William N. Goetzmann

Yale SOM’s William Goetzmann, an expert in art and finance history, showed us satirical prints documenting the first global stock bubble, three centuries ago.

The stock markets are reeling as fear and uncertainty about the global pandemic grow. We asked Yale SOM’s William Goetzmann, whose research includes financial history, to put the volatility into historical perspective.

Professor Roger Ibbotson, an influential scholar and practitioner of finance for decades, sat down for a conversation with Professor William Goetzmann about his groundbreaking work on the historical returns of the stock market, his experiences as a teacher, and his current research.

Bitcoin meshes digital technology with an approach to money that predates the development of cash and coin, according to Yale SOM’s William Goetzmann.

A new paper looking at how investors assess the risk of a stock market crash in the next six months argues that negative media coverage of markets can play a role in investment decisions.

Professor William Goetzmann discusses the uncertainty facing the financial hub at Canary Wharf as Britain moves steadily toward its divorce from the European Union.

Prof. William Goetzmann traces the millennia-long relationship between finance and the growth of civilization.

Each time it happens, it seems in retrospect like people have lost their minds, and that such widespread madness could never happen again. And then it happens again. Yale SOM professor William Goetzmann looks back at an investing mania from the 18th century to better understand the forces that can create such distortions.

The financial crisis of 2008 is a looming figure in current economic thinking. The global economy is still slowly recovering from the shock, and policymakers and academics continue to discuss the structural changes needed to prevent a recurrence. The stress of the last half decade has made two things very clear: A productive and innovative financial system is essential to the broader economy, but financial innovations made irresponsibly—without consideration of systemic risk and other impacts on society—can wreak havoc.