprise Institute (AEI), 39, 163–64, 167–68 Angola, 43, 131, 205, 247 Annan, Kofi, 132 antiglobalization movement, 96, 153, 155–62 antitrust cases, 120 apartheid, 69, 70 Apple, 120, 261 Aquino, Corazon, 43 Arab world, 269 Argentina, 77, 78, 188 democracy in, 17, 71, 72 Falklands War and, 34, 73, 76 military regime in, 73, 75, 76 Arizona, 211, 260 Asia, 24, 66, 94, 110, 111, 114, 117, 134–43, 157, 184, 195, 200, 205, 217, 245, 256, 274, 279 democracy in, 18, 85, 94, 283 economic crisis in (1997–98), 6, 107–8, 141–43, 159, 218, 269 rise of, 4, 6, 8, 9, 46, 59–60, 73, 80, 95, 137–40, 143, 146, 173, 262 see also East Asia; specific places Asian values, 138 Aslund, Anders, 221 Audacity of Hope, The (Obama), 170 Austria, 68, 269 authoritarianism, 9, 75–76, 124, 138, 140, 174, 175–76, 233–49, 257, 283, 284 global government and, 220, 221, 223, 231 Axis of Hugo, 241–42, 249 Baghdad, 124, 125, 148, 253–54 bailouts, 113, 142, 188–89, 195 Balkan wars, 125, 130–33, 145, 146 Balls, Ed, 3 Baltic states, 58–59, 235 Bangalore, 84–85, 141 banks, 142, 159, 191–92, 200 see also investment banks BBC, 108, 279 Beijing, 15, 25, 27, 65, 137, 190, 202–3, 206, 234–38, 240, 261, 268, 305n Tiananmen Square massacre in, see China, Tiananmen Square massacre in Belarus, 59 Belgrade, U.S. bombing of Chinese embassy in, 268 Berlin, East, 65 Berlin, West, 63 Berlin Wall, fall of, 11, 43, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73, 143, 146, 147, 149, 150, 152, 165, 180, 312n-13n Bernanke, Ben, 116–17 Bezos, Jeff, 120 Bhutto, Benazir, 211, 252 Blair, Tony, 43–44, 114–15, 118, 132, 201–2, 279–80 Bloom, Allan, 99, 100, 104 Boeing, 6, 155 Bolivia, 72, 78, 242 Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 40 Boot, Max, 146, 167, 168 Bosnia, 131, 132, 133, 231 Branden, Nathaniel, 109 Brazil, 17, 71, 73, 75–78, 176, 244, 245, 246, 286 in BRICs, 76–77, 196 global government and, 217, 219, 226, 227 zero-sum future and, 262, 276 Bremmer, Ian, 193 Bretton Woods, 9 Brezhnev, Leonid, 54, 64 Brezhnev Doctrine, 64, 67 Brickell, Mark, 112–13 BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), 76–77, 196 Bright, John, 128 Brookings Institution, 139, 256 Brown, Gordon, 3, 114, 117 Brussels, 213, 215, 311n Buchanan, Pat, 42, 157–58, 260 Bulgaria, 145–48 Burma, 160, 227, 274, 275 Bush, George H.

The Corruption of Capitalism: Why Rentiers Thrive and Work Does Not Pay
by Guy Standing
Published 13 Jul 2016

Instead of channelling money from savers to productive investments, financiers indulged in a frenzy of speculative activity to make money from interest, commissions and capital gains. The result was an unstable bubble economy, as investor ‘herds’ moved en masse from place to place. The titans of finance became ‘masters of the universe’, in Tom Wolfe’s famous phrase in The Bonfire of the Vanities, his 1987 novel satirising Wall Street, as they mingled with heads of state and spent time in senior government posts before returning to make yet more money from speculation. The rise of finance was accompanied by more frequent and widespread financial crises, from the Latin American debt crisis in the 1980s to the worldwide banking collapse of 2007–08 and subsequent global recession.

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W. 1 Phillips curve 1 ‘pig cycle’ effects 1 Piketty, Thomas 1, 2 Pinochet, Augusto 1, 2, 3 platform debt 1 Plato 1 plutocracy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 Polanyi, Karl 1 policing 1 political consultancy 1 Politico magazine 1 Ponzi schemes 1 Poor Law Amendment Act (1834) 1 POPS (privately owned public spaces) 1 Portfolio Recovery Associates 1 ‘postcapitalism’ 1 poverty traps 1, 2, 3 precariat and commons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and debt 1, 2 and democracy 1, 2 emergence of 1 growth of 1, 2 and rentier platforms 1, 2, 3 revolt of see revolt of precariat predatory creditors 1 ‘primitive rebel’ phase 1 Private Landlords Survey (2010) 1 privatisation and commons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and debt 1, 2 and democracy 1 and neo-liberalism 1 and rentier platforms 1 and revolt of precariat 1 and shaping of rentier capitalism 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 professionalism 1 ‘profit shifting’ 1 Property Law Act (1925) 1 Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph 1 Public and Commercial Services Union 1 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 1, 2, 3. 4, 5, 6 QE (quantitative easing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Quayle, Dan 1 QuickQuid 1 Reagan, Ronald 1, 2 reCAPTCHA security system 1 ‘recognition’ phase 1 ‘redistribution’ phase 1 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals 1 rentier platforms and automation 1 and cloud labour 1 and commodification 1 and ‘concierge’ economy 1 ecological and safety costs 1 and occupational dismantling 1 and on-call employees 1 and precariat 1, 2, 3 and revolt of precariat 1, 2 and ‘sharing economy’ 1, 2, 3, 4 and underpaid labour 1 and venture capital 1 rentiers ascendency of 1, 2 and British Disease 1 classical images of 1 and commons see commons and debt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and democracy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 digital/tasking platforms see rentier platforms ‘euthanasia’ of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 lies of rentier capitalism 1, 2, 3 revolt of precariat see revolt of precariat shaping of see shaping of rentier capitalism subsidies for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ‘representation’ phase 1 ‘repression effect’ 1 Research of Gartner 1 revolt of precariat and basic income systems 1 and commons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ‘euthanasia’ of rentiers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 inequality of rentier capitalism 1, 2, 3 and intellectual property 1, 2, 3 and neo-liberalism 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 organisational forms 1 potential growth of movement 1 progressive political reengagement 1, 2 and rentier platforms 1, 2 rights as demands 1 sovereign wealth funds 1 wage and labour regulation 1, 2 ‘right to buy’ schemes 1, 2, 3, 4 Robbins, Lionel 1 Rockefeller, David 1 Rockefeller, John D. 1 Rolling Stone 1 Romney, Mitt 1 Roosevelt, Franklin D. 1 Ross, Andrew 1 Ross, Michael 1 Rothermere, Viscount 1, 2 Royal Bank of Scotland 1, 2 Royal Mail 1 Royal Parks 1 Rubin, Robert 1, 2 Rudd, Amber 1 Ruralec 1 Ryan, Conor 1 Sainsbury, Lord 1 Samsung 1, 2, 3 Sanders, Bernie 1, 2, 3 Sassen, Saskia 1 school–business partnerships 1 Schröder, Gerhard 1 Schwab Holdings 1 Schwarz, Dieter 1 Scottish Water 1 Second Gilded Age 1, 2, 3 Securitas 1 securitisation 1, 2, 3 selective tax rates 1 Selma 1 shaping of rentier capitalism branding 1 Bretton Woods system 1, 2, 3 and copyright 1 and ‘crony capitalism’ 1, 2, 3 dispute settlement systems 1, 2, 3 global architecture of rentier capitalism 1 lies of rentier capitalism 1 and neo-liberalism 1, 2 patents 1 and privatisation 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and ‘shock therapy’ 1, 2 trade and investment treaties 1 ‘sharing economy’ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Shelter 1 ‘shock therapy’ 1, 2, 3, 4 Shore Capital 1 Sierakowski, Slawomir 1, 2, 3, 4 silicon revolution 1 Simon, Herbert 1 Sirius Minerals 1 Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship 1 Sky UK 1, 2 SLABS (student loan asset-backed securities) 1, 2 Slim, Carlos 1, 2 Smith, Adam 1 Snow, John 1 Social Care Act (2012) 1 social commons 1, 2, 3 social dividend systems 1, 2 social housing 1 ‘social income’ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 social strike 1 SoFi (Social Finance) 1 Solidarność (Solidarity) movement 1 South West Water 1 sovereign wealth funds 1 spatial commons 1, 2 Speenhamland system 1, 2, 3 Spielberg, Steven 1 Springer 1 ‘squeezed state’ 1 Statute of Anne (1710) 1 Statute of Monopolies (1624) 1 StepChange 1 Stevens, Simon 1 ‘strategic’ debt 1 strike action/demonstrations 1, 2, 3 student debt 1, 2 subsidies 1 and austerity 1, 2 and bank ‘bailouts’ 1 and charities 1 and ‘competitiveness’ 1 direct subsidies 1 and moral hazards 1 and ‘non-dom’ status 1 and quantitative easing 1, 2 for rentiers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 selective tax rates 1 and sovereign wealth funds 1 subsidised landlordism 1 tax avoidance and evasion 1 tax breaks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 tax credits 1 Summers, Larry 1, 2 Sun, The 1, 2 Sunday Telegraph 1 Sunday Times 1 Sutton Trust 1 ‘sweetheart deals’ 1 tasking platforms see rentier platforms TaskRabbit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Tatler magazine 1 tax avoidance/evasion 1 tax breaks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 tax credits 1, 2, 3 Tax Justice Network 1 Tax Research UK 1 Taylor & Francis 1 Tennessee Valley Authority 1 ‘tertiary time’ regime 1 Tesco 1 Texas Permanent School Fund 1 Textor, Mark 1 Thames Water 1 Thatcher, Margaret 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 The Bonfire of the Vanities 1 The Constitution of Liberty 1 The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money 1 The Innovator’s Dilemma 1 think tanks 1 ‘thinner’ democracy 1 ‘Third-Way’ thinking 1, 2, 3 Times, The 1 TISA (Trade in Services Agreement) 1 Tottenham Court Road underground station 1 TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) 1, 2, 3 Trades Union Congress 1, 2 ‘tragedy of the commons’ 1 ‘tranching’ of loans 1 Treaty of Detroit (1950) 1, 2 Treuhand 1 TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) 1, 2, 3, 4 trolling (of patents) 1 Trump, Donald 1, 2 TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) 1, 2, 3, 4 Turnbull, Malcolm 1 Turner, Adair 1 Twain, Mark 1 Uber 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ‘ultra-loose’ monetary policy 1 underpaid labour 1 UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) 1 UNHCR (UN refugee agency) 1 Unison 1 Unite 1 UnitedHealth Group 1 universal credit scheme 1 universal justice 1 UpCounsel 1 Upwork 1, 2 Uruguay Round 1, 2, 3 USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) 1 Vattenfall 1 Veblen, Thorstein 1 venture capital 1 Veolia 1 Vero Group 1 Victoria, Queen 1 Villeroy de Galhau, François 1 Vlieghe, Gertjan 1 Warner Chappell Music 1 Watt, James 1 welfare abuse/fraud 1 Wilde, Oscar 1 Wilson, Fergus 1 Wilson, Judith 1 WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Wolf, Martin 1, 2 Wolfe, Tom 1 Wonga 1, 2 Work Capability Assessment 1 Work Programme 1 World Bank 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 World Economic Forum 1 world heritage sites 1 Wriglesworth Consultancy 1 WTO (World Trade Organization) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Y Combinator 1 Yanukovych, Viktor 1 Yukos 1 de Zayas, Alfred-Maurice 1 van Zeeland, Marcel 1 Zell, Sam 1 zero-hours contracts 1, 2, 3 Zipcar 1 Copyright First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Biteback Publishing Ltd Westminster Tower 3 Albert Embankment London SE1 7SP Copyright © Guy Standing 2016 Guy Standing has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History of the Cold War
by Norman Stone
Published 15 Feb 2010

He had been a graduate student at the London School of Economics, despised the concentration at his native Prince-ton on two-dimensional economics, but, almost by chance, was wafted into a world in which his starting salary was twice that of his professor, and then made cruel mock of the whole greedy and stupid business of the bond market. Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities remains the outstanding novel of the decade and perhaps even the half -century. He too had made his observations on the trading floor of Salomon Brothers, once a rather staid and safe Wall Street house, turned into a sort of perambulatory worldwide casino. The money thereby let loose might well be directed towards assets held by the State - in most countries, many.

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In 1934 the Stavisky scandal had almost destroyed republican, democratic France, since government ministers and parliamentary deputies had been found to be involved in an upended credit pyramid, the apex of which stood in the municipal pawn-shop of Bayonne; the Madoff running it was found dead in mysterious circumstances. Now, in New York, life imitated art, in this case Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: the makers of ‘junk bonds’ vanished into prison as recession pricked their bubbles. In London the empire of Robert Maxwell collapsed. He (repulsively: the baseball cap making it worse), larger than life, was a lie from the start. He was not, as he claimed, a Czech and therefore a gallant ally.

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Melanie Phillips, All Must Have Prizes (1996), is another on education. In general, Alan Sked, An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Post-War Britain (1997), and Richard Vinen, Thatcher’s Britain (2009), can be strongly recommended. The fate of the eighties ‘revolution’ in the Atlantic world causes head-shaking. The poet of the era is Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), but there are precursors of great power, Radical Chic (1970), The Painted Word (1975), and From Bauhaus to Our House (1981), making mock. For England, Simon Jenkins, Accountable to None (1995), is a brilliant book. David Frum, Dead Right (1995), shows how developments in finance derailed affairs in the USA.

13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
by Simon Johnson and James Kwak
Published 29 Mar 2010

The economic and political elites could agree that innovation was good, and that homeownership was good. But the ideology of finance went beyond the idea that Wall Street was good for America. Banking was not only the center of the U.S. economy—it became cool, seductive, and even sexy. In 1987, Tom Wolfe’s novel The Bonfire of the Vanities introduced the term “Master of the Universe” to American culture, in the form of multimillionaire investment banker Sherman McCoy, who lived in “the sort of apartment the mere thought of which ignites flames of greed and covetousness under people all over New York and, for that matter, all over the world.”72 Although the term was used sarcastically, and McCoy turns out badly in both the human and financial senses, the image of the swashbuckling, super-rich banker engaged in transactions too complex to be understood by ordinary mortals was born.

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Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage, supra note 33, at Table A-1. 71. Alan Greenspan, “Consumer Finance” (lecture, Federal Reserve System’s Fourth Annual Community Affairs Research Conference, Washington, D.C., April 8, 2005), available at http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/speeches/2005/20050408/ default.htm. 72. Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1987), 9. 73. Stanley Weiser, “Repeat After Me: Greed Is Not Good,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2008, available at http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/05/entertainment/ca-wallstreet5. 74. Michael Lewis, “The End,” Portfolio, December 2008, available at http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom. 75.

The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable
by James Owen Weatherall
Published 2 Jan 2013

If banks couldn’t borrow from one another for less than 20%, surely corporations and governments that were trying to issue bonds would need to pay even higher rates (since typically bonds are more risky than interbank loans). The so-called bond bores of the 1970s, traders who had chosen to work in the least exciting of the financial markets, now needed to cope with the most variable market of all. (Sherman McCoy, the star-crossed antihero of Tom Wolfe’s novel Bonfire of the Vanities, was an eighties-era bond trader who took himself to be so important, given the changes in the bond markets during the late seventies and early eighties, that he privately called himself a “Master of the Universe.” The name has stuck, now used to refer to Wall Street traders of all stripes.)

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Barron’s, May 11. Wilson, E. B. 1901. Vector Analysis. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. — — — . 1912. Advanced Calculus. Boston: Ginn and Company. — — — . 1931. “Reminiscences of Gibbs by a Student and Colleague.” Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 37 (6). Wolfe, Tom. 1987. Bonfire of the Vanities. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Wood, John Cunningham, and Michael McClure. 1999. Vilfredo Pareto: Critical Assessments of Leading Economists. London: Routledge. Wu, Tai Tsun, and Chen Ning Yang. 1975. “Concept of Nonintegrable Phase Factors and Global Formulation of Gauge Fields.”

Broke: How to Survive the Middle Class Crisis
by David Boyle
Published 15 Jan 2014

Is this the fault of the middle classes for being exclusive, and for hugging to themselves some of the most important products that England creates for the world? Or is it something to do with the prevailing culture? 4 The third clue: the corrosive explosion of finance ‘On Wall Street he and a few others — how many? — three hundred, four hundred, five hundred? — had become precisely that … Masters of the Universe.’ Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1987 One of the peculiarities of the financial world over the past two decades or more, which has drawn even more of the middle classes into its grip, has been the recruitment of physicists and mathematicians into the exclusive world of trading and electronic markets — the growing belief that there were patterns to be recognized in the markets if only you could see them.

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Basic salaries in the City doubled in two years. middle-class England tut-tutted, but failed to see the significance. Even Norman Tebbit, who had taken over the trade portfolio from Parkinson after his resignation, called pay levels ‘ridiculous and extremely embarrassing’.[18] This was the period when the novelist Tom Wolfe published his bestselling novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, where his hero Sherman McCoy — one of the ‘Masters of the Universe’ in Wall Street — was unable to explain to his son what he did for a living. The three-year run-up to Big Bang in London rid the City once and for all of its old aristocratic snobbery and deference. The new City was classless, even egalitarian, in its relentless pursuit of profit, but the extraordinary salaries were a sign that perhaps it might not stay classless — a small clue that a ferocious new class was emerging.

The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations
by Jacob Soll
Published 28 Apr 2014

Quotation from Iris Origo, The Merchant of Prato: Daily Life in a Medieval Italian City (London: Penguin Books, 1992), 66. 2. Ibid., 66, 259, 194. 3. Raymond de Roover, The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank 1397–1494 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963), 2–3; Ludovica Sebregondi and Tim Parks, eds., Money and Beauty: Bankers, Botticelli and the Bonfire of the Vanities (Florence: Giunti Editore, 2011), 121. 4. Origo, The Merchant of Prato, 194; De Roover, The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank 1397–1494, 38, 194. 5. Origo, The Merchant of Prato, 259, 276; Tim Parks, Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence (New York: W.

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“Parliament and the Idea of Political Accountability in Early Modern Britain.” In Realities of Representation: State Building in Early Modern Europe and European America, edited by Maija Jansson, 45–62. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Sebregondi, Ludovica, and Tim Parks, eds. Money and Beauty: Bankers, Botticelli and the Bonfire of the Vanities. Florence: Giunti Editore, 2011. Sévigné, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal. Lettres de Mme de Sévigné. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1846. Shovlin, John. The Political Economy of Virtue: Luxury, Patriotism, and the Origins of the French Revolution. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006. Skinner, Quentin.

Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought
by Andrew W. Lo
Published 3 Apr 2017

.… Complexity and coupling only made deception easier and the consequences more extensive.” No doubt, Perrow has a point. There’s no shortage of bad behavior in the financial industry, and the excesses of the 1990s and 2000s only confirmed the Wall Street Master-of-the-Universe stereotype popularized by Tom Wolfe’s iconic The Bonfire of the Vanities.35 We’ll examine these bad behaviors in the next chapter. But isn’t the source of all accidents, normal and otherwise, human behavior? Through the lens of the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis, we can see why the world of finance produces tight coupling, because in a highly competitive financial environment, firms naturally adapt to produce greater gains in efficiency and profit.

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Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ___. 1994. Naturalist. Washington, DC: Island Press/Shearwater Books. ___. 1998. Consilience. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Winston, Patrick Henry. 2012. “The Right Way.” Advances in Cognitive Systems 1: 23–36. Wolfe, Tom. 1987. The Bonfire of the Vanities. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Wolford, George, Michael B. Miller, and Michael Gazzaniga. 2000. “The Left Hemisphere’s Role in Hypothesis Formation.” Journal of Neuroscience 20: RC64. Woodward. Susan. 2009. “The Subprime Crisis of 2008: A Brief Background and a Question.” ASSA Session on Recent Financial Crises, January 3.

