Paul Erdman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Emil Erdman (May 19, 1932 - April 23, 2007 in Sonoma County, California[1]) was one of the leading business and financial writers in the United States.

His specialty was writing novels based on monetary trends and historical facts concerning complex matters of international finance. Despite the underlying complexity of his novels, his lucid writing style had enabled readers to learn complex concepts such as interest rate swaps, and his novels had often been bestsellers. The Billion Dollar Sure Thing (1973) received a 1974 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel, and the The Silver Bears (1974) was turned into a 1978 movie of the same name, starring Michael Caine.

Erdman also regularly wrote financial columns for www.marketwatch.com. He was a leading expert in the international economics field and has published non-fictional works, such as Tug of War, which set out his views on exchange rates and the international financial system.

Erdman was born in Ontario, Canada, to American parents. He received his PhD from the University of Basel. Erdman had resided in England and Switzerland. He maintained a Northern California residence since 1973 and lived in Healdsburg, California.

Erdman was not only a former Swiss banker but a former president of a Swiss bank. At one point he was imprisoned after the bank got involved in a currency speculation scandal. Several officers of his bank served prison terms, much to the surprise of American readers, who were unaccustomed to seeing corporate executives jailed for the activities of their companies. (American readers are now accustomed to seeing corporate executives sent to prison, sometimes for decades.) In television interviews, Erdman has observed that Swiss prisons had better food (he could have meals sent in by hotels and restaurants of his choice) but Swiss laws did apply to the "privileged classes" as well as to ordinary mortals.^{[citation needed]}

Erdman died from cancer at his ranch in Healdsburg, California.^[1]

[edit] Selected works

• The Billion Dollar Sure Thing (1973)
• The Silver Bears (1974)
• The Crash Of '79 (1976)
• The Last Days Of America (1981)
• The Panic Of '89 (1986)
• The Palace (1987)
• The Swiss Account (1992)
• Zero Coupon (1993)
• The Set-up (1997)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 1987 interview with Paul Erdman by Don Swaim at Wired for Books