Conclusions

Abstract

The efficient market hypothesis has provoked more debate than any concept in the history of finance theory and practice. The previous three volumes of this series, on the life cyclists, the portfolio theorists, and the rise of the quants, uncovered no fundamental disagreements among scholars or practitioners, and described no dividing lines among financial theories. Each great mind built upon the foundations of his predecessors and each evolution added broadly accepted intuition into the discussion. However, the efficient market hypothesis is profound and intuitive to many, and dubious and distracting to others.