Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Why it’s on the list: Charles Mackay’s 1841 history of crowd manias — the tulip craze, the South Sea Bubble, the Mississippi scheme and their like — the book people still reach for to explain a bubble.

Where I heard about it

• A Goldman Sachs reading list — on the firm’s recommended reading list (careers site), shared by @F_Compounders on X in July 2025. Listed under Industry Background and Flavor, twice: once on its own, and once in the combined edition with Martin Fridson and Joseph de la Vega (Confusión de Confusiones).
• A reply to @SpencrGreenberg — named as “Extraordinary Popular Delusions by Charles Mackay” in answer to his question “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world (or how humanity or society) really works?” in a thread on X, June 2025. Full list: A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet).
• Li Lu — on Li Lu’s Recommended Book List, under Value Investing, Finance, and Capitalism.
• Recommended in Jim O’Shaughnessy’s investing book-recommendations thread on X (started February 2019, extended through 2021); in April 2020 — 1 Some book recommendations Rules… (tweet).

Connections

• 1 Some book recommendations Rules… (tweet) — recommended it.
• Charles Mackay — author.
• Goldman Sachs Recommended reading list… (tweet) — the list this came from.
• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — recommendation #2: named in this crowd-sourced thread.