The Federal Reserve’s recent decisions have demonstrated epistemic arrogance and magnified risk by failing to properly acknowledge the inherent limits of their power.
The Limits of an Inner Scorecard
Having an “inner scorecard” can be liberating and foster independent thinking, but ultimately human beings must also subject themselves to the judgment of key people in their lives.
Berkshire’s CEO Succession: A Brief Look at Incentives
Greg Abel is likely to be named as the next CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. How should shareholders think about the alignment of incentives at the company once CEO succession occurs?
Musings From a Coffee Shop
Reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic written in April 2021, a time when the widespread availability of vaccines gave society renewed hope for a return to relative normalcy.
Goldman’s Infamous Boot Camp
Thoughts on the counterproductive initiation ritual of working crazy hours and the tendency many people have to conflate face time with commitment and productivity.
The Price of Misery
Accepting misery early in your career in exchange for a higher salary is almost always a huge mistake, yet many people make this tradeoff.
What We Have Lost
The pandemic turbo-charged the move to virtual worlds and this trend may persist in the long run. But what have we lost in the process?
The Use of Letters
As Mark Twain said, a person who won’t read has no real advantage over a person who can’t read. It makes no sense to refuse to learn vicariously.
Atomic Habits
James Clear provides numerous practical and actionable insights to help readers develop and maintain better habits in the long run.
The Crazy Election of 1800
The first transition of executive power between rival political parties took place after the election of 1800 and it did not go smoothly.
Reward and Punishment Superresponse Tendency
Charlie Munger has said that one should never think about anything else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives. Poorly thought out incentive systems cause harm.
The Case for U.S. Savings Bonds
Few investments are as boring as savings bonds but they can play an important part of a portfolio. This is especially true based on interest rate conditions in the early 2020s.
The Psychology of Money
“Like Warren, I had a considerable passion to get rich, not because I wanted Ferraris — I wanted the independence. I desperately wanted it.” — Charlie Munger The world can appear vastly unequal in terms of the goods and services
The Illusion of Control
As much as we would like to believe that we are in full control of our lives, the reality is that much is out of our hands. Stoicism helps us deal with life’s inevitable uncertainties.
The Power of Morning Pages
Morning pages is an effective form of journaling in which one sits down to write a few pages of “stream of consciousness” thoughts right after waking up.
Going the Distance
To go the distance, you must pace yourself whether the race you are running is a marathon or saving and investing money for your financial security.
Deprival-Superreaction Tendency
Human beings feel the pain of loss much more intensely than the pleasure of an equivalent gain and there are important consequences stemming from this tendency.
Capital Allocation: The Financials of a New England Textile Mill
On a spring day in 1964, Warren Buffett received a letter from Seabury Stanton offering to purchase the Buffett Partnership’s stake in Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett and Stanton had agreed to a price of $11.50 but Stanton’s letter offered only $11.375. This annoyed the thirty-three year old Buffett and he started buying more shares starting his long journey of transforming Berkshire Hathaway into what it is today.