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L., 46–47 Australopithecus, 153 autism, 110–111 Automated Proprietary Trading (APT), 236, 237, 240 automated teller machines (ATMs), 400 automobile safety, 205 aviation safety, 85, 321, 379–383 Avnaim-Pesso, Liora, 166, 167 Awakenings (Sacks), 88 Azar, Pablo, 372 Bachelier, Louis Jean-Baptiste Alphonse, 18–20, 21, 234 back testing, 285 Ball, Lucille, 395 Bamberger, Gerry, 235–236 Bankers Trust, 320, 344 Bank of America, 386–387 Bank of England, 366–367 bank runs, 176 Barings Bank, 61 Barnea, Amir, 161 Baron-Cohen, Simon 111 Barrett, Majel, 396 Bartra, Oscar, 100 BATS Global Markets, 360 Bear Stearns, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309, 316, 317 Bechara, Antoine, 106 behavioral economics, 3, 6–7, 51, 71, 92, 220 Behavioral Investment Allocation Strategy (BIAS), 90 behavioral risk, 388–394 Beinhocker, Eric, 218 bell curve (Gaussian distribution), 22, 273 Benner, Samuel, 29 Benner’s Prophecies of Future Ups and Downs in Prices, 29 Benyamine, David, 60 Bernanke, Ben, 300 Bernoulli, Daniel, 57 Berns, Gregory, 97, 98 Berra, Yogi, 415 beta (measure), 232, 249, 251, 252, 268–269, 282 Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Ralston), 118 Beutler, Ernest, 419 Bezear Homes, 325 Biham, Eli, 238 Billio, Monica, 376 binary choice model, 190–199, 201–202, 220, 362 biodiversity, 148–149 biofeedback, 93 biological determinism, 170–172 Biological Economics (Lo and Zhang), 218 biotechnology, 401–410 birthday problem, 67–68 Bismarck, Otto von, 417 Biston betularia (peppered moth), 138–140, 141 Bitcoin, 356 Black, Fischer, 27, 97, 260, 274, 276, 356–357 Black-Scholes/Merton option pricing formula, 10, 27, 97, 211, 260, 356–357 Blinder, Alan, 7, 310 block trading, 235 Bloomberg terminals, 360 Bocskocsky, Andrew, 69 Bogle, John C., 6, 263–264, 265, 397, 398 bonds, 259, 409; for biotechnology, 407; government, 242, 249–250, 292; index funds for, 265 Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 322 Bonner, John, 371 bonobo, 162 bonuses, 303–305 Bossaerts, Peter, 101 bounded rationality, 36, 208, 215; Adaptive Markets Hypothesis likened to, 188; applications of, 185, 217; criticisms of, 181–182, 209, 213–214; informational limits acknowledged by, 34; optimization contrasted with, 180, 183 Boyle, Danny, 118 bracketology, 64–65 brain size, 152–53 brainstem, 81 Breiter, Hans, 88–89 Brennan, Tom, 182, 190, 196–197, 198, 203, 220, 362, 369 Brexit referendum, 377 Brodmann, Korbinian, 76 broker-dealers, 304–308, 311, 376 Bronze Age, 163 Brosnan, Sarah F., 337 Brownian motion, 19, 211 Buck v.

Extreme Money: Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk
by Satyajit Das
Published 14 Oct 2011

Serve in opaque tumbler of awed, ill informed media coverage.1 Hedge fund managers: “considered [themselves] part of the new era and the new breed, a Wall Street egalitarian, a Master of the Universe, who was only a respecter of performance.”2 The original Masters of the Universe were HeMan and his Friends in the 1980s popular children’s cartoon. Tom Wolfe used the term to satirize his bond trader protagonist in Bonfire of the Vanities. In 2009, Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, unconsciously borrowed from Wolfe to justify bumper profits: “performance is the ultimate narrative.”3 By the new millennium, Wolfe admitted that hedge fund managers had superseded bankers as the new Masters of the Universe. Keeping Up with the Joneses Hedge funds came to prominence when Soros broke the Bank of England and the pound sterling on Black Wednesday, September 16, 1992.

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David McNally “From financial crisis to world slump: accumulation, financialization, and the global slowdown” (15 December 2008), expanded version of a paper presented to the plenary session (“The global financial crisis: causes and consequences”), 2008 Historical Materialism Conference, University of London (http://marxandthefinancialcrisisof2008.blogspot.com/2008/12/david-mcnally-from-financial-crisis-to.html). 40. Alan Greenspan, Testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (23 October 2008). Chapter 15—Woodstock for Hedge Funds 1. Martin Baker (1995) A Fool and His Money, Orion Books, London: 157, 158. 2. Tom Wolfe (1988) The Bonfire of the Vanities, Picador, London: 64. 3. Tony Tassell “The Goldman Sachs narrative” (8 February 2010) Financial Times. 4. Quoted in Robert Slater (2009) Soros: The World’s Most Influential Investor, McGraw Hill, New Jersey: 178. 5. Philip Delves Broughton (2009) Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, Penguin Books, New York: 99. 6.

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See also Warren Buffet Berle, Adolf, 54 Berlin Wall, fall of, 101, 295 Bernanke, Ben, 170, 182, 203, 303, 338, 366 debt, 267 Great Moderation, 277 on 60 Minutes, 343 September, 2008, 342 Bernstein, Peter, 26, 129, 208 Besley, Tim, 278 Best, George, 88 beta (market returns), 241 Beveridge Report, 47 Beveridge, Sir William, 47 Beyond Belief, 338 Bhagavad Gita, 339 Bhide, Amar, 312 BHP Billiton, 59 bias, 243 Bieber, Matthew, 198 Bierce, Ambrose, 326 Big Short, The, 198 Biggs, Barton, 99 Bild, 358 Billboard Top 100 Chart, 124 Billings, Josh, 233 billionaire drivel, 327 bills of exchange, 32 bimetallism, 26 bio-fuels, 334 Bird, John, 91, 320 Black Swan, The, 95, 126 Black Wednesday, 240 Black, Fischer, 121, 127 black-box trading, 242 Black-Scholes models, 120-122, 277 Black-Scholes-Merton (BSM) option, 121 Blackrock, 170 Blackstone, 167, 325 Blackstone Group, The, 154, 318 Blair, Tony, 81 Blankfein, Lloyd, 239, 364 Blinder, Alan, 129 Blomkvist, Mikhael, 360 Bloomberg TV, 92 Bloomberg, Michael, 164 Bloomsbury group, 29 Blue Force, 264 Blumberg, Alex, 185 Boao Forum, 324 boards of directors, knowledge of business operations, 292-293 BOAT (Best of All Time), 228 Boesky, Ivan, 147, 244 Bogle, Jack, 123 Bohr, Niels, 101, 257 Boiler Room, 185 Bonanza, 31 Bond, James, 26 Bonderman, David, 154, 164, 318 bonds, 169 adjustable rate, 213 failure of securitization, 204-205 high opportunity, 143 insurance, 176 junk, 143, 145-146 Milken’s mobsters, 146-147 municipal, 211-214 PAC (planned amortization class), 178 ratings, 143, 282-285 securitization, 173 TAC (target amortization class), 178 TOBs (tender option bonds), 222 U.S. Treasury, 87, 174 VADM (very accurately defined maturity), 178 Bonfire of the Vanities, 239 bonuses, 317-318 books, financial, 96-98 boom and bust cycles, 305 Booth School of Business, 116 Borges, Jorge Luis, 210 Born, Brooksley, 300 borrowing levels, increase in, 265, 267-268 Boston Post, 34 Bottomley, Horatio, 89 Bourdieu, Pierre, 308 Bouton, Daniel, 227 Bowers, David, 357 Bowie Bonds, 168 Bowie, David, 157, 168, 186 Bowsher, Charles, 272 Boy, John, 330 BP (British Petroleum), Gulf of Mexico oil spill, 361 Braddock, Ben, 308 Brandenburg Gate, Ronald Reagan’s speech at, 101 Brazilian reals, 21 Breeden, Richard, 292, 296 Bretton Woods, 29-30 BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), 90 bridges, 150, 158 Bridgewater, 327 Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, 186 British Aluminum (BA), 57 British pound sterling, 22 Brodsky, Joseph, 44 brokers money, 22 mortgages, 186 Brown, Gordon, 81, 342, 347 Brown, Ian Harold, 35 Bryan, William Jennings, 26, 324 bubbles, 277-278 economies, 39, 54 end of, 329 price, 299 Buckely, Christopher, 98 budget deficits, 1970s, 104 Buffett, Warren, 154, 202, 276, 325-326 bonuses, 319 compensation, 316 derivatives, 211, 225, 236 end of bubble, 329 Financial Times, 206 Gen Re Securities, 231 GE stock, 344 hedge funds, 261 ownership percentage of Moody’s, 283 purchase of, 322 bugs, gold, 28 Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 34 bullion, gold.

The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump
by Michiko Kakutani
Published 17 Jul 2018

In a controversial 1989 essay, Tom Wolfe lamented these developments, mourning what he saw as the demise of old-fashioned realism in American fiction, and he urged novelists to “head out into this wild, bizarre, unpredictable, Hog-stomping Baroque country of ours and reclaim it as literary property.” He tried this himself in novels like The Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full, using his skills as a reporter to help flesh out a spectrum of subcultures with Balzacian detail. But while Wolfe had been an influential advocate in the 1970s of the New Journalism (which put a new emphasis on the voice and point of view of the reporter), his new manifesto didn’t win that many converts in the literary world.

The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal World
by Michael Marmot
Published 9 Sep 2015

I don’t know whether it would lead to less crime. It feels like it might, if there is anything to the broken windows theory.45 What is clear, though, is that women no longer have to stand in long queues to collect water, there is less water-borne disease, and as a result children lose fewer days of school. In Bonfire of the Vanities, the novelist Tom Wolfe talks of his obscenely rich banker achieving ‘isolation’ from the chaos of New York. He could have been living in New York, London or Frankfurt for all the contact he had with people who were not in his rarefied stratum. For people with less money and privilege, and particularly for families, community is where life happens, death too.

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Political Economy Research Institute – Working Paper Series. 2013; April(322). 32International Monetary Fund. World Economic Outlook October 2012: Coping with High Debt and Sluggish Growth. Washington DC: IMF, 2012. 33UCL Institute of Health Equity. Reducing the Number of Young People Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). Public Health England, 2014. 34Wolfe T. The Bonfire of the Vanities. London: Vintage Books, 1987. 7 DO NOT GO GENTLE 1Gawande A. Being Mortal. London: Profile Books, 2014. 2United Nations Population Fund, HelpAge International. Ageing in the Twenty-First Century: A Celebration and A Challenge. New York: UNFPA, 2012, p. 33. 3Kinsella K, He W, U.S. Census Bureau.

Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship in the West, From the Ancients to Fake News
by Eric Berkowitz
Published 3 May 2021

A series of visions led him to prophesy everything from the French invasion of Italy to the appearance of a cross of gold above Jerusalem, and, critically, Christ’s return in a chariot, his wake strewn with heretics whose books had been burned and images smashed. Many of his predictions and fulminations ended up in his Compendium Revelationum (1495), which added that God had sent him to Florence “to cleanse his Church with a mighty scourge.” For several years up to 1497, Savonarola orchestrated his infamous “bonfires of the vanities” in the city’s main square, the Piazza della Signoria, which were fueled by the books of Plato, Ovid, Dante, and Boccaccio, as well as chessboards, dice, harps, wigs, and less-than-decent images of the Virgin Mary. All were immolated as trumpets blared and children sang. Savonarola’s followers broke into houses to confiscate many of these “vanities,” but others were tossed onto the fires by their owners and creators, most tragically by the painter Sandro Botticelli.

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See also Constitution (US) Bird’s Head Haggadah, 19 birth control, censorship of literature on, 10, 35, 145, 152, 162–63 The Birth of a Nation (film), 239 The Birth of Venus (Botticelli), 63 Black, Hugo, 212 Black Consciousness Movement (South Africa), 203–4 “Black Hawk Down” incident, 199–200 Black Lives Matter, 224, 253 Blackstone, William, 83–84, 91 blasphemy, 18, 95, 126–27, 129–30. See also religious censorship Blyth, Herbert, 161 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 62 Bolsonaro, Jair, 217, 223 Bond, Julian, 210 “bonfires of the vanities,” 62–63 Boniface VIII (pope), 61 book burning: in Ancient Greece, 24–25; in Ancient Rome, 10, 31–34, 36, 40, 48, 50–51; in Brazil, 203; in Chile, 203; in China, 1–2; in early Christianity, 42–44; in England, 88, 94, 101, 152; of Florentines, 61–63; in France, 90; in Germany, 187; of Jewish texts, 15–16, 30, 58–60, 73, 188; by Roman Catholic Church, 69, 72; in US, 87–88, 160.

The Swerve: How the Renaissance Began
by Stephen Greenblatt
Published 31 Aug 2011

Sodomy was prosecuted as a capital crime; bankers and merchant princes were attacked for their extravagant luxuries and their indifference to the poor; gambling was suppressed, along with dancing and singing and other forms of worldly pleasure. The most memorable event of Savonarola’s turbulent years was the famous “Bonfire of the Vanities,” when the friar’s ardent followers went through the streets collecting sinful objects—mirrors, cosmetics, seductive clothing, songbooks, musical instruments, playing cards and other gambling paraphernalia, sculptures and paintings of pagan subjects, the works of ancient poets—and threw them onto an enormous blazing pyre in the Piazza della Signoria.

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Aachen, 120 Aalen, 15 abbots, 29, 30, 31–32, 38, 42, 45–50, 106, 148, 163, 210 Abracadabra, 60–61 Abraham, 194 academies, 28, 59, 211 Accius, Lucius, 23–24 acediosus (apathetic), 25–26 Acheron, 52, 273n Adam, 105, 109 Adams, John, 263 adaptation, 189–90 Adimari, Alamano, 162 adultery, 98, 141, 143–44 Aeneid (Virgil), 52, 273n Aeschylus, 81, 280n Aesculapius, 180 afterlife, 6, 57, 75–76, 98, 99–100, 101, 150, 158, 159, 171, 183, 192–95, 220, 223, 230–32, 244, 260 Against the Hypocrites (Poggio), 147–49, 150 Agamemnon, 194 Agora, 276n agriculture, 38, 45, 66, 126, 191, 228, 275n, 279n–80n Albergati, Niccolò, 210 Alberti, Leon Battista, 9, 110, 127–28, 218 Albizzi family, 113, 301n Alcubierre, Rocque Joaquin de, 55 Alcuin, 121 Alexander of Ephesus, 85 Alexander the Great, 60 Alexander V, Pope, 159–60 Alexandria, 279n–80n, 282n Alexandrian Library, 86–94, 130–31, 275n, 279n–83n Alexandrian Museum, 93 Alfonso II, King of Naples, 153 algebra, 239 Allah, 282n–83n alphabetical order, 88 altars, 10, 89 Ammianus Marcellinus, 49, 89, 93 anatomy, 87, 99–100 Ancona, 125 angels, 10, 194–95 anger, 6, 75–76, 103, 105, 145–46, 150, 209, 285n Anglesey, Arthur Annesley, Earl of, 257–58, 260 animal sacrifices, 183, 298n annotations, 23, 88, 221, 248–49, 256, 306n Anthony, Saint, 68, 286n antipopes, 160, 205, 293n–94n see also John XXIII (Baldassare Cossa), Antipope antiquarianism, 123, 129, 208–9, 290n Antoninus Pius, Emperor of Rome, 273n Antony, Mark, 61, 281n apikoros (Epicurean), 101 Apis, 89 Apollo, 75, 99 Apologeticus (Tertullian), 284n “Apology for Raymond Sebond” (Montaigne), 246 apostles, 24, 217–18 apostolic secretary (secretarius domesticus), 141–42, 154, 155–58, 161, 170, 180, 181, 205–15, 221, 224, 269n Aquinas, Saint Thomas, 252–53 Arabs, 282n–83n Aragazzi, Bartolomeo de, 34–35, 44 Aramaic language, 97 archaeology, 54–59, 63–64 Archimedes, 87 architecture, 9, 110–11, 129, 151, 156 Aretino, Leonardo, 179 Arezzo, 34, 141 Ariosto, Ludovico, 9, 242 aristocracy, 14–20, 36, 44, 59–61, 93 Aristotelianism, 96, 252–53 Aristotle, 62, 69, 73, 83, 91, 96, 98, 252–53, 284n, 304n art, 9, 17, 39, 40, 59, 60, 70, 88, 104, 129 asceticism, 6, 37, 41, 94–97, 104–9, 195, 228, 244, 285n–86n Ass, The (Lucian), 217 Assayer, The (Galileo), 254–55 astronomy, 5–6, 8, 48, 87, 91, 92, 239 atheism, 183–84, 221, 239, 259, 261 Athens, 59, 75, 77, 78–79, 274n, 276n, 280n atomism, 5–6, 8, 46, 73–75, 82, 99, 101, 185–89, 198–201, 220–21, 237, 239, 242–43, 244, 249, 250–53, 254, 255–56, 258, 260, 261, 297n, 306n atonement, 105–6 Atticus, 85, 119 Attila, 11 Augustine, Saint, 43 Augustinians, 111 Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 48, 61, 275n Austria, 55, 163 Averroës, 117 Avignon, 293n Bacchus, 183 Bacon, Francis, 8, 243, 261 Baden, 173–76, 177 Baghdad, 38 Balbus, Quintus Lucilius, 69–70 banking, 21, 22, 113–14 Baptistry (Florence), 110 barbarians, 11, 24, 28, 49, 59, 94 Barbaro, Francesco, 180–81, 203, 268n Barberini, Maffeo, 254 Bari, 135 Bassus, Saleius, 23–24 Bay of Naples, 54–55 Beaufort, Henry (bishop of Winchester), 206–8 beauty, 1–2, 8–10, 11, 201–2, 228, 251, 260–61, 299n Benedict, Saint, 25–28, 97, 103 Benedict XIII, Antipope, 160, 205 Benedictine Rule, 25–28, 37, 272n Benedictines, 25–28, 37, 44, 107, 272n benefices, 147, 269n Bernardino, Saint, 128 Bethlehem, 95 Bibaculus, Marcus Furius, 23–24 Bible, 3, 24, 43, 46, 88, 89, 95–96, 97, 105, 166, 239, 250, 285n bibliomancy, 18–19 bibliomania, 19, 152–54, 131, 177 Bischhoff, Bernhard, 271n–72n bishops, 20, 36, 38, 135, 161, 162, 168–69, 210 Black Death, 113 Bobbio monastery, 271n–72n Boccaccio, Giovanni, 120, 124, 132–33, 144 Bohemia, 155, 166, 168 Boiardo, Matteo, 242 Bologna, 113, 143, 158, 159–60, 214, 226 Bologna, University of, 158 “Bonfire of the Vanities,” 219 Boniface, Saint, 44, 45–46 Boniface IX, Pope, 135, 158 book repairers, 84–85 books of hours, 17 bookworms, 30, 83–84, 93 Borgia, Cesare, 226 Botticelli, Sandro, 10, 202, 226, 242, 267n Bourbon dynasty, 55 Bracciolini, Filippo, 213 Bracciolini, Giovanni Battista, 213 Bracciolini, Giovanni Francesco, 213 Bracciolini, Guicco, 111–12, 113, 122, 141, 211 Bracciolini, Jacoba, 112 Bracciolini, Jacopo, 213 Bracciolini, Lucretia, 213 Bracciolini, Pietro Paolo, 213 Bracciolini, Poggio, see Poggio Bracciolini, Gian Francesco Bracciolini, Vaggia di Buondelmonti, 212–14, 301n Brancacci family, 126 Branda de Castiglione, 162 bribery, 139–40 Brunelleschi, Filippo, 110, 218 Bruni, Leonardo, 125–26, 133, 134, 159, 162, 172–73, 178, 205, 210, 216, 295n Bruno, Giordano, 10, 233–41, 242, 243, 250, 256 Brutus, 61 Bryaxis, 89 bubonic plague, 18 “Bugiale” (“Lie Factory”), 142, 210 Buondelmonti, Gino dei, 301n Buondelmonti, Vaggia di Gino, see Bracciolini, Vaggia di Buondelmonte Buondelmonti family, 113, 212, 301n bureaucrats, 85, 135–38, 157 burning at the stake, 172–73, 177–79, 240–41 Burton, Robert, 8 Byzantium, 126 Caesar, Julius, 61, 65, 79, 85, 89, 274n, 281n Caesarini, Giuliano, 210 Cairo, 38 calculus, 87 calfskin, 40 Caligula, Emperor of Rome, 48 calligraphy, 112–13, 115–16, 121, 130, 135, 155–56, 179 Calvin, John, 253 cameos, 129, 209 Campbell, James, 285n Campo dei Fiori, 240–41 candles, 41, 83, 158 canon law, 136–37, 158 Canterbury Tales (Chaucer), 278n capitalism, 114 Capponi family, 113 Capra, Bartolomeo della, 162–63 Caravaggio, 9 carbonized remains, 54–59, 63–64, 68, 77, 82 cardinals, 135, 161, 163, 165, 168, 169, 210, 293n Carmelites, 111 Caro, Rodrigo, 250 Carolingian minuscules, 115, 121 Carthage, 59, 85, 275n cartography, 239 Cassian, John, 26 Cassiodorus, 123 Castel St.

Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity
by Edward Tenner
Published 8 Jun 2004

The FBI is able to identify 70 percent of the footwear impressions it receives, according to the former head of its footwear unit, William J. Bodziak.5 Sneakers are as suited for self-assertion as for flight. The bouncing and dragging “pimp walk” was a staple of black exploitation films of the 1960s and early 1970s, just before the sneaker explosion. In Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel Bonfire of the Vanities, youthful black defendants in the Bronx County Courthouse defy officialdom with the pimp walk’s successor, an insolent gait called the “pimp roll,” a “pumping swagger” that another writer, a London journalist, has described as “that swaying, strutting way you walk when your soles are bouncy and your ankles supported”—a gait less feasible in sandals than in running shoes.

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Bodziak, Footwear Impression Evidence (New York: Elsevier, 1990); Andrea Codrington, “Technology and Design Run Wild in the Soles of the Newest Sneakers,” New York Times, November 6, 1997. 6. John W. Fountain, “Noted with … Pride; Way Black When,” Washington Post, July 25, 1999; Tom Wolfe, Bonfire of the Vanities (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1987), 110; William Leith, “Pump It Up,” The Independent (London), July 8, 1990. 7. Michelle Higgins, “The Ballet Shoe Gets a Makeover, but Few Yet See the Pointe,” Wall Street Journal, August 18, 1998. 8. Wolfgang Decker, “Die Lauf-Stele des Königs Taharka,” Kölner Beiträge zur Sportwissenschaft, vol. 13 (1984), 7–37; E.

Trading at the Speed of Light: How Ultrafast Algorithms Are Transforming Financial Markets
by Donald MacKenzie
Published 24 May 2021

I’m sitting beside a dealer in US Treasurys in a crowded midtown Manhattan office. He has bought and sold Treasurys (the sovereign debt securities of the United States) for more than thirty years, and vividly describes to me the teeming, raucous bond-trading room of the investment bank Salomon Brothers in its heyday at the end of the 1980s. It was the world of The Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe 1988) and Liar’s Poker (Lewis 1990). The dealer, interviewee YA, had work to do that afternoon as well as stories to tell. The role of the dealer is an old one: selling securities to clients such as institutional investors, buying them from clients, and unwinding the trading positions thus taken on by trading with other dealers.

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“Germany Scrambles to Shut the Door on Mifid Open Access.” Available at https://www.risk.net/regulation/7196266/germany-scrambles-to-shut-the-door-on-mifid-open-access, accessed January 16, 2020. Wolf, Martin. 2019. “Saving Capitalism from the Rentiers.” Financial Times, September 18: 9. Wolfe, Tom. 1988. The Bonfire of the Vanities. London: Cape. Wolkoff, Neal L., and Jason B. Werner. 2010. “The History of Regulation of Clearing in the Securities and Futures Markets, and Its Impact on Competition.” Review of Banking and Financial Law 30/1: 313–81. Young, Kevin. 2015. “Not by Structure Alone: Power, Prominence, and Agency in American Finance.”

A Man in Full: A Novel
by Tom Wolfe
Published 31 Mar 2010

It has complex characters, a storyline that keeps you guessing, and the kind of writing that makes you want to take your TV out in the back yard and pulverize it with a sledgehammer." —The Orlando Sentinel "A Man in Full is bound to take the nation by storm.... If Wolfe's previous novel, 1987s The Bonfire of the Vanities, is ever knocked off its pedestal as America's finest work of contemporary fiction, A Man in Full will be what does it." —Naples Daily News, Naples, FL "His most deeply felt, most unabashedly literal’)' book, imbued with more compassion than satire... Timeless and resonant." —The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC "A big, complex interweaving of characters to love, to hate, to marvel at, to be appalled by, to recognize as peers in our humans-with-faults parade through life ...

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—The Star-Ledger, Newark Also by Tom Wolfe The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flaffe Streamline Baby The Pump House Gang The Electric Kool-AidAcid Test Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flal( Catchers The Painted Word Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine The Right Stuff In Our Time From Bauhaus to Our House The Bonfire of the Vanities Hooding Up With immense admiration the author dedicates A Man in Full to PAUL McHUCH whose brilliance, comradeship, and unfading fondness saved the day. This book would not exist had it not been for you, dear friend. And the author wants to express a gratitude beyond measure to MACK AND MARY TAYLOR who opened his eyes to the wonders of Atlanta and the Georgia plantation country and gave him the run of their vast storehouse of knowledge and insights, all with a hospitality he will never forget.

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And the author wants to express a gratitude beyond measure to MACK AND MARY TAYLOR who opened his eyes to the wonders of Atlanta and the Georgia plantation country and gave him the run of their vast storehouse of knowledge and insights, all with a hospitality he will never forget. The author bows deeply to JANN WENNER the generous genius who walked this boo/( along until it found its feet, just as he did The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and Ambush at Fort Bragg. KAILEY WONG whose eye for the telling details of contemporary American life is unsurpassed and whose help, once more, has been invaluable. TOMMY PHIPPS whose walks on the beach with the author never failed to generate the necessary new approach and the joie de vivre to try it.

The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
by Matt Ridley
Published 14 Aug 1993

In a good year for mice, a male can catch so many mice that he can simultaneously give two females the impression that he is a fine male; he can provide each with more mice than he could catch for one in a normal year.36 Nordic forests seem to be full of deceitful adulterers, for a similar habit by a deceptively innocent-looking little bird led to a long-running dispute in the scientific literature of the 1980s. Some male pied flycatchers, in the forests of Scandinavia, manage to be polygamous by holding two territories, each with a female in it, like the owls or like Sherman McCoy in Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities, who keeps an expensive wife on Park Avenue and a beautiful mistress in a rent-controlled apartment across town. Two teams of researchers have studied the birds and come to different conclusions about what is going on. The Finns and Swedes say that the mistress is deceived into believing that the male is unmarried.

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J., 173 Baudouin, Count, 194 B-chromosome, 69, 92 Bdelloid rotifers, 53–4, 82 Beauty, 129–30, 164, 271–96 biased sex ratios and, 117 child-rearing participation and, 216 critical-period learning and, 278 facial features and, 287–8 fashion and, 292–4 female preference for, 130–42 genetic quality and, 142–5 sexual mentality and, 259 symmetry of, 147–9 thinness and, 279–82 as universal, 272–3 waist-to-hip ratio and, 282–4 youth and, 285–7 Behaviourism, 308–10 Bell, Graham, 30, 47–8, 56–7, 58, 59, 69, 83 Bell, Quentin, 291, 294 Bellis, Mark, 216–18 Benshoof, L., 224 Bernstein, Harris, 41–4 Betzig, Laura, 120, 191–4, 232 Bilharzia, 72, 78 Birds concealed ovulation among, 223 mating systems of, 209, 213–16, 219 parasites of, 146–7 sex chromosomes in, 116–17 sexual selection in, 133–7, 138–9, 158 See also specific species Birds of paradise, 143–4 Birkhead, Tim, 214, 215, 219 Blind Watchmaker, The (Dawkins), 15 Bloom, Paul, 318, 321 Bodmer, Walter, 81 Bogart, Humphrey, 199 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe), 225 Bonobos, 208–9, 222 Borgia, Cesare, 273 Bosnia, 198 Botticelli, Sandro, 272, 280 Bounty (ship), 195 Bowerbirds, 143, 158 Boyce, Mark, 147 Brain critical period and, 276–7 of dolphins, 299–300 gender differences in, 239 hormones and, 246–50, 255–6 mechanisms of, 311–13 neoteny and, 316–18 progression in size of, 300–303 toolmaking and, 313–14 Brain Sex (Moir and Jessel), 247 Bremermann, Hans, 71–2, 73, 74 Brooks, Lisa, 28 Brown, Don, 198 Buddha, 21 Budding, 48 Burley, Nancy, 117, 160, 216, 223 Burt, Austin, 59–60, 68–9, 83 Buss, David, 259–60, 265, 290 Butler, Samuel, 127 Byrne, Richard, 324–5 Caesar, Julius, 193, 325 Caligula, 193, 273 Carotenoids, 151, 159 Carroll, Lewis, 2 Catherine of Aragon, 233 Catholic Church, 222 controversies with state, 232–3 Cattle breeding, 119 Chaffinches, 277–8 Chagnon, Napoleon, 196–7 Chemical defence, 68 Chimpanzees, 6–7, 206–9, 211–12 intelligence of, 325–6 power seeking among, 188 promiscuity of, 205 toolmaking by, 313 violence of, 196 China ancient, 191, 192, 199 female infanticide in, 117, 122 harem polygamy in, 186 marriage customs in, 275 Chlamydomonas, 97, 98 Chloroplasts, 96–7 Chomsky, Noam, 304, 311, 318 Chromosomes, 29, 42, 43, 90 crossovers on, 60 jumping genes and, 91–2 parasitic, 69 selfish, 92 sex, 95, 105–10, 116–18, 256, 271 swapping of chunks of, 94–5 Claudius, 193 Clutton-Brock, Tim, 112 Coalitions of males, 189–90 Coelacanth, 31, 60 Cognitive approach, 311 Cohen, Fred, 66–7 Coming of Age in Samoa (Mead), 308 Commons, tragedy of, 87, 122 Communication, 321–3 Competition, 62, 63, 89–90 diversity and, 57–8 female, 224 sexual selection and, 129, 132 within species, 33–4 testicular size and, 214 violence and, 195 Complexity, 15 Computer viruses, 66–7 Concealed ovulation, 222–4 Conditioning, 172, 244 Conflict, 17–19 Conjugation, 91, 98 Connectionism, 310 Connor, Richard, 189, 326 Contingent history, 17 Coolidge, Calvin, 290 Cooperation, 17–19 among genes, 88–90 individual selection and, 36 reciprocity as key to, 74 Corals, 55–6 Cortisol, 151, 247, 256 Cosmides, Leda, 96, 106, 267, 303, 311, 321, 323, 324, 329 Cott, Hugh, 131 Courtly love, 232 Courtship, 128, 129, 150, 163, 164 competition and, 132–3 Cousins, marriage between, 234 Critical period, 276–8 Cronin, Helena, 138 Crook, John, 321 Crossing over, 94–5, 122 Crow, James, 32, 48 Cytomegalovirus, 99 Dahomey, 168 Daly, Martin, 227–8 Dart, Raymond, 314 Darwin, Charles, 6, 8, 9, 14, 19, 27, 31–3, 36, 58, 61, 130–32, 134, 135, 138, 143, 158, 214, 241, 295, 301, 319 Darwin, Erasmus, 24, 232 Darwinian history, 235–6 Dawkins, Marian, 154, 156 Dawkins, Richard, 9, 15, 63, 65, 92, 118–19, 153, 323 Deep structure of language, 304 Deer, 180 Democracy, 199 Descartes, René, 306 Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (Darwin), 130 Despotism, 191–3, 199, 200, 203, 264 Determinism, 252–5 Diamond, Jared, 143, 208 Dickemann, Mildred, 121, 190 Dio, 193 Dionysus effect, 328 Diploidy, 43, 44, 93 Disease theory, 73–6 Dispersal, 54 Division of labour, sexual, 242, 243, 251, 253–4 Divorce, 264–5 DNA, 29, 40, 42, 43–4, 50 discovery of, 8–9 insertions of, 49 parasitic, 92 in sex chromosomes, 116 Dogs, 317 Dolphins, 189, 212, 299–300 Dominance beauty and, 295–6 biased sex ratios and, 112–15, 119–20 and cultural gender bias, 120–22 inheritance of, 230–31 personality and, 289–90 sexual selection and, 143–4 wealth and, 187–8 Dörner, Gunter, 256 Douglas firs, 77 Dunbar, Robin, 206 Durkheim, Emil, 307, 322, 339 Eals, Marion, 243 Ecology, 41, 43–4, 54–61, 62–3, 76–7 intelligence and, 319–20 mating systems and, 180–86 Education, gender differences and, 249 Egypt, ancient, 191 Eleanor of Aquitaine, 234 Eliot, George, 322 Ellis, Bruce, 260, 261, 263, 289, 296 Ellis, Havelock, 294 Elm trees, 56 Endler, John, 158 Environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA), 184–6 Ericsson, Roland, 116 ‘Essay on Man, An’ (Pope), 336 Eugenics, 295, 307 Evolution of Sex (Maynard Smith), 40 Exogamy, 113, 114, 182–3 Extinction 61 Extra-pair copulation (EPC), 214 Facial features, 282–8 Fallon, April, 293 Fantasies, sexual, 261–3 Fashion, status and, 291–4 Fat distribution, 154–6 Fei-ti, 192, 199 Felix Holt, the Radical (Eliot), 322 Felsenstein, Joe, 83 Feminism, 252–5 Finches, 160, 246–7 5-alpha-reductase deficiency, 250 Fisher, Helen, 264 Fisher, Ronald, 31, 32, 35, 119, 122, 134–5, 138–42, 143, 159, 281, 288, 330 Flaubert, Gustave, 216 Flax, 71 Flour beetles, 92 Flycatchers, 225 Foley, Robert, 182–4 Foragers, see Hunter-gatherers Ford, Henry, 320 Fossils, 60, 61 of human ancestors, 183, 301, 317 Fox, Robin, 307 Frank, Steve, 93 Free will, 4, 5, 7 Freud, Sigmund, 273–6, 308, 322, 339 Frogs, 156–7 Fruit flies, 93–4, 142, 173 Fungi, 68, 84 bacteria and, 68, 69 Fusion sex, 97–9 Galton, Francis, 287, 339 Game theory, 177, 180, 213 //Gana San people, 187 Gender(s), 13, 87–123 asymmetry between, 171–5 choosing, 122 cultural preference patterns for, 120–22 determination of, 95, 105–10 dominance and, 112–15, 119–20 hermaphroditism versus, 100–103 mentality and, 239–67 and organelles, 96–8, 100–103 parasites altering, 104–5 selling, 115–20 Generations, length of, 68–9 Genes, 8–9, 16, 31–3 altruism and, 36 asexual, 38 of bacteria, 68, 90–91 behaviour and, 306–7, 309 and competition within species, 34 cooperation between, 19, 88–95 crossing over of, 94–5 in defence against parasites, 64 definition of, 29 gender and, 88, 100 histocompatibility, 72–3 homosexuality and, 255–7, 271–2 hormones and, 246 jumping, 82, 91–2 kin selection and, 74 meiotic-drive, 94 mental differences and, 244 mixing of, 30, 53 mutations and, 44–50 neoteny, 330–32 in organelles, 96–8, 100–103 for ornamentation, 140 parliament of, 95, 123 polymorphism and, 69–71, 81 racial differences and, 12–13 repair of, 41–4, 49–50, 60, 83 resistance, 75, 81–2 selfish, 92–4 sex and, 12–13 sex-linked, 330 for sexual reproduction, 36–7 sexual selection and, 136, 137 and tangled bank theory, 59–60 Genetics, 40–41, 42, 44–50 Genome, 29 ‘Gentle Echo on Woman, A’ (Swift), 202 Germanic tribes, 195 Ghiselin, Michael, 36–7, 38, 57 Gibbons, 206, 207 Gibbon, Edward, 193 Gigerenzer, Gerd, 323–4 Goodall, Jane, 114, 188, 207, 325 Gonadotrophin, 118 Gordian, 193 Gorillas, 206, 208, 209, 211, 212 intelligence of, 320 Goshawks, 222 Gosling, Morris, 117 Gould, Stephen Jay, 38–9, 306, 309, 316, 317 Grackles, 160 Gradualism, 60 Grafen, Alan, 93–5 Grant, Valerie, 115, 118 Greece, ancient, 197 Group selection, 34–6, 69 Grouse, 136, 137, 139, 147, 181–2 Guilford, Tim, 154, 156 Guppies, 134, 158–9 Gynodioecious plants, 101 Haig, David, 93–5, 271–2 Haldane, J.

Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase
by Duff McDonald
Published 5 Oct 2009

(Sandy Weill, it can be argued, was somewhat cavalier in his choice of Salomon as the investment bank that would take Travelers to the next level. Building a top-tier investment bank is more difficult than merely making a turnkey purchase.) Finally, there was the issue of culture. Salomon’s “Big Swinging Dicks” had been lampooned in Tom Wolfe’s popular 1987 book Bonfire of the Vanities (in which Wolfe coined the term “Masters of the Universe”) and in Michael Lewis’s 1989 insider account Liar’s Poker. Both books had painted a culture in which the client was viewed more as prey than partner, and the Treasury bond scandal had revealed a moral vacuum at the top levels of the firm.

