The increasingly influential Library of Mistakes offers a course that promises a profound understanding of the way international money markets really work – and it gets there by exploring history and psychology. Fraser Allen attended the London course recently to discover why it’s proving highly popular with fund managers and independent investors who are keen to learn from the past.
“There is so much more to heaven and earth than is dreamt of in numbers and decimal points,” says Professor Russell Napier, Keeper of the Library of Mistakes. “And you can’t gain a true understanding of how finance, money and markets work without understanding human behaviour and history.
For all its importance, mathematics is very often used as a crutch in the world of finance. But, what the world needs now, are people who can throw away that crutch, think under pressure and make good decisions in times of great uncertainty.”
The Library of Mistakes was established by Russell in Edinburgh in March 2014, inspired by his observations at how little society had learnt from the lessons of the global banking crisis. Funded largely by philanthropic donations, the Library then moved to new purpose-built premises in Edinburgh’s west end in 2022, and is proving an increasingly influential hub of research, intellectual curiosity and conviviality.
Its mission is to encourage us all to learn from the oft-repeated mistakes of the past – mistakes that invariably stem from human behaviour rather than faulty data, equations or maths.
The library is a beautifully designed physical space that anyone who can get to Edinburgh can visit, and browse the collection of 4,000+ books (access is free – you simply have to register as a ‘reader’ at www.libraryofmistakes.com and book your visits).
There is a strong focus on finance and business, but the range of books is diverse, covering just about every aspect of human life. The artwork on the walls (from a Bear Stearns baseball cap to a Charles Ponzi poster) is also fascinating and there’s even a games section. It’s a charming and comfortable refuge for pausing, reading and thinking.
And there’s more. The library also hosts lectures from prominent speakers, receives around 4,000 downloads for each episode of its podcast series, and has 5,000+ Twitter followers – a decent following for a finance forum to clock up in a short period of time. Small wonder that the word is spreading – there are now also Library of Mistakes franchises in India (Pune) and Switzerland (Lausanne) with several more in the pipeline.
But for those who want to take a deeper dive into the profound factors that shape the world of finance, the Library of Mistakes also offers Advanced Valuation in Financial Markets – a course that can be attended over two and a half days in London, or through a series of online modules.
Aimed primarily at investment professionals or those with a particularly keen interest in what drives markets, the course is unlike anything else currently available. I was fortunate to attend some of the London sessions recently in the company, predominantly, of young fund managers who were evidently gripped by the insights they gained from a series of outstanding speakers:
The enthusiastic delegates departed much the wiser, provided with a thick dossier of course notes and complimentary access to the online version of the course.
If you too are interested in gaining a truly rounded perspective on how our financial markets work, particularly in these uncertain times, I heartily recommend the course. Full details are available at www.libraryofmistakes.com/course
Students completing the course should find themselves able to:
The online version of our renowned course, is available for both finance professionals and nonprofessionals.
As featured in the Financial Times
In conjunction with Heriot-Watt University