A review of “Real Estate and Collectibles” (audiobook)

So I was recently listening to some additional presentations from an audio series about investment. This particular installment was called “Real Estate and Collectibles.” I found out that it was actually two presentations: one about “The Collectors,” and one about “The Real Estate Tycoons.” Both were as interesting as I expected them to be, and brought back fond memories of my days as a business major.

A review of “Swiss Gnomes and Global Investing” (audiobook)

So I was recently listening to some additional presentations from an audio series about investment. This particular installment was called “Swiss Gnomes and Global Investing.” I found out that it was actually two presentations: one about “The Swiss Gnomes,” and one about “The Global Investors.” Both were as interesting as I expected them to be, and brought back fond memories of my days as a business major.

A review of “Gold, Hard Money, and Financial Gurus” (audiobook)

So I was recently listening to some additional presentations from an audio series about investment. This particular installment was called “Gold, Hard Money, and Financial Gurus.” I found out that it was actually two presentations: one about “Gold Bugs and Hard Money,” and one about “Financial Writers and Gurus.” Both were as interesting as I expected them to be, and brought back fond memories of my days as a business major.

A review of “Technical Traders and Commodity Speculators” (audiobook)

So I was recently listening to some additional presentations from an audio series about investment. This particular installment was called “Technical Traders and Commodity Speculators.” I found out that it was actually two presentations: one about “The Technical Traders,” and one about “The Commodity Speculators.” Both were as interesting as I expected them to be, and brought back fond memories of my days as a business major.

A review of “Crashes, Booms, Panics, and Government Regulation” (audiobook)

So I was recently listening to some presentations from an audio series about investment. This installment was called “Crashes, Booms, Panics, and Government Regulation.” I found out that it was actually two presentations. One was called “Crashes, Booms, and Busts,” and the other was called “The New Deal and Government Regulation.” Both were more historical than I would have thought, which added to the appeal for someone like me.

A review of “Fundamental Analysis, Value Investing, and Growth Investing” (audiobook)

So I was recently listening to some additional presentations from an audio series about investment. This particular installment was called “Fundamental Analysis, Value Investing, and Growth Investing.” I found out that it was actually two presentations: one about “Benjamin Graham and Fundamental Analysis,” and one about “Value Investing and Growth Investing.” Both were much more interesting than I would have thought, and brought back fond memories of my days as a business major.

A review of “Bargain Hunters, Contrarians, Cycles, and Waves” (audiobook)

So I was recently listening to an audio series about investment. This particular installment was called “Bargain Hunters, Contrarians, Cycles, and Waves.” I found out that it was actually two presentations: one about “The Bargain Hunters and Contrarians,” and one about “Cycles and Waves of the Market.” Both were as interesting as I expected them to be, and brought back fond memories of my days as a business major.

A review of “Investment Philosophers and Financial Economists” (audiobook)

This audiobook was my introduction to “Secrets of the Great Investors,” an audio series about investment. This particular installment was called “Investment Philosophers and Financial Economists.” I found out that it was actually two presentations: one about “The Investment Philosophers,” and one about “The Financial Economists.” Both were more historical than I would have thought, which added to the appeal for someone like me.

What college majors are best for entering the finance field?

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.”

– The greatest Albert Einstein quote that Albert Einstein (most likely) never said

The short answer is that there are five college majors that are particularly helpful for going into finance. These are: mathematics, statistics, economics, accounting, and (of course) finance.

Benjamin Graham, whom some consider to be “the father of investing”

A review of “The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance” (PBS Empires)

“To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De' Medici:

Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are accustomed to come before him with such things as they hold most precious, or in which they see him take most delight; whence one often sees horses, arms, cloth of gold, precious stones, and similar ornaments presented to princes, worthy of their greatness. Desiring therefore to present myself to your Magnificence with some testimony of my devotion towards you, I have not found among my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of antiquity; which, having reflected upon it with great and prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to your Magnificence.”

– Dedication of Niccolò Machiavelli's “The Prince” (1532)

When people today think of the “Italian Renaissance,” they usually think of accomplishments in the arts and sciences – or sometimes, philosophy. They would not often think of power politics, or the squabbling among the Italian city-states of the time. But this era was marked by ferocious power politics in Italy, which created great turmoil on the Italian peninsula. Niccolò Machiavelli's “The Prince” was the product of this time, and so was its disturbing view of ethics and politics. There was much to fear for Italians of this time.