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Williams, 48, 54–55, 221 Amaranth Advisors, 217–18 Amazon.com, 138 American Banker, 166, 196 American Can Co., 47–48 American Credit Indemnity, 39 American Express (Amex), 15, 19–26, 27, 29, 31, 35, 37, 66, 71, 98, 106, 134, 137, 138, 186, 208, 278, 323 Andrews, Suzanna, 95 Anheuser-Busch, 305 AT&T, 158 auction-rate securities, 276–77, 290 auto leasing, 27, 31–32, 39, 159, 194 Avis Rent-A-Car, 27 Baca, Carlos, 222 Bache Halsey Stuart Shields, 19 Bachelder, Joseph, 148 Bair, Sheila, ix–x, 292, 293, 294, 300 balance sheets, 32, 39, 44–45, 47, 156, 160, 189, 192–93, 196–97, 198, 206, 209, 227, 238, 240, 272, 278, 310, 320, 323 Ballmer, Steve, 181 Banc One, 103, 143–45 Bankers Trust, 89 bank holding companies, 285, 287–88 Bank Investment Consultant, 151 Bank of America, ix, 27–30, 103, 147, 170, 174, 197, 204, 219, 222, 224–25, 229, 232, 238, 251, 274, 282, 286, 289, 295, 299–300, 302, 306, 310, 316, 318, 320 Bank of Manhattan, 202, 203 Bank of New York, 103, 202, 216, 238, 261, 283, 296 Bank One, 143–51, 162, 167, 171–201, 204, 209, 220, 238–39, 261, 273, 291, 293 Barbarians at the Gate (Burrough and Helyar), 28, 52 Barclays Bank PLC, 52–53, 138, 282, 283 Barron’s, 155, 168 Baruch, Bernard, 45 Beacon Group, 172, 174 Bear Stearns, ix, 17, 19, 53, 112, 166, 204–5, 214, 216, 223–28, 230, 232, 240, 241, 243–74, 275, 277, 278, 279, 285, 286, 288, 289, 290, 294, 297, 300, 301, 306–7, 311, 317, 321, 326 Beeson, Mark, 165 Bergman, Shelley, 270 Berkshire Hathaway, 27, 37, 190–91, 227, 231–32 Berlind, Roger, 17 Bernanke, Ben, 89, 205, 230, 244, 247, 273, 285, 288, 300 Bewkes, Jeff, 243 Bezos, Jeff, 138 Bialkin, Kenneth, 46, 184 Bibliowicz, Jessica Weill, 7, 78–83, 96, 127–28, 186, 194 Bisignano, Frank, 116, 166, 200, 239, 290, 299 Black, Debbie, 118–19, 247, 249 Black, Steve, 51, 59, 61, 66, 68, 77, 96, 118–20, 125–26, 133, 151, 163, 172, 176–77, 188, 189, 191, 199, 200, 217, 218, 225, 234, 235, 239, 242, 247–57, 262, 271, 278–81, 282, 286, 315 Blackstone Group, 138 Blank, Arthur, 139 Blankfein, Lloyd, 221, 244, 275, 282, 300 Blockbuster Entertainment, 69–70 Blodget, Henry, 164 Bloomberg, Michael, 251–52 Bludhorn, Charlie, 17 BNP Paribas, 226, 283 Boesky, Ivan, 27 Boisi, Geoffrey, 172 bonds, 10, 20, 21, 32, 33, 34, 52, 53, 57, 73, 84, 90, 91, 109, 114, 182, 196, 200–206, 238, 254–55, 277, 297, 308 Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 92 bonuses, 39, 69, 156, 165, 195, 214, 216 Bookstaber, Richard, 107–8, 109, 113, 130, 199 Booz Allen Hamilton, 12 Boshart, Jim, 68, 77, 149–50, 166, 176–77 Boston Consulting Group, 8 Bove, Dick, 131, 195, 196, 277 Braunstein, Doug, 176, 253–54, 255, 258, 281 Brenneman, Greg, 137, 168 British Telecommunications, 96 broad index secured trust offering (BISTRO), 210–11 Brookfield Asset Management, 219 Brooks, John, 231 Brown & Co., 216 Browning School, 3–5, 6, 10, 62 Brysam Global Partners, 207 Budd, Ed, 58, 70 Buffett, Warren, xi, 25–26, 27, 37, 91–94, 135, 136, 160, 190–91, 201, 227, 231–32, 258–59, 323, 327 Burke, Stephen, 9–11, 15, 25, 81, 139, 149 Burner, Paul, 31 Burnett, Erin, 316 Burr, Aaron, 202 Burrough, Bryan, 28, 52, 226 Bush, George W., 205, 278, 301, 317 Bushnell, Dave, 111 Business Week, 53, 71, 72, 75, 84, 85, 89–90, 95, 124, 131, 134, 151, 194, 197–98, 224, 324 Buyers-Russo, Jane, 281–82 Califano, Joseph, 49, 75–76, 135 Calvano, James, 27, 34, 37, 59, 150 Campbell, William, 104, 107, 111–12, 139, 142, 150, 186, 215 Capitalism and Freedom (Friedman), 6 capital markets, 20, 51, 53, 61, 68, 83, 107–14, 277, 294 capital reserves, 44–45, 46, 48, 131 Capp, Al, 67 Carpenter, Mike, 98, 100–101, 120, 122, 125–26, 163 “Cars for Cons” program, 31–32 Carter, Arthur, 17 Carter, Berlind, Potoma & Weill (CBPW), 17 Carter, Jimmy, 49 Carter, Linda, 17 Cassano, Joseph, 211 Cavanagh, Emily, 151–52 Cavanagh, Michael, 62, 84, 149, 150, 151–52, 180, 186, 208, 239, 240, 242, 246, 247, 248, 252, 253, 254, 256, 259, 260, 265, 290, 292, 293, 294–95, 298, 319, 326 Cayne, James, 112, 166, 221, 226, 228, 241, 258, 265, 268, 269, 304, 323, 325 CBS Marketwatch, 151 CBWL-Hayden Stone, 17–18 Chase, Salmon P., 202–3 Chase Home Finance, 235, 291 Chase Manhattan, 89, 135, 162, 171–73, 194, 199–204 Chase National Bank, 202–3 Chemical Bank, 36, 41, 57, 59, 89, 145, 171, 203 Chenault, Ken, 244 Cherasia, Peter, 270 Chernow, Ron, 52, 87, 202, 203, 260 Chicago Sun-Times, 153 Chief Executive, 163 Cioffi, Ralph, 223–26, 231 Citadel Investment Group, 217–18, 268, 285–86 CITIC, 228 Citicorp, 54–55, 98–101 Citigroup, 83, 98–150, 155, 160–68, 177, 178, 183–84, 185, 195, 196, 200–209, 214, 219, 220, 221, 228–30, 232, 238, 240, 251, 269, 276, 280, 289, 295–303, 310, 316, 321, 323, 324, 325 City National Bank, 143 Clinton, Bill, 87, 103, 140, 221 Clinton, Hillary, 241, 316 CNBC, 84, 227, 245, 249, 302 CNN, 196 Cogan, Marshall, 19 Cohan, William, 224, 244, 258, 262 Cohen, H.

The Working Poor: Invisible in America
by David K. Shipler
Published 12 Nov 2008

And I think this is an American problem … this advertising, you got to have this, you got to have the newest, the latest, the best, and so on—and that is, I think, an American problem.” Overspending is certainly not the exclusive province of the poor. Tom Wolfe, capturing the opposite side of Horatio Alger’s America, deftly caricatures the foibles of the affluent. “I’m already going broke on a million dollars a year!” the bond trader screams to himself in The Bonfire of the Vanities: The appalling figures came popping up into his brain. Last year his income had been $980,000. But he had to pay out $21,000 a month for the $1.8 million loan he had taken out to buy the apartment. What was $21,000 a month to someone making a million a year? That was the way he had thought of it at the time— and in fact, it was merely a crushing, grinding burden—that was all!

…

Oppel, Jr., New York Times, Mar. 26,1999, p. Ci. 10. Consumer Reports, January 2001, pp. 20–24. 11. Geraldine Fabrikant, New York Times, Dec. 3, 2000, Section 3, p. 17. 12. Vivienne Hodges and Stuart Margulies, Stanford çth Language Arts Coach Grade 4 (New York: Educational Design, 1998). 13. Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities (New York: Bantam, 1987), pp. 142–43. Chapter Two: Work Doesn’t Work 1. Alan Weil and Kenneth Finegold, Welfare Reform: The Next Act (Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press, 2002). Introduction at http://www.urban.org/pubs/welfare_reform/intro.html. 2. Robert Lerman, “Single Parents’ Earnings Monitor,” Urban Institute, Oct. 26, 2001, and Dec. 26, 2002, available at www.urban.org. 3.

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Published 1 Jul 2008

First of all, wandering in the dark forest, Dante realizes that three fierce beasts are stalking him, licking their chops in anticipation. They are a lion, a lynx, and a she-wolf—representing, among other things, ambition, lust, and greed. As for the contemporary protagonist of one of the bestsellers of 1988, the middle-aged New York bond trader in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, Dante’s nemesis turns out to be the desire for power, sex, and money. To avoid being destroyed by them, Dante tries to escape by climbing a hill. But the beasts keep drawing nearer, and in desperation Dante calls for divine help. His prayer is answered by an apparition: it is the ghost of Virgil, a poet who died more than a thousand years before Dante was born, but whose wise and majestic verse Dante admired so much that he thought of the poet as his mentor.

…

Therapeutic processes in a yoga ashram. American Journal of Psychotherapy 39:253–62. ——. In press. Personal growth in a yoga ashram: A social psychological analysis. The social scientific study of religion, vol. 2. Wittfogel, K. 1957. Oriental despotism. New Haven: Yale University Press. Wolfe, T. 1987. The bonfire of the vanities. New York: Farrar, Straus. Wood, E. 1954. Great system of yoga. New York: Philosophical Library. Wundt, W. 1902. Grundzuge der physiologischen Psychologie, vol. 3. Leipzig. Wynne, E. A. 1978. Behind the discipline problem: Youth suicide as a measure of alienation. Phi Delta Kappan 59:307–15.

Framing Class: Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in America
by Diana Elizabeth Kendall
Published 27 Jul 2005

She is engaged to a young, ambitious Wall Street trader with goals much like Gekko himself had when he became involved in chicanery resembling much of what has contributed to many of this country’s financial problems in the twenty-first century.94 Like the original Wall Street and other films such as the 1980s classic Bonfire of the Vanities, Wall Street 2 highlights price-tag framing: everything (and everybody) has a price, and the higher the price, the greater the zeal with which people will pursue wealth and power at any cost. 9781442202238.print.indb 48 2/10/11 10:46 AM Twenty-Four-Karat Gold Frames 49 Not only does price-tag framing tell media audiences how much the rich pay for their possessions, but it also may suggest that ordinary people can live like millionaires, even if on a reduced scale.

…

, 185 Aristotle, 51 Arnaz, Desi, 181 Arnold, Tom, 144 Associated Press, 44, 88, 105, 196, 223 association, class location and, 14 Association of Junior Leagues International, 27 Astor, Brooke, 57 Atkins, Essence, 185 AT&T, 62, 63 Austin American-Statesman, 45, 113 AVENUE magazine, 28 The Bachelor, 6 The Bachelorette, 6, 13 bad-apple framing, 18, 29 289 9781442202238.print.indb 289 2/10/11 10:47 AM 290 Index Badgley, Penn, 60 Bakers’ Union, 127 Ball, Lucille, 181 Banks, John, 204 Barr, Roseanne, 142–43, 144 Barton, Bruce, 173 Baudrillard, Jean, 6 Baxter, Clifford, 73 Beck, Glenn, 145 Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America (Low), 200, 201 Belushi, Jim, 182 Bendix, William, 148 Beneficial Corporation, 71 Benford, Robert D., 8–9 benign neglect, 82 Bennett, James Gordon, Sr., 23, 24 Bergen, Candice, 182 Berger, Peter L., 7 Berroa, Anna, 96–97 The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans and Their Families (Shulman), 158 Betty Crocker, 172 The Beverly Hillbillies, 142 Biagi, Shirley, 223 Biden, Joseph, 175 Biel, Jessica, 114 Blair, Henry William, 127 Blakely, Edward J., 207, 208 Blasi, Gary, 93 Bloom, Orlando, 76 Bloomberg, Michael R., 32, 33 Blue Collar TV, 146 Bobos in Paradise (Brooks), 165–66, 206 The Bold and the Beautiful, 57 Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), 48 Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture (Schor), 217 Boston Globe, 60 Boston Med, 10 Bourdieu, Pierre, 34 BP oil spill, 16, 30, 137, 139, 216 9781442202238.print.indb 290 Bradley-Martins, charitable activities, 25 Branson, Richard, 62 Brathwaite, Kim, 95–96 Bravo, 12–13, 44 Bricklayers Protective Union, 125 Brittain, Deborah C., 27 Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc.

Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in a Global Market
by Steven Drobny
Published 31 Mar 2006

After a while, I started thinking, “Is this what I want to do with my life?” I looked at my friends’ careers, and the people who liked their lives the most were the proprietary traders. I started spending my spare time in upstate New York reading finance stuff: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, Bonfire of the Vanities, Market Wizards, Money Masters—anything I could get my hands on. My game plan was to go to business school; get a job in proprietary trading; work 10 years on the sell side developing my knowledge, experience, contacts, and track record; and then make a move to the buy side. I applied to a bunch of business schools and was offered a fellowship at the University of North Carolina (UNC).

…

See also Central bank(s)/banking Bank of Canada, 285 Bank of England, 14–15, 113, 152, 161, 166, 175, 274–275, 285 Bank of Japan, 175, 318 Bank paper, 141 Barclays Capital, 134–139, 141, 153 Barings Singapore, 80 Barron’s, 231, 238 Baruch, Bernard, 146–147 Bear/bearish markets, 82–83, 123, 157, 225, 228, 230, 237, 340 Beauty contest, 164–165 Behavioral finance, 152, 159 Bernanke, Ben, 350 Bessent, Scott, 14, 16, 20, 269–288 Bessent Capital, 269 Beta, 8, 282, 328 BHP Billiton, 252 Bid/offer spreads, 45, 61 Big-bet approach, 341–343 Black box trading systems, 332 Black Monday, 11, 212–213 Black Wednesday 1992, 10, 14–17, 29, 114, 275 361 362 Blodgett, Henry, 260 Bond investments, 61, 88, 118, 121–122, 146–147, 157–158, 231, 251 Bond market, 61, 78, 145, 149–151, 193, 225–226, 292, 323, 328 Bond market rout of 1994, 10, 17, 155 Bond prices, 204 Bond rally, 75 Bond specialists, 127 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe), 244 Boom-bust cycle, 167–168 Bosnia, 51 Bottom-up approach, 51, 346 Brady bonds, 296 Brazil/Brazilian real,193, 204, 208–209, 239, 261, 290, 295–296, 327–328, 334–335 Bretton Woods, 6–7, 90, 123, 201 British pound, 14–16, 76, 117, 209, 221–222, 274, 285. See also Sterling Brown Brothers, 271 BTPs (Buoni del Tesoro Poliennali), 85–87 Bucket shops, 36 Buffett,Warren, 278, 292 Bull/bullish market, 83, 107, 123, 217, 225–226, 228, 230–231, 239, 273 Bund/BTP convergence trade, 85–87 Bundesbank, 14 Bunds, 75, 340 Business cycle, global, 328–329 Butterfly options, 46 Buy and hold strategy, 7, 47 Buy low, sell high, 228–229 Buy signals, 226 Call options, 85 Canada, 167 Canadian dollar, 67, 239, 286 Capital allocation, 24, 33, 98–99, 315, 321 Capital preservation, 144, 323–324 Carry trades, 78–79, 110–111, 113, 117–118, 125, 134 Cash market, 85 Caxton, 9–10, 33 Central bank(s)/banking, 32, 40, 83, 139–140, 148, 151–153, 161–162, 167–170, 204, 313, 331 Central banker(s), 13–14, 160, 229, 349.

The Bank That Lived a Little: Barclays in the Age of the Very Free Market
by Philip Augar
Published 4 Jul 2018

Anyone in the middle levels and above in investment banking earns enough money to live a different life from that lived by other people of their age: bigger houses, more exotic holidays, nicer clothes, better restaurants, priority lines at airports, the best hotels. The power is alluring too. You are at the centre of the action, working with dynamic people in an electric environment. You meet corporate chief executives, big investors and people from Washington. Tom Wolfe wrote of the hubristic Sherman McCoy in The Bonfire of the Vanities: ‘On Wall Street he and a few others – how many? Three hundred, four hundred, five hundred? – had become precisely that … Masters of the Universe.’1 Diamond was no Sherman McCoy but he was in the upper reaches of the real life top 300 and it was both too late and too soon to return to the quiet life.

…

‘New buy-back by Barclays after 15% profit rise’, Irish Times, 7 August 1996 14. Kirstie Hamilton, ‘Barclays chiefs called to account’, Sunday Times, 4 October 1998 5. A Dark Night in Essex, 1995 1. Securities Industry Association, Securities Industry Fact Book 2006, p. 31 6. The Dumb Money, 1996 1. Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Pan Books, London, 1988, p. 19 7. In Memoriam BZW, 1997 1. Andrew Lorenz, BZW: The First Ten Years, BZW, London, 1996, p. 191 2. Barclays Annual Report 1996, p. 81 3. Financial Times, 4 October 1997 4. Barclays confirms sale agreement with CSFB, Barclays press release, 12 November 1997 5.

Vanishing New York
by Jeremiah Moss
Published 19 May 2017

We all know the rubble scenes of tenement skeletons and ragged mattresses, hydrants dribbling like busted faucets, abandoned cars with the guts ripped out. Street gangs with their names stitched on the backs of denim vests: BLACK SPADES, SAVAGE SKULLS, GHETTO BROTHERS. The South Bronx as war zone. Shocked, awed, and blitzed. In the 1980s it’s where Tom Wolfe’s yuppies took a wrong turn in Bonfire of the Vanities. And where the urban wasteland harbored supernatural killer wolves in Wolfen—a movie “set during a critical moment in the collapse of radical politics and the emergence of a feral neoliberalism, against a backdrop of urban dereliction and redevelopment,” says Jeff Kinkle in his online essay “Neoliberalism as Horror: Wolfen and the Political Unconscious of Real Estate.”

…

H., 27 Auletta, Ken, 105 AVA High Line, 240, 242–43 AvalonBay Communities, 91–92, 240, 242 Avalon Bowery, 91–92 Avalon Chrystie Place, 91–92 Baby Dee, 25, 360 Baby strollers, 230, 329–30 Baccarat Hotel & Residences, 182–83 Bachom, Sandi, 127 Bacon’s Rebellion, 61 Badalucco, Michael, 29 Badillo, Herman, 77–78 Bagatelle, 190–91 Bailey, Marlene (“Hot Dog”), 25 Balazs, André, 94 Baldwin, James, 65, 66 Ballarò, 21–22 B&H Dairy, 31 Bank of America Tower, 266 Banksy, 403 Barad, Ulo, 275–78 Barclays Center, 352, 353–54 Bard, Stanley, 216, 223 Barnes, Djuna, 130, 140 Barnes & Noble, 18 Barney, Matthew, 187 Barrison, Steven, 283 Barron, James, 51 Barry, Dan, 95, 167, 264–65, 364 Bartkoff, Regina, 51 Basquiat, Jean-Michel, 87, 95 Baum, Dan, 74 Bay Ridge, 354, 355 Beame, Abraham, 76, 78, 249–50 Beast of the Feast, 126, 146 Beatrice Inn, 143 Becker, Serge, 87–89 Bedford-Atlantic Armory, 347 Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy), 161, 343–45 Bellafante, Ginia, 256 Bella’s Luncheonette, 121 Bellevue South, 22 Bendix Diner, 219 Benepe, Adrian, 252 Berger, Joseph, 394 Berman, Marshall, 131, 392 Berrigan, Ted, 86 Bike lanes, 324, 340 Bill’s Gay 90s, 146 Biography Bookshop, 174 Blackburn, Paul, 358 Black Lives Matter, 325, 416 Blandalism, 232 Blarney Cove, 26 Bleecker Street, 171–76 Blesh, Rudi, 88 Bliss, George, 88 Blockbusting, 68–69 Bloomberg, Michael, 7, 8, 39, 155–67, 179, 205 Bronx and, 393–94 Brooklyn and, 337, 344, 346, 348, 350, 352, 354, 367–68 creative talent recruitment and, 324 de Blasio and, 169 East Village and, 21 Harlem and, 296–99, 308, 310, 313 homelessness and, 204 Hudson Yards and, 244–45 Lower East Side and, 53 luxury vision of city, 2, 37, 159–60, 200, 220 nanny state and, 166–67 Queens and, 376–77, 382, 384–85 rezonings and, 159–62 September 11 attacks and, 115, 137, 156–58 term limits and, 165–66 Times Square and, 265–66, 273–74 tourism and, 118, 250–52, 254, 258 West Chelsea and, 236, 239 Bloomberg Associates, 169 Bloomberg’s New York (Brash), 105, 115, 158–59 Blue & Cream, 92, 99–100 Blue Residential Tower, 50 Bobby’s Happy House, 299–300, 301–2 Bohemianism, 57–58, 60, 140–41, 142, 152–53 Boissevain, Jeremy, 257 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe), 392 Bono, Jake, 382–84 Bono Sawdust Supply Company, 382–84 Bookmarc, 174–75 Borowitz, Andy, 167 Boulud, Daniel, 92–93 Bourgeois, Louise, 352 Bouwerie Lane Theater, 94 Bowery, 81–102 Bowery Bar, 87–90 Bowery Hotel, 93 Bowery House, 95 Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC), 82 Bowery Wine Company, 92, 96 Bowles, Paul, 252 Bowman, David, 17 Boyer, M.

The Accidental Theorist: And Other Dispatches From the Dismal Science
by Paul Krugman
Published 18 Feb 2010

The evidence is overwhelming, and it comes from many sources—from government agencies like the Bureau of the Census, from Fortune’s annual survey of executive compensation, and so on. And, of course, there’s the evidence that confronts anyone with open eyes. Tom Wolfe is neither an economist nor a liberal, but he is an acute observer. When he wanted to portray what was happening in American society he came up with the world of The Bonfire of the Vanities. Here’s a rough (and reasonably certain) picture of what has happened: The standard of living of the poorest 10 percent of American families is significantly lower today than it was a generation ago. Families in the middle are, at best, slightly better off. Only the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans have achieved income growth at anything like the rates nearly everyone experienced between the forties and early seventies.

Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea
by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
Published 4 Mar 2003

Milken was indicted on almost one hundred counts of racketeering—and eventually sent to jail. Across in Britain, Hanson’s ambition overran itself: after an unsuccessful play for ICI, its two founders effectively broke up the company in 1996. Goldsmith ended his career as an antiglobalization crusader. Wall Streeters were pilloried for their greed in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), Liar’s Poker (1989), and Barbarians at the Gate (1991). By the end of the century, shareholders had plainly failed to restrain managerial power in the way that many had hoped. Nine in ten big American companies were incorporated in Delaware, a state whose laws favored managers over shareholders.

My Start-Up Life: What A
by Ben Casnocha and Marc Benioff
Published 7 May 2007

O’Rourke River Town, by Peter Hessler Novels I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe Reading in the Dark, by Seamus Deane Dubliners, by James Joyce The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card Disgrace, by J. M. Coetze Indecision, by Benjamin Kunkel The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd The Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe Saturday, by Ian McEwan Random On Paradise Drive, by David Brooks How to Be Alone, by Jonathan Franzen A Hope in the Unseen, by Ron Suskind Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris Clinton & Me, by Mark Katz What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated? by Alfie Kohn Consider the Lobster, by David Foster Wallace A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace 181 Acknowledgments I am lucky on many levels, and it’s most evident if I think about the people who have entered my life.

The end of history and the last man
by Francis Fukuyama
Published 28 Feb 2006

In particular, the virtues and ambitions called forth by war are unlikely to find expression in liberal democracies. There will be plenty of metaphorical wars—corporate lawyers specializing in hostile takeovers who will think of themselves as sharks or gunslingers, and bond traders who imagine, as in Tom Wolfe’s novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, that they are “masters of the universe.” (They will believe this, however, only in bull markets.) But as they sink into the soft leather of their BMWs, they will know somewhere in the back of their minds that there have been real gunslingers and masters in the world, who would feel contempt for the petty virtues required to become rich or famous in modern America.

…

INDEX Abortion, 176 Acid rain, 86 Affirmative action, 237, 293 Afghanistan, 26, 127, 275 African National Congress, 15, 111 Afrikaners, 14, 21, 111, 172 Afro-American culture, 237 Aganbegyan, Abel, 29 Alawi-dominated regime (Syria), 16 Albalkin, Leonid, 29 Albania, 27, 112 Alcibiades, 317 Alexander II, Czar of Russia, 75 Alfonsin government (Argentina), 14 Algeria, 275 Alienation, 65, 197, 335 All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarque), 5 Alwyn, Patricio, 42 Ambition, 162 American Bill of Rights, 43, 159 American Civil War, 171, 175-176, 261, 330 American Revolution, 42, 64, 134 Amish, 85 Amour-propre, 83-84, 155, 162, 255 Andropov, Yuri, 47 Angell, Norman, 5 Anger, 163-165, 171, 172, 178-180 Angola, 35 Animal behavior, 297 Anomie, 337 Anthropology, 151 Anti-liberal doctrines, 235-244 Anti-Stalinism, 30, 40 Apartheid, 20-21, 77, 111, 171-172 Aquino, Corazon, 14, 119-120 Arab-Israeli conflict, 283 Aral Sea, 115 Argentina, 14, 16, 19, 20, 23, 42, 104-106, 112, 113, 256 Aristocracies, 45, 185-86, 200, 259, 260, 265 Aristophanes, 296 Aristotle, 55-56, 127, 335 Aron, Raymond, 66, 95 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), 102 Assembly of Women (Aristophanes), 294 Associational life, 322-324 Astayev, Viktor, 37 Ataturk, Kemal, 236, 256, 272 Athens, 48, 127, 184, 247, 316, 317 Athletic competition, 318-320 Atlantic Charter, 258 Augustine, Saint, 56, 183 Australia, 111 Austria-Hungary, 333 Authoritarianism, 8-9, 11, 12, 37, 39-42, 124 current crisis of, 13-22, 44, 47 market-oriented, 123, 124 new Asian, 238-243 Ba‘ath parties, 16, 236 Bacon, Francis, 56, 57, 72, 135 Baigan, Ishida, 227 Balance of power, 247-250 Baltic states, 27-28, 215, 273 Bangladesh, 275 Basques, 269 Battle of Jena, significance of, 64, 67 Beast with red cheeks, 162, 170-180, 188 “Bee and the Communist Ideal, The” (Nuikin), 23 Belief, 309-310 Bell, Daniel, 91 Bellah, Robert, 227, 229 Belorussia, 35 Beria, Lavrenty, 32, 40 Berlin Wall, 27, 178, 263, 280 Biology, 151 Bipolarity, 248, 255, 262 Black market (Soviet), 32 Black underclass, 293-294 Bogomolov, Oleg, 29 Bolshevik party, 43 Bolshevik Revolution, 24, 25, 66, 304-305 Bombing, 6 Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 329 Botswana, 35 Bourgeois, 145, 160, 180, 185, 188, 189, 314, 323, 329 Brazil, 14, 20, 42, 104-105, 112, 123 Brezhnev, Leonid, 8, 10, 32, 76 Brezhneva, Galina, 16 Bryce, Lord, 42 Buddhism, 216-217, 227 Bukovsky, Vladimir, 169 Bulgaria, 27, 36, 112 Bureaucracy, 65, 89 as characteristic of modern societies, 77-78 Burma, 14, 85 Bush, George, 318, 328 Bushido ethic, 227 Caetano, Marcello, 13, 18 Calvinism, 226, 227, 229 Cambodia, 79, 127, 275, 293 Canada, 264 Capitalism, 44, 90-91, 98, 99, 102, 103, 106, 108, 114, 120, 204, 226-230, 290, 292, 316 Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (Schumpeter), 123 Capital punishment, 261 Carthage, 248 Caste system, 228 Catholicism, 19, 221 Ceaucescu, Nicolae, 115 Centrally planned economic systems, 90, 91, 93-96, 98, 107 Ceylon, 123 Chad, 275 Chamorro, Violetta, 14 Charismatic authority, 115 Charter 77, 166 Charter of the United Nations, 282 Checks and balances, 188 Chemical and biological weapons, 278 Chemistry, 151 Chernenko, Konstantin, 47 Chernobyl, 115 Chiang Ching-kuo, 14 Chile, 14, 21, 42, 104, 112, 123 Chinese Revolution, 11, 66, 127 Christian Democracy, 284 Christianity, 56 grounds for human equality, 196-197, 301 Hegel and, 216, 301 as slave ideology, 62, 196-198, 205, 261, 301 Churbanov, Yury, 32 Churchill, Winston, 318 CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 18, 28 Citizenship, 202, 322 Civil rights, 42-43, 203-204, 237 Civil society, 33, 219, 221, 222 Civil war American, 171, 175-176, 261, 330 English, 271 Spanish, 79 Class conflict, 65, 118-119 Classical liberal trade theory, 100 CNN (Cable News Network), 7 Cold War, 7, 10, 46, 127, 233, 246, 248, 252, 262, 264, 272, 282, 283 Collectivization, 30 Collor de Mello, Fernando, 42 Colombia, 14 Colonialism, 99, 258, 267, 338 Communications technology, 7 Communism, 7, 45; see also Authoritarianism; Communist parties; Totalitarianism belief in permanence of, 8, 10 Havel on, 166-169 legitimacy of, 10-11 as slave ideology, 205 Soviet-style, 9-10 worldwide collapse of, 8, 12, 25-38, 177-179, 264, 280, 293, 296 Communist Manifesto (Marx and Engels), 65 Communist parties Chinese, 34 Filipino, 119 Portuguese, 18, 47 South African, 15 Soviet, 26, 27 Spanish, 19 Community, 242, 304, 322-327 Compassion, rise of, 261 Comte, Auguste, 68 Condorcet, Marquis de, 57, 62 Conflict resolution, 117-119 Confucianism, 217, 325 Congress of Vienna, 267, 331 Conservatives, in Soviet Union, 40-41 Constitution of the United States, 25, 153, 184, 187, 200, 204, 296 Consumer electronics industry, 84 Consumerism, 4, 63, 83-85, 126, 169, 230, 242 Contradictions, 61, 64, 65, 136, 137, 139 Cortés, Hernando, 259 Cosmopolitanism, 126 Costa Rica, 123, 217-218 “Cotton mafia,” 32 Craft guilds, 232 Crimean War, 75 Critique of Pure Reason (Kant), 151 Croatia, 272, 273 Cuba, 10, 14, 25, 127 Cultural relativism, 340 Cultural Revolution, 79, 95, 96 Culture preconditions for democracy, 215, 219-222 relationship to thymos, 213 work attitudes and, 224-225, 230-234 Cunhal, Álvaro, 18 Custine, Marquis de, 25 Cyprus, 20 Czechoslovakia democratic transition in, 36, 112 fall of communist government, 27, 177-178 nationalism in, 273 Darwin, Charles, 299 Debray, Régis, 320 Declaration of Independence, 134, 153, 158, 186, 196, 200, 204, 296 Decline of the West (Spengler), 68 Defensive modernization, 74-76 de Gaulle, Charles, 332 de Klerk, F.

Who Stole the American Dream?
by Hedrick Smith
Published 10 Sep 2012

Since top company executives were privy to inside company information, they could obviously cash in big-time by trading in company stock. But the unwritten code frowned on that. “Were everyone to seek to do so …,” Galbraith wrote, “the corporation would be a chaos of competitive avarice.” By the 1980s, competitive avarice was in. Tom Wolfe captured the winner-take-all creed in his book Bonfire of the Vanities, and so did Oliver Stone’s 1987 movie, Wall Street. “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,” preached Gordon Gekko, the movie’s mogul investor. “Greed is right, greed works…. Greed, in all of its forms … has marked the upward surge of mankind.” It certainly marked the upward surge in CEO pay, which rocketed from forty times the pay of an average company worker in 1980 to nearly four hundred times by 2000.

…

As former Nixon political strategist Kevin Phillips put it, Wall Street “hijacked” the U.S. economy for its own profit, causing a “perilous overconcentration” of economic power. In terms of political power, Wall Street has no peer. Over the past two decades, the bankers portrayed by Tom Wolfe in Bonfire of the Vanities as arrogant “Masters of the Universe” have been even more successful than the leaders of other sectors of business, such as oil or the military-industrial complex or the pharmaceutical industry, in influencing Washington to adopt their agenda. They have lobbied successfully to overturn New Deal–era laws and time-tested government regulations.

Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools
by Steven Brill
Published 15 Aug 2011

Schoolyard Classroom August 1995, a sidewalk in the Bronx, New York In August 1995, Dave Levin was on a hot sidewalk on 156th Street in the South Bronx, about ten blocks from Yankee Stadium (and a few blocks from where Tom Wolfe’s Master of the Universe has the car accident that unravels his life in Bonfire of the Vanities ). A tall twenty-six-year-old with wiry dark hair and an easy grin, Levin deftly corralled forty-six African-American and Hispanic fifth graders into a quiet circle. He greeted all of the kids warmly and joked with them before getting down to business. That was the shtick he had perfected two years earlier at TFA in Houston: Always mix fun with the dead seriousness of the mission.

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Index Absent Teacher Reserve, 129, 158, 403 Acceptance Board, 196 –97 Achievement First, 192, 295 achievement standards, 66 ACORN, 112, 161, 208, 271, 284 Adams, Patricia (pseud.), 211 –13 Advisory Board, 116 Aguilar, Miguel, 366 Albert Shanker Institute, 414 Alexander, Lamar, 47 –48 Allen, Woody, 37 Alliance for School Choice, 118 America Competes Act (2007), 242 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 238 American Enterprise Institute, 262, 308, 378 American Federation of Teachers (AFT), 7, 40, 48, 49, 50, 65, 70, 176 –77, 199, 233, 238 –39, 240, 251, 261, 265, 266, 278, 287, 321, 330, 331, 344, 368, 380, 385, 402, 414, 420 COPE of, 40 –41, 122 2010 convention of, 246 –49 Anderson, Nick, 264 Andrew, Seth, 383 An Inconvenient Truth (film), 281 Answer Sheet, The (blog), 302 Arizona, 417 Aspen Institute, 137, 250, 309 Aspire, 254 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Online, 308 Atlantic Monthly, 395 Audacity of Hope, The (Obama), 237 Austin, Ben, 406 –7 Axelrod, David, 1, 5 Ball, Harriett, 23 Barber, Michael, 147 –48, 149 Barbic, Chris, 175 Barnes, Melody, 222, 226, 237 Barone, Charles, 219 –20, 223 Barr, Steven, 171 Barth, Richard, 175 Bell, Terrel, 47 Bennet, Michael, 221, 376 –77, 379 Bennett, William, 48, 60, 118 teachers’ unions attacked by, 46 –47 Bernstein, Carl, 279, 280 Bersin, Alan, 89, 93, 106 –7, 157, 221 Bertelsmann AG, 87 Biden, Joseph, 182 Big Short, The (Lewis), 131 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, see Gates Foundation Black, Cathleen, 397 –99, 401, 410 Blanco, Kathleen, 137, 138, 306 Blitzer, Wolf, 181 –82 Bloomberg, Michael, 15, 87, 93, 102, 108, 119, 120, 122, 142, 156, 174, 185 –86, 209, 294, 296, 328, 329, 340, 375, 380, 397 –99, 403, 404, 411, 412, 417 2005 UFT contract negotiation and, 125 –32, 149 2007 UFT contract negotiation and, 157, 158 –60 Weingarten and, 426 –27 Boies, David, 105 Bonfire of the Vanities, 72 Booker, Cory, 115, 117, 207, 402 “Boxer, The” (Simon), 75 Bredesen, Phil, 307, 317 –18 Bressler, Marvin, 52 Broad, Edythe, 92, 302 Broad, Eli, 92 –93, 96, 101 –2, 158, 171, 172, 184, 185, 200, 201, 203, 209, 219, 221, 222, 226, 302, 392, 396, 405, 411, 436, 437 Broad Foundation, 92 –93, 147, 158 –59, 185, 200, 201, 209, 286, 287, 309, 386 Broad Prize, 185 –86 Brookings Institution, 151, 153 Brooks, David, 353 Brown, Jerry, 404, 406 Brown v.

Kings of Crypto: One Startup's Quest to Take Cryptocurrency Out of Silicon Valley and Onto Wall Street
by Jeff John Roberts
Published 15 Dec 2020

The membranous sac was his head, and the right side of his head was on the pillow, and the yolk was as heavy as mercury, and it rolled like mercury, and it was pressing down on his right temple and his right eye and his right ear. If he tried to get up to answer the telephone, the yolk, the mercury, the poisoned mass, would shift and roll and rupture the sac, and his brains would fall out.” —Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities Wolfe’s account has been cited as the greatest hangover in fiction. It’s also a good analogy for the cryptocurrency industry at the start of 2018. The market was in free fall as bitcoin lost half its value, sinking below $10,000 by February, and the state of altcoins was even worse. But for a few months, big investors could pretend the bubble had not popped—they could pray, like Wolfe’s hangover subject, that there was no rupture and that all the money would not leak away.

Broken Markets: A User's Guide to the Post-Finance Economy
by Kevin Mellyn
Published 18 Jun 2012

The first instinct of market participants, who rarely have personal experience of extended downturns, since up to 2008 there had not been any since the early 1980s, is that time will solve the problem. Markets always come back. Except, of course, when they don’t. The new “Masters of the Universe,” as Tom Wolfe dubbed the Sherman McCoys of this world in The Bonfire of the Vanities (Bantam, 1998), actually believed that their way of life is natural. After the panic of 2008 recedes in memory, people will become less hostile to finance, regulations will prove unworkable, and the political tide will turn. No doubt Richard Whitney, Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and uncrowned king of the 1920s Golconda, felt the same way, at least until he was headed to Sing Sing.

A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life
by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman
Published 6 Apr 2014

Rader: psychiatrist, administers stem cell injections for a variety of illnesses Jason Randal: magician, mentalist Ronald Reagan: president of the United States, 1981–1989 Sumner Redstone: media magnate, businessman, chairman of CBS, chairman of Viacom Judith Regan: editor, book publisher Eddie Rehfeldt: executive creative director for the communications firm Waggener Edstrom David Remnick: journalist, author, editor of the New Yorker, winner of the Pulitzer Prize David Rhodes: president of CBS News, former vice president of news for Fox News Matthieu Ricard: Buddhist monk, photographer, author of Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill Condoleezza Rice: U.S. secretary of state, 2005–2009, former U.S. national security advisor, former provost at Stanford University, professor of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Frank Rich: journalist, author, former columnist for the New York Times, editor at large for New York magazine Michael Rinder: activist and former senior executive for the Church of Scientology International Richard Riordan: mayor of Los Angeles, 1993–2001, businessman Tony Robbins: life coach, author, motivational speaker Robert Wilson and Richard Hutton: criminal defense attorneys Brian L. Roberts: chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation Burton B. Roberts: chief administrative judge, New York Supreme Court in the Bronx, model for a character in Tom Wolfe’s novel The Bonfire of the Vanities Michael Roberts: fashion journalist, fashion and style director at Vanity Fair, former fashion director at the New Yorker Joe Robinson: speaker and trainer on work-life balance and productivity Gerry Roche: senior chairman of Heidrick & Struggles, a business executive recruiting firm Aaron Rose: film director, art-show curator, writer Charlie Rose: journalist, TV interviewer, host of PBS’s Charlie Rose Maer Roshan: writer, editor, entrepreneur who launched Radar magazine and radaronline.com Pasquale Rotella: founder of Insomniac Events, which produces music festival Electric Daisy Carnival Karl Rove: Republican political consultant, chief strategist for George W.

Fed Up!: Success, Excess and Crisis Through the Eyes of a Hedge Fund Macro Trader
by Colin Lancaster
Published 3 May 2021

It will need to support the markets. Stay long risk. We are in a bull market! Buy some Chinese stocks into month end. The central banks are engaged. But as I head to the airport, I realize that Vegas has not made me feel better about anything. We are back in a bubble. Notes 10 Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe. 11 “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus. 12 “Paradise City,” Guns N’ Roses. Chapter 3 The Star Tavern and Life in Knightsbridge December 2019 12/5/19—Impeachment proceedings begin in the US House of Representatives. 12/6/19—Payrolls beat at 266K; unemployment back down to 3.5%; average hourly earnings +3.1%. 12/11/19—Fed on hold.

The Rough Guide to Florence & the Best of Tuscany
by Tim Jepson , Jonathan Buckley and Rough Guides
Published 2 Mar 2009

. $-6# 5BCBTDP  (The terrace is called the arringhiera, from the same root as the English word “harangue”.) Tempers can get frayed at such gatherings, but things used to be a lot wilder than they are today: in 1343, for example, one inflammatory meeting ended with a man being eaten by a mob. Most famously, it was here that Savonarola held his “Bonfires of the Vanities” (see p.124) – on the very spot where, on May 23, 1498, he was to be executed for heresy. A circular plaque in the pavement near the fountain marks the place. The statues Florence’s political volatility is encapsulated by the Piazza della Signoria’s array of statues, most of which were arranged in the sixteenth century to accentuate the axis of the Uffizi.

…

Continual decrees were issued from San Marco: profane carnivals were to be outlawed, fasting was to be observed more frequently, children were to act as the agents of the righteous, informing the authorities whenever their parents transgressed the Eternal Law. Irreligious books and paintings, expensive clothes, cosmetics, mirrors, board games, trivialities and luxuries of all types were destroyed, a ritual purging that reached a crescendo with a colossal “Bonfire of the Vanities” on the Piazza della Signoria. Meanwhile, Charles VIII was installed in Naples and a formidable alliance was being assembled to overthrow him: the papacy, Milan, Venice, Ferdinand of Aragon and the Emperor Maximilian. In July 1495 the army of this Holy League confronted the French and was badly defeated.

