Puzzles of Finance: Six Practical Problems and Their Remarkable Solutions

*Puzzles of Finance* has attracted a rather ecclectic group of reviews. I won't repeat what others have wrote and the book's own descriptions in my own review. I will, however, briefly discuss why I am giving it 5 stars.As someone who is interested in mathematics for the sake of mathematics rather than for purely pecuniary purposes, it bothers me that many finance books treat the required level of mathematics in everything ranging from simple discounting formulae all the way up to stochastic differential equations in a cookbook manner. What I mean by that is that almost all of the books out there in finance that has some legitimate math component in it (I leave out pop investing books that are akin to vodoo) ignore both the logic and mathematical 'beauty' underlying the math of finance. Even Springer-Verlag-style books on advanced financial engineering / econophysics / whatever-you-want-to-call-it often commit these sins.Mark Kritzman's book is one of the handful that I am aware of on any level of mathematics that does not commit such sins. As for the chap that wants to hash out some debate over the utility of utility theory: All I can say is that this is hardly the forum for that discussion. At any rate, Mark Kritzman's mathematical musings are a lot more appealing than the type of blind empricism that some so-called quants engage in. *Puzzles of Finance* is one of the few books that doesn't lose sight of the mathematical logic/beauty from the forest of cookbook pseudo-quant wizardry.

Entertaining AND informative. This book presents 6 puzzles of finance and their solutions in a clear, concise, and interesting way. A very unique and engaging book that I'd recommend to anyone.

This is a great book for anyone with a budding interest in finance, but little experience. The primer in the back is great and should be read first!

What the critic Samuel Johnson required of literature in the 18th century Mark Kritzman provides here. This book has fundamentally changed the way I look at my portfolio and at the business pages of the paper. (One example: in a single lucid paragraph which is only an illustrative side note to his discussion, Kritzman focuses the entire debate over the privatization of Social Security). His book has also fundamentally changed the way I view investment advice. Kritzman's writing is clear and entertaining and the book is (1) great fun to read and to follow into the solutions of the puzzles and (2) a fund of odd facts you never knew but are glad you know now (see the connection between Einstein and options). It's accessible to the educated layman (I'm an antitrust lawyer), and you don't need calculus. It gets my personal top award -- a second reading.