Populism is everywhere. Our world is rife with politicians and activists eager to explain away hard problems with conspiracy theories and easy solution. So it's no surprise that populists forces have also upended the world of finance, and that meme lord "finfluencers" on social media now hold more sway than Jim Cramer and other TV era investment gurus. What does this mean for the markets? And what does it mean for the fortunes of millions of Americans who have turned to Reddit and YouTube in a bid to build wealth?
These questions are at the forefront of The Trolls of Wall Street: How the outcasts and insurgents are hacking the markets, penned by former New York Times journalist Nathaniel Popper and released today by William Morrow. The book is the most ambitious attempt yet to decipher the implications of platforms like r/WallStreetBets, which spurred an irrational rush into beat down stocks like AMC, and YouTube personalities like Roaring Kitty—the GameStop cheerleader who, in an exquisite bit of timing for Popper and his publisher, resurfaced this month for the first time since 2021.