740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building
by Michael Gross
Published 18 Dec 2007

Its seventeen simplex and duplex apartments, including two fullfloor units of ten thousand square feet apiece, featured every modern convenience—even jewelry safes for each bedroom, a large silver vault in each kitchen, an ice-making plant and individual refrigerated wine cellars, and private laundry rooms in the basement. These were the first of the sorts of apartments that, eighty years later, inspired the fictional one created by Tom Wolfe for Sherman McCoy, the hapless lead character in the novel The Bonfire of the Vanities: “the sort of apartment the mere thought of which ignites flames of greed and covetousness under people all over New York, and for that matter, all over the world.” The first renters at 998—attracted by a lavish hardcover brochure— included a granddaughter of Commodore Vanderbilt; Levi Morton, U.S. vice president under Benjamin Harrison; the former secretary of state and war Elihu Root; John Jacob “Jack” Astor V, who moved in after surviving, in utero, the sinking of the Titanic; and Murray Guggenheim of the mining Guggenheims.

…

“We were all frozen, all in fur coats, surrounded by glorious flowers,” says one attendee. “They were done by the mistress, though we didn’t know that at the time.” The building staff may have been the first to learn of the affair, and some of them later came to believe that a scene in the film based on Tom Wolfe’s novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, in which the protagonist Sherman McCoy calls his mistress from a pay phone right outside his building, was based on Perelman and Kasen. “He had that reputation,” Patrick O’Connor says carefully. “He was a strange character. Not very polite. A double life is bound to catch up with you.” Perelman’s double life caught up with him when the luxury jeweler Bulgari accidentally sent a pair of blue-sapphire-and-diamond earrings meant for Kasen to Faith.

Back to Blood
by Tom Wolfe
Published 1 Jan 2012

The Chief gave me my badge and my revolver back. I’m reinstated; I’m a real cop again.” “Oh, my God, Nestor! That’s… so… wonderful!” said Ghislaine. About the Author Tom Wolfe is the author of more than a dozen books, among them The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full, and I Am Charlotte Simmons. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he earned his BA at Washington and Lee University and a PhD in American Studies at Yale. He received the National Book Foundation’s 2010 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in New York City.

…

He lives in New York City. ALSO BY TOM WOLFE The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby The Pump House Gang The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers The Painted Word Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine The Right Stuff In Our Time From Bauhaus to Our House The Bonfire of the Vanities A Man in Full Hooking Up I Am Charlotte Simmons * “Look at her! Granny, you spit when you talk, like a rabid mutt foaming at the mouth.” * “your dumb ass of a man”; literally, “your little pubic hair.” * “What a pair you make, you stupid bitch!” * “Don’t fuck with me with your little fits.

How Much Is Enough?: Money and the Good Life
by Robert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky
Published 18 Jun 2012

We prefer the term “respect” because it brings out more clearly its interpersonal dimension. Respect is conferred; dignity is inherent. Still, our ability to respect a human being presupposes that there is something in him worthy of respect, and this something could, if desired, be called dignity. * Sherman McCoy, the “master of the universe” in Tom Wolfe’s novel, Bonfire of the Vanities, consumes his salary in rents, school fees, etc., with the result that bankruptcy follows within a few weeks of his losing his job. He is in effect a wage-slave, if a rather well-heeled one. * Lord Turner admits this possibility. In his third lecture, he writes that the ends of change and economic freedom “need to be balanced against other potentially desirable objectives.”

The Cost of Inequality: Why Economic Equality Is Essential for Recovery
by Stewart Lansley
Published 19 Jan 2012

This claim seemed to be vindicated when two hedge fund partners, Myron Scholes and Robert Merton, won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1997. Their Greenwichbased firm, Long Term Capital Management had been founded by John Meriwether, a former highly successful bond trader at Salomon, Lewis’s boss and widely believed to be the inspiration for the Bonfire of the Vanities , Tom Wolf’s 1980s novel of Wall Street excess. For a while the heavily-leveraged operation grew to be one of the most lucrative of the American hedge funds. Even when their award-winning formula failed and LTCM collapsed in 1998, nearly bringing Wall Street down with it, the modelling and recruitment continued. 

The New Economics: A Bigger Picture
by David Boyle and Andrew Simms
Published 14 Jun 2009

Other books to read Ha-Joon Chang and Illene Grabel (2004) Reclaiming Development: An Alternative Economic Manual, Zed Books, London Herman Daly and John Cobb (1994) For the Common Good, Beacon Press, New York Herman Daly and Joshua Farley (2004) Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications, Island Press, Washington, DC Jeff Gates (2001) Democracy at Risk, Perseus, New York Oliver James (2008) The Selfish Capitalist: Origins of Affluenza, Vermilion Books, London David Korten (1995) When Corporations Rule the World, Earthscan, London Bernard Lietaer (2001) The Future of Money, Century, London Erik Reinart (2007) How Rich Countries got Rich and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor, Constable, New York Vandana Shiva (1999) Stolen Harvest, South End Press, New York Joseph Stiglitz (2002) Globalisation and its Discontents, Penguin, London 16 THE NEW ECONOMICS Notes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Tom Wolfe (1988) Bonfire of the Vanities, Cape, London. Arts Council (1946), First Annual Report, London. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2008) Climate Change 2007, Geneva. United Nations Development Programme (1998) Consumption for Human Development, Oxford University Press, New York. Daily Telegraph (2003) 16 April.

How to Write Like Tolstoy: A Journey Into the Minds of Our Greatest Writers
by Richard Cohen
Published 16 May 2016

I was her editor and didn’t question it; only after the book was published did we both agree that that first sentence drew the wrong attention to itself. Not that outrageous openings can’t work. Quirky can be good: Mikhail Bulgakov begins The Heart of a Dog (1925), “Ooow-ow-ooow-owow!” as if language itself has failed him, and Tom Wolfe, in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), early on the opening page gives us a long drawn-out cackle: “Heh-heggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Garrison Keillor put such attempts in fine context. “When someone gets in your face as a writer does, either you love him or you loathe him,” he wrote, citing a memoir he was reading of two lesbians who had taken up farming sheep in Minnesota.

The Wisdom of Frugality: Why Less Is More - More or Less
by Emrys Westacott
Published 14 Apr 2016

If they feel the need to exhibit their wealth, as many do, they will start to indulge in various luxuries and extravagances that make them increasingly dependent on others—both those who are the source of wealth (patrons, bosses, clients) and those who provide services (servants, chauffeurs, beauticians). And this concern for expensive superfluities will lead to their wasting both their resources and, much more importantly, their time. Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, set in the world of New York’s financial wheelers and dealers, offers a memorable portrayal of all these failings in a modern context. Claims of this sort regarding the effects of wealth on an individual are obviously neither necessary nor universal. Some who become rich, far from becoming extravagant, grow increasingly parsimonious.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen King
Published 1 Jan 2000

I believe that Blood Meridian is another, although there are great whacks of it that I don’t fully understand. What of that? I can’t decipher the words to many of the popular songs I love, either. There’s also stuff you’ll never find in the dictionary, but it’s still vocabulary. Check out the following: —Tom Wolfe, Bonfire of the Vanities “Egggh, whaddaya? Whaddaya want from me?” “Here come Hymie!” “Unnh! Unnnh! Unnnhh!” “Chew my willie, Yo’ Honor.” “Yeggghhh, fuck you, too, man!”This last is phonetically rendered street vocabulary. Few writers have Wolfe’s ability to translate such stuff to the page. (Elmore Leonard is another writer who can do it.)

Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism
by Bhu Srinivasan
Published 25 Sep 2017

Remarkably, as complex a subject as finance was, story lines of trading desks and boardroom aspirations found themselves expressed fully in pop culture. Family Ties, the second-highest-rated show on television in the mid-1980s, starred Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton, a precocious and charming ball of comically moneyed ambition. Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times best-seller list in 1988. Its main character was a top-producing bond trader, a “Master of the Universe” in Wolfe’s telling. Oliver Stone’s Wall Street gave American cinema one of its most memorable antiheroes in Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas.

…

See Colonial America American Express, 110–11 American Federation of Labor, 217–18 American Football League (AFL), 393–94 American Party, 120 American Railway Union, 231 American Revolution, 43–45 American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), 301, 303–4, 305–6 American Woman’s Home, The (Beecher sisters), 199 America Online (AOL), 465, 475–76, 477, 481 Anarchists, 211, 213, 216–17 Anderson, Robert, 139 Andreessen, Marc, 468–69, 471, 472, 473 Andrews, Samuel, 154, 155 Anheuser, Eberhard, 179 Anheuser-Busch, 180, 183, 184, 311 Anti-Saloon League, 184 Apple Computer, 431–33, 465, 479–84, 486–89 Arapaho, 155 Arbeiter Zeitung, 215, 216–17 arc lighting, 186 Armour, Philip, 269 Armstrong, Edwin Howard, 303 Arnaz y Acha, Desiderio Alberto, 381, 383–84 Arnold, Hap, 356 Ashe, Arthur, 455 assembly line, 289–90 Associated Press, 106 Astor, John Jacob IV, 294 A Summary View of the Rights of British America (Jefferson), 42–43 “As We May Think” (Bush), 467 Atari, Inc., 427–28, 430–31, 465 Atlantic & Pacific, 191 Austria-Hungary, 296, 297 automobiles, 279–91 assembly line manufacturing and, 289–90 building of factories, in 1980s, 489–90 Durant and, 281, 286–87 Ford and, 281–83, 284–86, 287–91 government regulation of roads and, 283–84 internal combustion versus steam power, 279–80 Japanese competition in 1970s and, 438 Model T and, 286, 288–89, 291 production of, during Great Depression, 329, 335 production of, during World War II, 364 references in rap music, 451–53 B-24 Liberator (bomber), 361–62 Baldwin Locomotive, 362 Ball, Lucille, 381, 383–84 Ballmer, Steve, 487 Bank of America (Italian-American Bank), 310, 344, 345 Bank of United States, 325–26 banks/banking bank holidays, 331–34 failures, during Great Depression, 324–28 Barksdale, Jim, 472 Barnes & Noble, 442 baseball, 391 BASIC programming language, 430 Bavarian Motor Works (BMW), 354, 489 beaver fur trade, 14–15, 17 Beaver (ship), 39 Beckert, Sven, 145 Beecher, Catharine, 198–99 Beecher, Henry Ward, 136 beer, 178–80, 183–84 Bellona (steamboat), 64, 65, 67 Benchmark Capital, 474 Ben-Hur (film), 337–38 Berkman, Alexander, 222 Berkshire Hathaway, 436–37, 442–43 Berlin Wall, fall of, 484 Berners-Lee, Time, 466–68, 480 Bessemer, Henry, 168 Bessemer Steel Association, 172 Best Friend (locomotive), 82 Beveridge, Albert, 274 Bezos, Jeff, 470–71 Billings, John Shaw, 412 Bissell, George, 150 Bloomingdale’s, 207 Blue Ribbon Sports, 458 Boeing, 490 Bond, Joseph, 130 bonds/bond market for canal financing, 76, 77, 78, 79, 83 Chrysler and, 440 for Civil War financing, 146–47 formation of US Steel and, 248 Jay Cooke & Co., 169 junk bonds, 439–42 U.S. government bond yields in 1981, 440 World War I and, 299 Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 449 bootlegging, 315–19 B&O Railroad Company, 81–82 Boston tea party, 39–40 bottling, 179 Bowerman, Bill, 458 boxing, 304 boycott, colonial of British goods, 37–38 Bradford, William, 3, 4, 11, 12–13, 16, 17 Brewster, William, 10 Brinkley, Alan, 473 British East India Company, 38–39 Broderick, Joseph, 326 Brooklyn Bridge, 194 Brooks, Preston, 121 Brown, John, 135–36 Brown, Kay, 337 Brush, Charles, 185 Bryan, Joseph, 123 Bryan, William Jennings, 233–37, 241, 246–47, 298 bubbles in Internet stocks, 472–78 in slave prices (Negro Fever), 126, 130–31 Buchanan, James, 121 Budweiser, 180 buffalo, 177 Buffett, Warren, 423, 437 Buick, David, 280 Buick Manufacturing Company, 280–81, 286–87 Busch, Adolphus, 178–79 Bush, George H.

Americana
by Bhu Srinivasan

Remarkably, as complex a subject as finance was, story lines of trading desks and boardroom aspirations found themselves expressed fully in pop culture. Family Ties, the second-highest-rated show on television in the mid-1980s, starred Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton, a precocious and charming ball of comically moneyed ambition. Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times best-seller list in 1988. Its main character was a top-producing bond trader, a “Master of the Universe” in Wolfe’s telling. Oliver Stone’s Wall Street gave American cinema one of its most memorable antiheroes in Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas.

…

See Colonial America American Express, 110–11 American Federation of Labor, 217–18 American Football League (AFL), 393–94 American Party, 120 American Railway Union, 231 American Revolution, 43–45 American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), 301, 303–4, 305–6 American Woman’s Home, The (Beecher sisters), 199 America Online (AOL), 465, 475–76, 477, 481 Anarchists, 211, 213, 216–17 Anderson, Robert, 139 Andreessen, Marc, 468–69, 471, 472, 473 Andrews, Samuel, 154, 155 Anheuser, Eberhard, 179 Anheuser-Busch, 180, 183, 184, 311 Anti-Saloon League, 184 Apple Computer, 431–33, 465, 479–84, 486–89 Arapaho, 155 Arbeiter Zeitung, 215, 216–17 arc lighting, 186 Armour, Philip, 269 Armstrong, Edwin Howard, 303 Arnaz y Acha, Desiderio Alberto, 381, 383–84 Arnold, Hap, 356 Ashe, Arthur, 455 assembly line, 289–90 Associated Press, 106 Astor, John Jacob IV, 294 A Summary View of the Rights of British America (Jefferson), 42–43 “As We May Think” (Bush), 467 Atari, Inc., 427–28, 430–31, 465 Atlantic & Pacific, 191 Austria-Hungary, 296, 297 automobiles, 279–91 assembly line manufacturing and, 289–90 building of factories, in 1980s, 489–90 Durant and, 281, 286–87 Ford and, 281–83, 284–86, 287–91 government regulation of roads and, 283–84 internal combustion versus steam power, 279–80 Japanese competition in 1970s and, 438 Model T and, 286, 288–89, 291 production of, during Great Depression, 329, 335 production of, during World War II, 364 references in rap music, 451–53 B-24 Liberator (bomber), 361–62 Baldwin Locomotive, 362 Ball, Lucille, 381, 383–84 Ballmer, Steve, 487 Bank of America (Italian-American Bank), 310, 344, 345 Bank of United States, 325–26 banks/banking bank holidays, 331–34 failures, during Great Depression, 324–28 Barksdale, Jim, 472 Barnes & Noble, 442 baseball, 391 BASIC programming language, 430 Bavarian Motor Works (BMW), 354, 489 beaver fur trade, 14–15, 17 Beaver (ship), 39 Beckert, Sven, 145 Beecher, Catharine, 198–99 Beecher, Henry Ward, 136 beer, 178–80, 183–84 Bellona (steamboat), 64, 65, 67 Benchmark Capital, 474 Ben-Hur (film), 337–38 Berkman, Alexander, 222 Berkshire Hathaway, 436–37, 442–43 Berlin Wall, fall of, 484 Berners-Lee, Time, 466–68, 480 Bessemer, Henry, 168 Bessemer Steel Association, 172 Best Friend (locomotive), 82 Beveridge, Albert, 274 Bezos, Jeff, 470–71 Billings, John Shaw, 412 Bissell, George, 150 Bloomingdale’s, 207 Blue Ribbon Sports, 458 Boeing, 490 Bond, Joseph, 130 bonds/bond market for canal financing, 76, 77, 78, 79, 83 Chrysler and, 440 for Civil War financing, 146–47 formation of US Steel and, 248 Jay Cooke & Co., 169 junk bonds, 439–42 U.S. government bond yields in 1981, 440 World War I and, 299 Bonfire of the Vanities, The (Wolfe), 449 bootlegging, 315–19 B&O Railroad Company, 81–82 Boston tea party, 39–40 bottling, 179 Bowerman, Bill, 458 boxing, 304 boycott, colonial of British goods, 37–38 Bradford, William, 3, 4, 11, 12–13, 16, 17 Brewster, William, 10 Brinkley, Alan, 473 British East India Company, 38–39 Broderick, Joseph, 326 Brooklyn Bridge, 194 Brooks, Preston, 121 Brown, John, 135–36 Brown, Kay, 337 Brush, Charles, 185 Bryan, Joseph, 123 Bryan, William Jennings, 233–37, 241, 246–47, 298 bubbles in Internet stocks, 472–78 in slave prices (Negro Fever), 126, 130–31 Buchanan, James, 121 Budweiser, 180 buffalo, 177 Buffett, Warren, 423, 437 Buick, David, 280 Buick Manufacturing Company, 280–81, 286–87 Busch, Adolphus, 178–79 Bush, George H.

The Road Ahead
by Bill Gates , Nathan Myhrvold and Peter Rinearson
Published 15 Nov 1995

The information highway will allow the transfer of intellectual property rights from one person to another at the speed of light. Almost all the music, writing, or other intellectual properties stored on disks or in books sits unused most of the time. When you're not consuming your particular copy of Thriller or Bonfire of the Vanities, most likely no one else is, either. Publishers count on this. If the average buyer lent his or her albums and books frequently, fewer would be sold and prices would be higher. If we assume that an album is in use, say, 0.1 percent of the time, "light speed" lending might cut the number of copies sold by a factor of 1,000.

The Golden Passport: Harvard Business School, the Limits of Capitalism, and the Moral Failure of the MBA Elite
by Duff McDonald
Published 24 Apr 2017

From the student perspective, it might as well not have been there at all, since at the same time that HBS graduates were streaming onto Wall Street, so too were a large percentage of graduates from Harvard College. From the faculty perspective, however, the intellectual distance between HBS and the rest of Harvard widened to the largest it had been since the days of the School’s founding. In the decade of greed, the market was triumphant, Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities was more aspirational novel than cautionary tale, and whatever reticence had existed at HBS about the maximization of wealth as the central purpose of business disappeared along with the seemingly antiquated notion of a corporation’s responsibility to anyone other than its shareholders. The separation wasn’t just metaphorical, either: In 1981, HBS announced the discontinuation of all non-School use of its facilities, including by others at Harvard itself.2 “For as long as anyone can remember Harvard’s courses have mostly bubbled up from its faculty’s interests: A professor would become intrigued by something and do research on it,” wrote Walter Kiechel in Fortune.

…

See also Wall Street Banks, Tyra, 156 Barnard, Chester, 87, 111–15, 168, 212, 244, 257 Barriers to New Competition (Bain), 412 Barsh, Joanna, 241 Barth, Carl, 35 Bartlett, Christopher, 491, 519 Batter, Lisa Hunt, 535 Bazerman, Max, 440 Beales, Richard, 477 Bear Stearns, 471, 477, 478, 548 Beatty, Jack, 186 “Because Wisdom Can’t Be Told” (Gragg), 397–98 Beitzel, George B., 154 Bellah, Robert, 275–76 Benjamin, Donnie, 535 Bennis, Warren, 159, 224 Berelson, Bernard, 221 Berkshire Hathaway, 211, 480 Berle, Adolf, 56, 93, 131–32, 244 Bernstein, Zalman, 129 Berolzheimer, Michael, 263 Bertarelli, Ernesto, 531 Bethlehem Steel Company, 32–34 Bevis, Howard L., 102 Bewkes, Jeff, 534 Bharara, Preet, 441 Bhatnagar, Sanjay, 514 Big Time, The (Shames), 168, 173, 324–25, 529 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 211 Bilzerian, Paul, 380 Birkinshaw, Julian, 226, 396–97, 539 Bishop, John, 215 Black, Leon, 531, 534 Blackstone Group, 76, 125, 394, 468, 470, 531 Blavatnik, Len, 531 Bloomberg, Michael, 456, 510–11, 530–31, 561–62, 563 Bloomingdale’s, 169, 171 Board of Directors of Small Corporations, The (Mace), 325 Boesky, Ivan F., 380, 431 Bogart, Humphrey, 183 Bok, Derek, 206, 334–41, 435, 567 Bok, Sissela, 337 Bollinger, Lynn, 326 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe), 453 Booth, David G., 533 Borden, Neil, 293 Boston Beer Company, 456, 477 Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 3, 207, 210, 417, 458, 460, 477, 507 Botlin, Ana Patricia, 241 Bower, Joseph, 413 Bower, Marvin, 105, 132, 142, 184, 199–212, 246, 254, 288, 289, 436, 458; Bok and, 337–40; case method and, 202–3, 206; Fellowship Program, 208–9; Matsushita Chair and, 205–6; McArthur and, 339–40 Bower-Gordon Award, 458 Bowes, Bill, 323 Bowling Alone (Putnam), 56 Bradshaw, Thornton, 105–6 Brandeis, Louis, 131 Breech, Ernest, 270 Breyer, Jim, 321 Broadway, Robert, 531 Brooker, Katrina, 480 Brooks, John, 289 Broughton, Philip Delves, 546, 552, 559, 568 Brown, Charles, 106 Brown, Theodore, 154 Browne, Jacqueline, 203 Brownstein, Howard, 507 “Brownsville Girl” (song), 397 “Buck Stops (and Starts) at Business School, The” (Podolny), 236, 439–40 Budgetary Control (McKinsey), 116 Buffett, Warren, 480, 482 Built to Last (Collins and Porras), 492 Bundy, McGeorge, 218 Bupp, Chip, 519 Bureau of Business Research (BBR), 38, 94–95 Burke, James, 169, 171, 525–29 Burnham, Elizabeth Abbott, 238 Burr, Francis H., 401 Bursk, Edward, 297 Bush, George H.