The rise of the Medici family owed much to the economic strength that they gained from banking

During this time, one family in particular rose to prominence in Italy – and more specifically, in Florence. In its heyday, this family produced kings, queens, and even three popes. That family was, of course, the Medici; but it did not start out as a royal family. Rather, it made its name through banking; and amassing wealth by means of the private sector. The rise of the Medici family owed much to the economic strength that they gained in this way. They actually started out their ascendancy as a family of Italian merchant-bankers, and continued to be such even during their political rule. They were among the earliest bankers in Europe, and were great pioneers in the banking industry. Their depositors stored their money in the “Medici Bank,” and the Medici then loaned out this money to people who needed it. The interest from these loans actually brought great wealth to the Medici family, and allowed them to pay some small interest to their depositors as well. It helped to create the family fortune, which brought them to political prominence in Italy. Money was often the greatest weapon in the Medici arsenal, and was a great driver of the politics of the Renaissance (as it was for every other era of human history).

Cosimo de Medici, the Italian banker who became the first of the Medici dynasty

What history can tell us about economics

I've had a number of people tell me over the years that with my interest in history, I should have been a history teacher. Thus, it's often surprising for them to hear that I majored in business instead. I also got a certificate in economics, which might likewise seem very different from history. And it's quite true that economics and history are two very different majors. But there is actually some overlap between the subjects - more than you might think - and so your average economics class has more history content than one might suppose.

What is the overlap between history and economics?

What is the overlap between these things? In short, there are two main areas where they intersect: the history of economics, and the economics of history. The history of economics is the history of economic thought - or the history of the social science of economics, and how people have attempted to find answers to important questions about economics. It has roots going back far before Adam Smith, but the modern social science of economics began with this great individual's magnum opus in 1776 - a book called "The Wealth of Nations." It is one of the great books of history (up there with Isaac Newton's Principia), and it has had an enormous influence on the way that people think about economics. (Here's my blog post about it, if you're interested.)

Adam Smith

The economics of history is about historical case studies in economic policy

The economics of history, on the other hand, is about the various economic problems that societies have faced; and their various attempts to find solutions to these problems. History is rife with economic case studies that show us which policies work and which ones don't. A good economist tries to learn from these lessons of economic history. I have talked about the history of economics in a number of posts, so I will instead focus this post on the economics of history - about the economic case studies that my classes have talked about, and about what history has to offer us in the way of practical experience with economic policy.

A review of “The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression”

We've all heard stories about how bad things were during the Great Depression, with extensive poverty and massive unemployment - perhaps the only economic crisis worse than our current one. But the history classes don't often go into the question of why; leaving the complicated subject of causation to economists, rather than the historians of the subject. When history classes do comment on the "why" of the Depression, they often paint a glowing picture of big government, with some economics classes not being much better in this regard.

Poor mother and children - Oklahoma, 1936

Some thoughts about business education

"In a free-enterprise, private-property system, a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business. He has a direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom."

– Milton Friedman, economist

I have both a practical side and an impractical side. My Facebook friends probably see the impractical side of me more, as I post about things like history and languages, and stay away from the more mundane topics of everyday life. (Maybe having Ramen noodles for dinner is interesting to someone, but I never found it that fascinating; and generally speaking, I don't post about practical things - most people would probably find it boring if I did.)

I was a business major with a concentration in marketing, and a certificate in economics

Nonetheless, I have a strong practical side, which manifested itself in my choice of college majors. I actually majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. It might seem strange that a guy who spends his time learning Ancient Greek would major in business, but it's true - I even got a certificate in Business Economics to boot. (I never took any business classes in high school, although I did take some computers classes that ended up being helpful for my business degree, since that degree required some classes in computer information systems.) Thus, I have some firsthand experience with vocational education in my academic career, and thought that I would write a post about it - thus commenting on the one subject I actually have a degree in, and the educational issues in that field.

Why is my stats class so focused on bell curves?

I would wager that many a student has taken a statistics class, and been introduced to bell curves without having the slightest idea why they're used. That was me, to some extent, when I took my first statistics class. I was told they were useful, and was willing at the time to take their word for it. But it was not until a second statistics class, many years later, that I learned why bell curves are used.

My love-hate relationship with economics

"Let's start with what economics isn't.  Economics isn't a meal ticket to make lots of money in the stock market, although economics helps you understand how stock markets and other markets work. Economics also isn't a business degree, although economics teaches important business skills. Economics, first and foremost, is a social science.  As such, economics helps to explain the mysteries of how people and society operate ... Economics is defined as the study of how people choose to use their scarce resources in an attempt to satisfy their unlimited wants."

- A webpage that influenced my decision to study some economics in college

I did not fall in love with economics, the way that I fell in love with history and politics. This is not to say that I didn't like the subject, but it didn't excite me in the same way. There are parts of it that I find quite fascinating, and others that I find quite boring. But it is definitely one of my interests, and I'll talk a little bit here about my love-hate relationship with economics.