In practice, people are not nearly as rational as it is assumed and they make more mistakes than their egos are willing to honestly admit. Over-optimism, stubbornness, inertia...human behaviour is increasingly recognised as a factor in decisions with risk outcomes. The management of risk can no longer ignore behaviour on the grounds that if you can't measure it you can't manage it. Measuring and managing the elusive human factor - the dark side - of risk is the challenge that Luca Celati takes on in this groundbreaking book. Rather than concentrating entirely on the theory, empirical studies and academic debates, this book makes the topic more accessible for people who want to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. This book will provide practical guidelines and thought processes to use inside a financial institution, typically a Bank with a trading room, dealmakers and risk managers, the latter looking at market risk, credit risk or both. What happens inside the decision-makers' heads - rather than the sophistication of the tools they use - is the prime concern here.