The Rough Guide to New York City
by Rough Guides
Published 21 May 2018

Harry’s Café & Steak 1 Hanover Square, at Pearl St 212 785 9200, harrysnyc.com; subway #2, #3 to Wall St; map. Housed in the basement of historic India House since 1972, and traditionally the haunt of Wall Street deal-makers. Order sandwiches ($17–28) or the lauded prime steaks (from $49) while soaking up the “Gilded Age” atmosphere, immortalized in novels such as Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities and Brett Easton Ellis’s American Psycho. The unlimited champagne brunch (Sat 11am–3pm) is a good deal (mains $18–46). Mon–Fri 11.30am–midnight (bar till 1am), Sat 11am–midnight (bar till 2am). The Paris Café 119 South St 212 240 9797, pariscafenyc.com; subway A, C, J, Z, #2, #3, #4, #5 to Fulton St; map.

…

See also Wharton’s astounding House of Mirth and her classic stories Old New York. Don Winslow The Force. A master of gritty detective storytelling leavened with ample wit, Winslow tackles race, police tactics and the brotherhood of the badge in this modern epic, largely set on the streets of Harlem. Tom Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities. Set all around New York City, this sprawling novel skewers 1980s status-mongers to great effect. < Back to Contexts New York on film With its skyline and rugged facades, its mean streets and swanky avenues, its electric energy and edgy attitude, New York City is a natural-born movie star; indeed, it’s probably been the most filmed city on Earth, home to noir, gangster flicks, sappy romances and low-budget indie movies in equal measure.

The Road to Ruin: The Global Elites' Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis
by James Rickards
Published 15 Nov 2016

When the weather was nice, Meriwether and his partners were as likely to be on the links at nearby Winged Foot Country Club as on the trading floor. There was no reason not to golf; the computers were in control. JM’s public persona was the bold, brash, Wall Street “master of the universe,” as portrayed in two iconic books, Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel, Bonfire of the Vanities, and Michael Lewis’s 1989 comic memoir, Liar’s Poker. Wolfe told the story of larger-than-life bond trader Sherman McCoy, who held a position similar to Meriwether’s at Salomon Brothers. The comparison was impossible to miss. Lewis told a real-life anecdote about a million-dollar bet made on the Salomon trading floor between Meriwether and Gutfreund on a single liar’s poker hand, a legend that dogged JM.

The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz
by Aaron Swartz and Lawrence Lessig
Published 5 Jan 2016

Ware’s method is to publish a page each week or so in a weekly paper (the Sunday New York Times, the Chicago Reader), then redraw the entire chapter and send it out as an edition of the Novelty Library, then redraw it a third time when the entire book is published. So this is a way of getting intermediate results, but you could just wait for the final books themselves (if they are ever finished). Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe Absolutely fantastic. A rare must-read novel—packed full of information about society, journalism, activism, race, etc. I can’t convey just how good it really is. It’s like The Power Broker of fiction. How to Win Friends and Influence People (reread) by Dale Carnegie There’s a reason this is a classic.

The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World
by Alexander Roy
Published 13 Oct 2008

A trio of mustached Moroccan police—all in pressed royal-blue uniforms, double-breasted jackets, light blue shirts, black ties, shiny boots, bright white belts, shoulder straps, and hats—enthusiastically waved us on. I was driving 74 mph in a densely populated urban area. Legally. We were moving up the grid. Kinsley leaned right in her seat. “Traffic circle ahead!” 77 “Keep those warnings coming! We don’t need a North African Bonfire of the Vanities!” HIGHWAY P24 APPROXIMATELY 100 MILES NORTHEAST OF MARRAKECH LATE MORNING The convoy’s tight columns uncoiled, lunging and fighting two and sometimes three cars abreast—one column against thankfully infrequent oncoming traffic, forcing locals onto the left shoulder, the other onto the right shoulder when debris didn’t force quick reentry into the one legal lane.

Trillion Dollar Triage: How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled a President and a Pandemic---And Prevented Economic Disaster
by Nick Timiraos
Published 1 Mar 2022

“We chose the first option, without dissent,” Powell said.1 Upping the ante A few months later, Powell again wrestled with the problem of what to do with a financial institution on the verge of insolvency—this time, with greater stakes. Salomon Brothers had dominated 1980s Wall Street, both financially—the investment bank was consistently one of the most profitable firms—and culturally. It was the fictional backdrop for The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe’s 1987 satire of an ambitious bond salesman, as well as the actual setting for Michael Lewis’s 1989 Liar’s Poker, a searing critique of testosterone-driven trading culture. But by 1991, as the Wall Street party was quickly turning into a hangover, the all-powerful Salomon Brothers had hit a wall.

The Bonfire of the Vanities
by Tom Wolfe
Published 4 Mar 2008

Additional Praise for The Bonfire Of The Vanities “Brilliant—Bonfire illumines the modern madness that [was] New York in the 1980s with the intense precision of a laser beam.” —People “Impossible to put down.” —The Wall Street Journal “Marvelous.” —Business Week “It’s The Human Comedy, on a skyscraper scale and at a taxi-meter pace.” —Newsweek “Vintage Wolfe…The plot is an astonishing intricate machine that manages to mesh at every turn.” —The New York Times “It’s a monstrous pleasure to watch this world burn…. Wolfe’s conflagration sweeps away New York in a great tragicomic circus….

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Also by Tom Wolfe The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby The Pump House Gang The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers The Painted Word Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine The Right Stuff In Our Time From Bauhaus to Our House A Man in Full Hooking Up I Am Charlotte Simmons © 2004 by Mark Seliger Tom Wolfe is the author of a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and I Am Charlotte Simmons. He lives in New York City. THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. Copyright © 1987 by Tom Wolfe. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Picador, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America
by David Callahan
Published 9 Aug 2010

If you run a hedge fund, a tech company, or a law firm, you depend on talent that increasingly comes in all colors from all backgrounds and countries. Forty years ago, nearly three-quarters of the graduates of engineering and science doctoral programs were U.S.-born white males; now only a third are.12 The quants on Wall Street look nothing like Sherman McCoy, the pedigreed WASP protagonist of The Bonfire of the Vanities. And, increasingly, the highly educated engineers and computer scientists working in Silicon Valley look nothing like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. They are as likely to be from Madras as Massachusetts. The same trend is evident in law. In 2009, the graduating class of Harvard Law School was a quarter nonwhite, and if you were to meet all of the first-year associates at a top firm like Cravath, Moore, you’d see a snapshot of a professional upper class in rapid demographic transition.

The Quants
by Scott Patterson
Published 2 Feb 2010

In December 1987, audiences in movie theaters listened to Gordon Gekko, the slimy takeover artist played by Michael Douglas, proclaim the mantra for the decade in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: “Greed is good.” A series of popular books reflecting the anti–Wall Street sentiment hit the presses: Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, Barbarians at the Gate by Wall Street Journal reporters Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, The Predators’ Ball by Connie Bruck, Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. The quants were licking their wounds. Their wondrous invention, portfolio insurance, was roundly blamed for the meltdown.

A Demon of Our Own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation
by Richard Bookstaber
Published 5 Apr 2007

First, unlike the U.S. government, corporations can go into default, which means credit risk is added as a consideration to yield curve dynamics. Second, there is far more liquidity risk. There are many more corporate bonds than Treasury bonds, and most corporate bonds only traded by appointment. This led, true to the caricature in Tom Wolfe’s novel Bonfire of the Vanities, to bond salesmen whose principal expertise was knowing who owned what bonds (the principal value of having done the bond underwriting) and passing these bonds from one hand to the other for a spread. Sell $100 million of bonds at a quarter-point spread, and the firm would pocket $250,000 for making a few phone calls.

Philanthrocapitalism
by Matthew Bishop , Michael Green and Bill Clinton
Published 29 Sep 2008

A century ago, economist Thorstein Veblen argued that the wealthy used conspicuous consumption to establish their social status; does philanthropy take that to the next level, as conspicuous nonconsumption? “Wealthy donors were generally more focused on their peers, rather than those outside their class, as the audience for their philanthropy,” concludes Ostrower in her study of philanthropists. Tom Wolfe, author of The Bonfire of the Vanities, apparently agrees and derides much of the philanthropy of the new hedge fund tycoons as ego driven. In a savage piece in Portfolio magazine in 2007, Wolfe reveled (among other things) in the difficulty that the hedge funders were having buying their way onto the boards of the citadels of old New York philanthropy.

Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear
by Dr. Frank Luntz
Published 2 Jan 2007

When you read, you translate the black-and-white symbols on the page into vivid, Technicolor pictures in your mind—but everybody’s mental pictures are different. This makes each reader a collaborator with the author in the creation of his or her own entertainment. Film, for all its wonders, is an infinitely more passive medium for just this reason—and it undermines rather than enhances imagination. Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities is one of the most read and applauded novels about business and greed ever written because of its visionary and descriptive prose, but the movie was a bust. Even good films suffer in comparison to what we imagine from the pages of a book. The Natural is considered by many to be one of the best baseball films of all time—but those same people will assert that the book was better.

The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, Capote, and the New Journalism Revolution
by Marc Weingarten
Published 12 Dec 2006

Boynton, interviewed the authors of these and other recent nonfiction classics for a 2005 book called The New New Journalism. With the exception of Jimmy Breslin, who continued to write a weekly column until retiring from newspaper work in November 2004, New Journalism’s greatest practitioners moved on to other pursuits. Tom Wolfe virtually gave up journalism to devote himself to novels such as The Bonfire of the Vanities and I Am Charlotte Simmons. Michael Herr has published only three smallish titles in the years since Dispatches. Since publishing Thy Neighbor’s Wife, his 1980 book about sexual mores in America, Gay Talese has written only one other book (Unto the Sons, a multigenerational saga of his own family) and has spent ten years working on the next one.

Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer-And Turned Its Back on the Middle Class
by Paul Pierson and Jacob S. Hacker
Published 14 Sep 2010

Even more important, they pushed for an energized and cohesive party dedicated to a radical restructuring of government’s role to unleash the winner-take-all economy. The baby steps of the 1980s were ready to give way to something more ambitious. Chapter 8 Building a Bridge to the Nineteenth Century By all accounts, the 1980s was a great time to be rich. As chronicled in pop-culture movies like The Bonfire of the Vanities and Wall Street, it was a moment when capitalism’s winners took center stage. And as they did so, they revealed the contours of a new capitalism. Deal-makers and financial gamblers were supplanting captains of industry as the biggest winners of all. But the 1980s was just a warm-up act. The staggering paychecks that generated such wonder and bewilderment would have been dismissed a few years later as decidedly second-rate.

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
by Niall Ferguson
Published 13 Nov 2007

To keep the firm afloat, Lorenzo was driven to raid the municipal Monte delle Dote (a kind of mutual fund for the payment of daughters’ dowries).38 Finally, in 1494, amid the chaos of a French invasion, the family was expelled and all its property confiscated and liquidated. Blaming the Medici for the town’s misfortunes, the Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola called for a purgative ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’, a call answered when a mob invaded the Medici palace and burned most of the bank’s records. (Black scorch marks are still visible on the papers that survived.) As Lorenzo himself had put it in a song he composed in the 1470s: ‘If you would be happy, be so. / There is no certainty about tomorrow.’

Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street
by Peter L. Bernstein
Published 19 Jun 2005

The Brady report explained this tragedy by denouncing “mechanical, price-insensitive selling . . . concentrated in the hands of surprisingly few institutions” and proposed a series of constraints to bring the market’s penchant for wildness under control. The popular literature about the world of investment in the 1980s carries titles that reflect those events: Bonfire of the Vanities, Barbarians at the Gates, The Predators’ Ball, and Liars’ Poker. The main characters are arrogant, greedy, cynical, and shady. At one point or another in their careers, they grow rich beyond the dreams of most of us—largely because they have profited from the new technologies, novel financial instruments, and mysterious investment strategies that emerged from the revolution in finance and investing.

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
by Tom Wolfe
Published 1 Jan 1968

Of the many other people I talked to or corresponded with, I particularly want to mention Vic Lovell, Paul Sawyer, Paul Krassner, Pat Hallinan, Brian Rohan, Paul Robertson, Jerry Garcia, Gary Goldhill, Michael Bowen, Anne Severson, Paul Hawken, Bill Tara, Michael Laton, Jack the Fluke, Bill Graham, John Bartholomew Tucker, Roger Grimsby, Marshall Efron, Robin White, Larry McMurtry, Larry Schiller, Donovan Bess, Carl Lehmann-Haupt, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kesey. About the Author TOM WOLFE is the author of a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and A Man in Full. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he earned his B.A. at Washington and Lee University and a Ph.D. in American studies at Yale. He lives in New York City.

King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone
by David Carey
Published 7 Feb 2012

It was Schwarzman’s sixtieth birthday party on February 13 that elevated him from being one more Wall Street bigwig to a symbol. It transformed him into a cliché for the age and a punching bag. The scale of the bash stunned even jaded Wall Streeters, and to the man in the street the extravagance reinforced every negative stereotype of financiers. It was the reality version of Bonfire of the Vanities, and the press had a field day, for the event encapsulated the power and wealth of private equity and of the small band of men who controlled its biggest firms. The potential political fallout from the party worried Henry Silverman, the ex-Blackstone partner who had left to run Cendant. He says he bluntly asked Schwarzman, “Why would you do this?”

How I Became a Quant: Insights From 25 of Wall Street's Elite
by Richard R. Lindsey and Barry Schachter
Published 30 Jun 2007

Gordon: Finance, Investment and Macroeconomics: The Neoclassical and a Post Keynesian Solution (London: Edward Elgar, 1994). 4. “You see, Daddy didn’t bake the cake, and Daddy isn’t the one who gets to eat it. But he gets to slice the cake and hand it out. And when he does, little golden crumbs fall off the cake. And Daddy gets to eat those.” This extract from Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities captures the essence of a lot of investment finance. We slice up raw financial returns and create return distributions that suit people’s portfolios. Thus, for example, a collection of bonds is analogous to a side of beef, the senior tranches of a CDO are like steak, and the junior tranches are like sausages, all priced accordingly with something left over for us.

The Cleaner: The True Story of One of the World's Most Successful Money Launderers
by Bruce Aitken
Published 2 Mar 2017

This was the exact moment that Cowboy was savoring to repeat, yet again, in front of all to hear. “Oh, by the way,” he said casually while all the others laughed, “Did I tell you? I may have forgotten. I have some more good news for you. You just got indicted in Seattle!” It was true; a “Sealed Indictment.” I replied that years earlier I had read a book called Bonfire of the Vanities, where it pointed out that a grand jury in the USA could indict a ham sandwich. I said, “Now I know what a ham sandwich feels like.” It went over their heads. A rogue prosecution, a rogue system of justice, a rogue government! It was close to noon when we arrived downtown at what I was told was the Federal Building; I had a sinking feeling as we drove into the underground car park.

God Is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Is Changing the World
by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
Published 31 Mar 2009

John Rawls, Harvard’s leading political philosopher, argued that people should set aside their religious views before they could participate in the public square.2 Religion was even out of favor in schools of religion: a report by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1976 found that fewer than half of the graduates of the country’s top five divinity schools—Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Vanderbilt and New York’s Union Theological Seminary—went on to work for the church or engage in further study of religion, down from four-fifths a couple of decades earlier.3 In 1988, fresh from his triumph with The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe told students at Harvard, not entirely happily, that they lived in an era of “freedom from religion.”4 Now God is returning to intellectual life. The revival was supercharged by September 11. After the terrorist attacks large numbers of what David Brooks of The New York Times has diagnosed as “recovering secularists”5 went back to church, and religious courses in universities swelled dramatically.

The Price of Silence: The Duke Lacrosse Scandal
by William D. Cohan
Published 8 Apr 2014

Meadows and Thomas then described the facts of the case, as found in Gottlieb’s affidavit, and how Nifong “publicly criticized” the players for failing to testify about the alleged rape. “There is, however, possibly a different side to the story—a chapter from another Tom Wolfe novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, a tale of a prosecutor exploiting racial tensions with a trumped-up charge.” Newsweek quoted Joe Cheshire, who said Nifong had “unfairly tried the players in the media” as part of his reelection strategy, since one of his principal opponents was a woman. “The real story,” Cheshire said, “is how he pandered to the public to stir up race and class division.”

