The first book ever about the stock market was written in 1688 by Joseph de la Vega, a Spanish Jew living in Amsterdam and a prolific author who epitomized Spanish Baroque prose.



His book about the Amsterdam market, Confusion of Confusions, describes all its tricks and treachery with such wit that I laughed out loud when I read it, and then I translated it for the Spanish stock exchange commission. The bilingual edition will be used as an institutional gift.

I spoke about de la Vega and the book in an interview with Radio Sefarad’s English Corner, and I read a few brief excerpts. You can hear the 19-minute interview here:

http://www.radiosefarad.com/joseph-de-la-vegas-confusion-of-confusions-with-sue-burke/

— Sue Burke