…

INDEX Abbot, Edward, 366 ABC World News, 265 Abrams, Dan, 133, 172, 205, 230, 284–86, 307, 334–35 evidence leaked to, 372–73, 393 Finnerty’s parents’ interview on Today show with, 381–82 photos of Mangum and, 443 Abrams, Floyd, 133 Abrams, Taiesha, 219 Adams, Brittany, 451 Addison, David, 99, 102, 106 Adkins, Mary, 163 Agarwal, Aaina, 267 AIG insurance company, 569 alcohol and college students, 40–59 beer companies’ promoting of, 55, 147 binge drinking, 46, 148–49 Duke CCI recommendations, 492–94 Duke “work hard, play hard,” culture, 144, 145, 146, 150, 188, 321, 327, 340–41, 355–60, 596 Duke social life and, 45, 46, 144, 145, 146–51, 355–60, 491, 595–97 Duke students’ alcohol-related deaths, 43–44 Duke students’ alcohol-related hospital emergency room visits, 41–42, 149 epidemic of alcohol-driven crimes and scandals, 607–12 fraternities and, 14, 40–59, 147, 148–49, 608 keg parties, 41, 42, 48–49, 144, 148, 149 “kiddie pool/baby oil party,” 50–51 misdemeanor charges against Duke lacrosse players and, 127, 303, 319–20, 346, 380, 385, 386 party and rape allegation of March 13, alcohol involvement, 13–14, 15, 16, 18, 25–26, 29, 39 raising of legal drinking age and, 41 rape or sexual assaults related to, 609–12 “rowdy freshmen,” 607 Selena Roberts’s columns in the Times and, 247–48 student deaths related to alcohol, 608 underage drinking as problem, 41, 46, 49, 52–53, 55–56, 108, 131–32, 149 University of Virginia murder and, 528 Alcohol Law Enforcement agency of North Carolina, 53 Alexander, Sharon, 479, 563 Allen, Paul, 3 Alleva, Joe, Duke University athletic director, xii, 239, 477 Bowen report and, 317 calls for resignation of, 248 critics of, 274, 276, 321, 546 Danowski hiring and, 389 denial of rape allegation made to by players, 98, 106 future of, 289 informed of rape allegations, 36 initial responses to rape allegation, 80, 103 Keating Crown e-mail and, 290 Krzyzewski and, 1, 3–4, 6, 7–8, 9, 217, 374, 546 lacrosse games canceled, 128, 129 lacrosse program and, 289 lacrosse season cancelation and, 202–3, 206 lacrosse team responsibility and, 318 leaves Duke, 540 makes amends with Pressler, 349 media and, 80 meeting for athletes (September 11, 2007), 399–400 meeting with lacrosse cocaptains about March 13 events, 98 negative media and, 202–3 performance review of, 539–40 press conference (March 28), 129–33 press conference to announce lacrosse team reinstated (June 5), 348 press conference to introduce new lacrosse interim coach (June 6), 349–50 Pressler firing and, 204, 206–8, 210, 370 Allison, Anne, 483 All of the Above (play), 163 Allure Agency, 15, 23 Altmon, Angel, 28 account of events of March 13–14 by, 422–23, 443 911 call from Kroger parking lot and, 23, 128–29 American Journalism Review, 80 American Psycho (movie), 22, 115, 206 Amherst College, 609–10 Ammons, James, 138, 214, 257, 268, 275 Andersen, Kurt, 401–3, 408 Anderson, Derek, 13 Anderson, Mark, 370 Anderson, Pete, 231–32 Anderson, Scott, 528 Anderson, William L., 409 Angels Escort Service, 61, 71, 227, 228 Annapolis, US Naval Academy at, 609 Applebome, Peter, 385 Araton, Harvey, 343–44 Archer, Breck (lacrosse player), 589 Arenson, Karen, 218–20 Arico, Theresa, 180–81 Aroon, Preeti, 277 Ashby, Angela, 120, 496–97 Ashley, Bob, 187 Associated Press, 279–80, 288, 380–81, 454 Association for Truth and Fairness, 484 Auerbach, Red, 3, 6 Aus, Brian, 314–15 Austin, Joan, 42, 43 Bachman, Glen, 206, 211–12, 592 Baden, Joe, 287 Baker, Houston, xii, 322 “Awaiting the Restoration of Confidence” letter, 167–70 critics of, 340, 352–53 Fox News and, 495 Group of 88 and, 222, 223 as leader of faculty, 166–67 Baker, Patrick, 319, 581 Baldwin, Steven, 478, 482 Baltimore Sun, 498 Banks, Brandon, 609 Bannon, Bradley, xii, 320, 334, 393, 411, 560 DNA evidence and questioning of Meehan, 432–34 motion for Nifong to pay legal fees, 567, 571 Nifong’s contempt trial and, 572 state bar proceedings and trial against Nifong and, 439, 551–52 Barber, Reverend William J., III, 138, 218, 268 Barfield, William, xi, 25 Barstow, David, 445, 452 Bass, Perry, 156–57 Bassett, John Spencer, 236–37 Batey, Cory, 609 Bath, Raheem, 43–44 Bayly, John H., Jr., 383, 384 Beale, Sara, 160–61 Belk, Bonnie, 183 Bell, Bill, mayor of Durham, 110, 138, 177–78, 214, 244, 245, 256, 257, 473, 581, 583 Bennett, John, 238 Bennett, Robert, 249, 355 Benson, Grace, 597 Best, Jeffrey O., 28–29 Beta House fraternity, 611 Beusse, Edwin, 427 Bilas, Jay, 408, 587–88 Birnbach, Lisa, 144 Bishop, Keith, 195, 251, 252, 253, 283, 372 Bissey, Jason, 13, 20, 23, 60 Bissinger, Buzz, 11, 360–62 Black, Freda, 81, 195, 251–52, 282, 372, 523, 556–57, 559 Black Majority (Wood), 141 Black Student Alliance, 408 Blair, Jayson, 394, 403 Bland, Rayone, 186 Bliwise, Robert, 40, 42, 321 Bloom, Harold, 151 Bloxsom, Jeffrey O., 199–200, 280, 284, 302–3, 355, 383 Blue, Dan, 348 Boehmler, William Blake, 122 Bonfire of the Vanities (Wolfe), 239 Boomer Esiason Foundation, 602 Boone, Wanda, 337 Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm, 159 Bordley, Rob, 275–76, 366 Bork, Bob, Jr., 590 Bostock, Roy, 214 Boston Celtics, 3 Botnick, Marvin, 288 Bowen, William, 214, 219 report of, 317–18, 340, 376, 387 Boyd, Mark, 48 Boyer, Peter, 143, 161, 397–99 Bradley, Ed, 403–4, 410, 437, 474 Brammell, Shirika, 244 Brawley, Tawana, 258, 259, 273, 281 Breaux, Kevin, 51 Brenhouse, Shawn, 219 Breschi, Joe, 210 Brewer, Beth, 425 civil affidavit against Nifong, 485–86, 548 Brocker, Douglas, 479, 540, 556–57, 558 Broder, Dr.

Post Wall: Rebuilding the World After 1989
by Kristina Spohr
Published 23 Sep 2019

Both From Indifference pp. 131–2 Hella Pick ‘Early Recognition “Is Unstoppable”’ Guardian 5.12.1991 Back to text 152. Serge Schmemann ‘Declaring Death of Soviet Union, Russia and 2 Republics Form New Commonwealth’ NYT 9.12.1991; Celestine Bohlen ‘The Union is Buried: What’s Being Born?’ NYT 9.12.1991. See also David C. Gompert ‘Bonfire of the Vanities: An American Insider’s Take on the Collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia’ in Hamilton & Spohr (eds) Exiting the Cold War, Entering a New World Back to text 153. Glaurdic The Hour pp. 259–60 Back to text 154. Kohl Erinnerungen 1990–1994 pp. 385–90; Favier & Martin-Roland La Décennie Mitterrand iv pp. 227–33.

…

. – US National Security Interests in Europe Beyond the NATO Area 7.2.1992; NATO and the East: Key issues (Secret) 7pp. (undated [early 1992] – no author). See also Daniel Hamilton & Kristina Spohr (eds) Open Door: NATO and Euro-Atlantic Security after the Cold War Brookings Institution Press 2019 pp. viii–xx; Gompert ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ Back to text 248. Cf. Piers Robinson The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, Foreign Policy and Intervention Routledge 2002; idem ‘The CNN Effect: Can the News Media Drive Foreign Policy?’ Review of International Studies 25, 2 (April 1999) pp. 301–9; Jonathan Mermin ‘Myth of Media-Driven Foreign Policy’ Political Science Quarterly 112, 3 (autumn 1997) pp. 385–403; Steven Livingston & Todd Eachus ‘Humanitarian Crises and US Foreign Policy: Somalia and the CNN Effect Reconsidered’ Political Communication 12, 4 (1995) pp. 413–29; Bernard C.

Capitalism in America: A History
by Adrian Wooldridge and Alan Greenspan
Published 15 Oct 2018

Much discussed though they were at the time, however, these exceptions did little to change the character of the era. THE FINANCIAL REVOLUTION Ronald Reagan inaugurated the most exuberant era on Wall Street since the 1920s. Financiers became national celebrities. Investment banks sucked in the country’s jeunesse dorée with a promise of instant riches and a glamorous life. Books such as The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) by Tom Wolfe and Liar’s Poker (1989) by Michael Lewis, as well as films such as Oliver Stone’s Wall Street (1987), glamorized life on the Street even as they pretended to demonize it. A tidal wave of money poured into various financial instruments as the economy expanded and people entrusted their retirement savings to the market.

Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson
by Corey Seymour , Johnny Depp and Jann S. Wenner
Published 31 Oct 2007

TEX WEAVER was a Woody Creek neighbor of Hunter’s. JANE WENNER is the wife of Jann Wenner and a vice president of Wenner Media. JANN WENNER is the founder, editor, and publisher of Rolling Stone. JOHN WILBUR is a former guard for the Washington Redskins. TOM WOLFE is the author of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, and Bonfire of the Vanities, among many other titles. BARNEY WYCOFF is an Aspen gallery owner. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Fifteen years ago, Jann charged me with being Hunter’s aide-de-camp in New York. Two and a half years ago, he directed me to compile Hunter’s life story. I’m grateful to him for the opportunity, direction, leadership, advice, wisdom, and the many good times along the way.

Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History
by Kurt Andersen
Published 14 Sep 2020

Fuck You, that’s my name.”*1 He’s like a hellish noncommissioned officer to Gekko’s gleefully demonic general in the U.S. capitalist legion as it was then being reconstituted. In 1987 as well, some Wall Street guys started referring to themselves as Masters of the Universe, thanks to The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe’s novel inspired, as he said, by “the ambitious young men (there were no women) who, starting with the 1980s, began racking up millions every year—millions!—in performance bonuses at investment banks.” * * * — Suddenly in the 1980s the news media were also celebrating and glorifying real-life big businessmen as they hadn’t since the 1950s and early ’60s—in fact, as they really hadn’t since the 1910s and ’20s.

The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World
by David Deutsch
Published 30 Jun 2011

The Jews of Florence were expelled. Gangs of ruffians inspired by Savonarola roamed the city searching for taboo artefacts such as mirrors, cosmetics, musical instruments, secular books, and almost anything beautiful. A huge pile of such treasures was ceremonially burned in the so-called ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ in the centre of the city. Botticelli is said to have thrown some of his own paintings into the fire. It was the bonfire of optimism. Eventually Savonarola was himself discarded and burned at the stake. But, although the Medici regained control of Florence, optimism did not. As in Athens, the tradition of art and science continued for a while, and, even a century later, Galileo was sponsored (and then abandoned) by the Medici.

Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, Sixth Edition
by Kindleberger, Charles P. and Robert Z., Aliber
Published 9 Aug 2011

Milken and his family became billionaires and he probably remained one even after paying a fine or penalty of $550 million and spending thirty months in a federal ‘country club’ (minimum-security prison). Fact and fiction about junk bonds Corporate takeovers and junk bonds led to an interesting literature. Consider the titles of both the fiction and the non-fiction. Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities is a remarkable description of the values of New York’s financial elite. Predator’s Ball by Connie Bruck is a description of an annual party for the buyers and sellers of junk bonds. Barbarians at the Gate is a tale about the would-be takeover of RJR Nabisco; it is hard to decide whether the would-be acquirers or the target was less attractive.

Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art
by Michael Shnayerson
Published 20 May 2019

Often, the same artist’s work popped up in one client’s home after another. “All of my clients have a Christopher Wool,” Schiff acknowledged. “But I am very happy about that overlap.”35 For this new breed of art advisor, Art Basel Miami Beach was the market’s new epicenter, starting in December 2002. “That was the real bonfire of the vanities,” Schiff noted. “Suddenly there was this excitement about contemporary art. I was quite young, so I wasn’t on top of what was happening at auctions.” But in Miami, Schiff didn’t need to be. The game was in hearing who bought what in the opening minutes of Art Basel Miami Beach, and then snapping up those same artists before everyone else did.

More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite
by Sebastian Mallaby
Published 9 Jun 2010

By 1990 Meriwether’s team included Robert Merton and Myron Scholes, who would later win the Nobel Prize for their pioneering work on options pricing. In the mid-1980s, most Salomon partners had not gone to college, much less a PhD program.4 The personification of the firm’s trading culture was Craig Coats Jr., a tall, handsome, charismatic stud believed by many to be the model for the hero in Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities. Coats ran Salomon’s government-bond trading the old-fashioned way: While Meriwether’s professors debated whether the relationship between two bonds was out of its normal range, or whether the volatility of a bond price was likely to decelerate, Coats’s main tool was a firm belief in his own instincts.

Debunking Economics - Revised, Expanded and Integrated Edition: The Naked Emperor Dethroned?
by Steve Keen
Published 21 Sep 2011

From tranquility to breakdown To a neoclassical economist, the most striking aspect of the Great Recession was the speed with which apparent tranquility gave way to sudden breakdown. With notable, noble exceptions like Nouriel Roubini, Robert Shiller, Joe Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, economists paid little attention to the obvious Bonfire of the Vanities taking place in asset markets, so in a sense they didn’t see the warning signs, which were obvious to many others, that this would all end in tears. My model, in contrast, is one in which the Great Moderation and the Great Recession are merely different phases in the same process of debt-financed speculation, which causes a period of initial volatility to give way to damped oscillations as rising debt transfers income from workers to bankers, and then total breakdown occurs when debt reaches a level at which capitalists become insolvent.

Pauline Frommer's London: Spend Less, See More
by Jason Cochran
Published 5 Feb 2007

The faces of its subjects verge on bemusement, and the dove, representing the Holy Spirit, seems to fly into viewers’ faces. 09_308691-ch05.qxp 146 u 12/23/08 Chapter 5 9:17 PM Page 146 Why You’re Here: The Sights of London In his later years, Sandro Botticelli fell under the spell of the hardline reformer Savonarola. He burned many of his finest paintings in the Bonfire of the Vanities and changed to an inferior style, so his best works are rare; Venus and Mars (1485, room 58), depicting the lovers reclining, is one of them, and it’s in a room full of others. The Main Building The Gallery has four Michelangelos. The Entombment (around 1500, room 8) is unfinished but one of the most powerful.

The Eternal City: A History of Rome
by Ferdinand Addis
Published 6 Nov 2018

Michelangelo took religion seriously, and had admired and respected Savonarola, but revolutionary Florence was no place for a young artist, especially not one who had been so close to the Medici. Savonarola’s followers, the so-called ‘weepers’, or piagnoni, controlled the city. In the new purified republic there was to be no room for frivolous aestheticism and pagan dalliances. Savonarola held ceremonial ‘bonfires of the vanities’, on which were incinerated great piles of profane literature and art. In 1496, after two unsettled years spent between Florence, Venice and Bologna, the twenty-one-year-old Michelangelo set off for a city where artists were in ever greater demand: Rome. Michelangelo first attracted the attention of Roman connoisseurs by his mastery of the techniques of ancient art.

The Rough Guide to New York City
by Martin Dunford
Published 2 Jan 2009

A withering, deftly drawn picture of New York high society at the turn of the twentieth century and how rigid social convention keeps two sensitive, ill-fated lovers apart. See also Wharton’s astounding House of Mirth and her classic stories Old New York. Paul Rudnick Social Disease. Hilarious, often incredible send-up of Manhattan night-owls. Very New York, very funny. Tom Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities. Set all around New York City, this sprawling novel skewers 1980s statusmongers to great effect. 445 New York on film ith its skyline and rugged facades, its mean streets and swanky avenues, its electric energy and edgy attitude, New York City is a natural-born movie star. From the silent era’s cautionary tales of young lovers ground down by the metropolis, through the smoky location-shot noirs of the 1940s, right through to the Lower East Side indies of the past twenty years, New York has probably been the most filmed city on earth.

Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency
by James Andrew Miller
Published 8 Aug 2016

GLENN GORDON CARON, Writer and Director: I came out to California in ’79 and my agent was Elliot Webb, who at that time was at ICM. I’d always been with Elliot and felt this tremendous sense of loyalty to him. ELLIOT WEBB: Terry Semel was close to Ovitz at that time and approved Glenn to write Bonfire of the Vanities, but Glenn wanted to write it and direct it. That started off a whirlwind romance with CAA because Ovitz had that information and he used it to his best advantage. Glenn was making a leap into motion pictures and I was pretty much in the television business. He wrote and was directing the Michael Keaton movie Clean and Sober.

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
by Steven Pinker
Published 13 Feb 2018

As I mentioned in chapter 2, the human moral sense is not particularly moral; it encourages dehumanization (“politicians are pigs”) and punitive aggression (“make the polluters pay”). Also, by conflating profligacy with evil and asceticism with virtue, the moral sense can sanctify pointless displays of sacrifice.58 In many cultures people flaunt their righteousness with vows of fasting, chastity, self-abnegation, bonfires of the vanities, and animal (or sometimes human) sacrifice. Even in modern societies—according to studies I’ve done with the psychologists Jason Nemirow, Max Krasnow, and Rhea Howard—people esteem others according to how much time or money they forfeit in their altruistic acts rather than by how much good they accomplish.59 Much of the public chatter about mitigating climate change involves voluntary sacrifices like recycling, reducing food miles, unplugging chargers, and so on.

Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany 2017
by Rick Steves
Published 8 Nov 2016

While the monk/painter was trained in the medieval religious style, he also learned and adopted Renaissance techniques and sensibilities, producing works that blended Christian symbols and Renaissance realism. Don’t miss the cell of Savonarola, the charismatic monk who rode in from the Christian right, threw out the Medici, turned Florence into a theocracy, sponsored “bonfires of the vanities” (burning books, paintings, and so on), and was finally burned himself when Florence decided to change channels. Cost and Hours: €4, free and crowded on first Sun of the month, covered by Firenze Card, Tue-Fri 8:15-13:50, Sat 8:15-16:50; also open 8:15-13:50 on first, third, and fifth Mon and 8:15-16:50 on second and fourth Sun of each month; reservations possible but unnecessary, on Piazza San Marco, tel. 055-238-8608.

New York
by Edward Rutherfurd
Published 10 Nov 2009

The market and all the service industries, including the law firms, that went with it. In ’84, the market had experienced its first million share trading day. Traders, brokers, anyone dealing in shares or bonds had the opportunity to make a fortune. It was all beautifully summarized in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, which had just hit the best-seller lists as Maggie’s pregnancy began. Greed was everywhere. Greed was exciting. Successful greedy men were heroes. Greed was good. But Gorham had to ask himself: Had he been greedy enough? Sometimes, sitting in his office, he’d take out the silver Morgan dollar his grandmother had given him and stare at it sadly.

Power at Ground Zero: Politics, Money, and the Remaking of Lower Manhattan
by Lynne B. Sagalyn
Published 8 Sep 2016

Childs came with one of his SOM partners and John “Janno” Lieber, Silverstein executive in charge of the Trade Center project. Libeskind came with his lawyer, Edward W. Hayes, a hard-charging incisive veteran of political battles, who was a model for the lawyer Tommy Killian in Tom Wolfe’s novel The Bonfire of the Vanities. Hayes understood the dynamic of power after being around the city’s development battles for thirty-five years. His job, he said, was to lead Libeskind “though the jungles of New York without getting ambushed and eaten alive.” On what was ahead, he was razor-sharp: “There are people that reach positions of power, and as far as they’re concerned, we’re just players on a chessboard.

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
by Steven Pinker
Published 24 Sep 2012

Urbanites quit other American cities in droves, leaving burned-out cores surrounded by rings of suburbs, exurbs, and gated communities. Books, movies, and television series used intractable urban violence as their backdrop, including Little Murders, Taxi Driver, The Warriors, Escape from New York, Fort Apache the Bronx, Hill Street Blues, and Bonfire of the Vanities. Women enrolled in self-defense courses to learn how to walk with a defiant gait, to use their keys, pencils, and spike heels as weapons, and to execute karate chops or jujitsu throws to overpower an attacker, role-played by a volunteer in a Michelinman-tire suit. Red-bereted Guardian Angels patrolled the parks and the transit system, and in 1984 Bernhard Goetz, a mild-mannered engineer, became a folk hero for shooting four young muggers in a New York subway car.

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
by Alice Schroeder
Published 1 Sep 2008

In New York, their righteously indignant neighbors sued them when an allegedly unauthorized crane appeared on their penthouse terrace to hoist a twenty-two-foot, five-hundred-pound Christmas tree into the Gutfreunds’ living room.68 Thus did Susan Gutfreund become 1980s Nouvelle Society’s most beloved object of parody. The Gutfreunds graced magazine covers and Susan earned a role in Tom Wolfe’s roman à clef, The Bonfire of the Vanities.69 Susan’s friends defended her, but however overdone the satire might be, nobody, not even her husband, questioned that this outpouring of opulence had diverted his attention, at least a little bit.70 A corporate history published around this time included a telling remark. Instead of making a decision and expecting others to follow, it said Gutfreund “liked to involve the people who would be affected” and “would bend over backward to make them comfortable with what was to be done.”

Italy
by Damien Simonis
Published 31 Jul 2010

His bloodcurdling warnings of horrors to come if Florentines did not renounce their evil ways somehow captured everyone’s imagination and the city now submitted to a fiery theocracy. He called on the government to act on the basis of his divine inspiration. Drinking, whoring, partying, gambling, wearing flashy clothes and other signs of wrongdoing were pushed well underground. Books, clothes, jewellery, fancy furnishings and art were burned on ‘bonfires of the vanities’. Bands of children marched around the city ferreting out adults still attached to their old habits and possessions. Pleasure-loving Florentines soon began to tire of this fundamentalism, as did Pope Alexander VI (possibly the least religiously inclined pope of all time) and the rival Franciscan religious order.