1 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Locks Podcast. 2 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 2: I'm Joe Wisenthal and I'm Tracy Allaway. 3 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: Tracy, you know what topic we'd never really talk about 4 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: or really do. It's like we never really do anything 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: related like personal finance, person. 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 2: Like what to actually do with all the information that 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 2: we talk about on a bi weekly basis. Yeah, what 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 2: it means for making money. 9 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: It's like a huge part of like financial media. But 10 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: it's like, you know, I like to usually like what's 11 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: going to happen with the quantitative titaning. 12 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,279 Speaker 2: It's a tough one because I feel like you can 13 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 2: talk about it generally, but also there's the temptation a 14 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 2: lot of people end up doing this to give specific recommendations. 15 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: Right like get this credit card, Tesla, or yeah, either 16 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: buy this dock, get this credit card, don't buy avocado 17 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: toast like all this stuff, or like you know, move 18 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: your money. But like it's kind of like cliche topic. 19 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: But like, on the other hand, I do think it's 20 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: interesting right now because we've just had this like a 21 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: sort of extraordinary like three years of like inflation, which 22 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: many people have never really experienced in their lives, And 23 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: so to my mind, that raises some interesting questions like 24 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: how is this going to like change people's behavior and 25 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: what should what have people done in the past during 26 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: periods of inflation? Like there are really interesting sort of 27 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: like personal finance, spending investing questions that like will come 28 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: out of this era well. 29 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 2: Absolutely, and also the prospect of just finally actually earning 30 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 2: some interest on a basic savings account. I know it's 31 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 2: still below the level of inflation, but for people who've 32 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 2: been earning zero percent for most of their professional lives, 33 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:42,559 Speaker 2: I think it's very. 34 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: I think now it's kind of positive, right because you 35 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: could play five percent in the CD and maybe inflation 36 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: we three gonna have, right, you know. I asked my 37 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: dad recently about his memory of the nineteen seventies. I 38 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: was like, what was that like? You know, the first 39 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: thing he said was like I could really get a 40 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: lot of money out of bank account day. 41 00:01:58,480 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 2: Oh, there we go. 42 00:01:59,280 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 3: Yeah. 43 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: So, you know, there's all kinds of interesting things about 44 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: like how people actually deal. 45 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 2: With right and also what happens when we have a 46 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 2: sort of regime change and how do people react to 47 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 2: it and how much have things actually changed? 48 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: Well, you know, and we've been talking about some you know, 49 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: some of the real estate episodes. Yeah, like how much 50 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: people like anchored to the ZIP era. They're like, you know, 51 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: as if like that was normal. Yeah, so it's like 52 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: when have people adjusted? Is there still a big adjustment 53 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: left to go? Like, there's just some really interesting questions. Absolutely, Okay, 54 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: well I think we should talk about them. And we 55 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: really do have the perfect guest. We're going to be 56 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: speaking with Morgan Household, longtime writer, the author of the 57 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: best selling book The Psychology of Money is More books 58 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: coming out hugely popular in this area. Morgan, thank you 59 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: so much for coming on Outlass. 60 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 3: Well, Joe and Tracy happy to be here, Thanks for 61 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 3: having me. 62 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: Can I just say, all right, I'm gonna just say 63 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: something just to let's set this scene a little bit, 64 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: like I said in the beginning of the conversation, like 65 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: personal finances a genre. It's this little hackney, this kind. 66 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 2: Of cliche, but Morgan does it well. 67 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: Years ago, like twenty eleven, twenty twelve, I was a 68 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: business insider Morgan was it the Motley Fool? And I 69 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: said to my former colleague at BI Sam Row, Morgan 70 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: is the first personal finance writer that I like. And 71 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: now here's this huge. 72 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 2: That's high praise. High praise from that means I was. 73 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: I just want to say I was long Morgan Household 74 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: very early on. 75 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 2: I was. 76 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,519 Speaker 3: I was long Joe during that period as well as well. 77 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 3: So this is this is open up to Since then, 78 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 3: I've always I feel like I've always done the same 79 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 3: thing since two thousand and eight when I started this, 80 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 3: which was you know you mentioned most personal finance writing 81 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 3: kind of falls into two buckets. It's either here's the 82 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 3: credit card you should you should use, or here's the 83 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 3: hot stock you should buy. The credit card part, you know, 84 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 3: I was never just I was never that interested in it, 85 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 3: and the here's the stock you should buy always felt 86 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 3: almost immoral to me because you don't know who's reading 87 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 3: your stuff. Is this an eighteen year old day trader 88 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 3: or a ninet year old widow? Like who are you 89 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 3: recommending this to? So because of that, I always I 90 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 3: just kind of naturally fell into this bucket of like 91 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 3: what's going through people's heads. I don't want to give 92 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 3: anybody advice. I don't want to tell anybody what to 93 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 3: do because I don't know you, but I'm really curious 94 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 3: what's going on inside your head. Particularly I started as 95 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 3: a writer in two thousand and eight, so the world 96 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 3: was falling to pieces, and it was just this idea 97 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,239 Speaker 3: of like, well, what the heck just happened here? Yeah, 98 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 3: And I think once I kind of realized that you 99 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 3: could not explain two thousand and eight through the lens 100 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 3: of a finance or an economics textbook. It's just not 101 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 3: in there to explain the bubble, the bus, the bailouts, 102 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 3: not an economics textbook. But psychology had a lot to 103 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 3: say about it. Sociology like keeping up the Joneses that 104 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 3: perfectly explained the housing bubble. So there are all these 105 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 3: other fields outside of finance that filled in the gaps. 106 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 3: So that to me was like, ah, I'm just really 107 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 3: interested in how you can connect psychology and sociology and 108 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 3: political science to try to explain what people are thinking 109 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 3: rather than what they should do. Yeah. 110 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 2: Both Joe and I we sort of started our financial 111 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 2: journalism careers around two thousand and eight, and it was 112 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 2: a great time to do it because you're sort of 113 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 2: on the same level as everyone else. No one knew 114 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 2: really what was going on, but talk to us a 115 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 2: little bit more than about your approach. How does taking 116 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 2: that sociological or psychological angle actually inform the way you 117 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 2: think about personal finance investing. 118 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 3: We let's say there's two elements to this. One is 119 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 3: I'm a writer, and then the other is I'm interested 120 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 3: in behavioral finance, and you really have to mix both 121 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 3: of those because in writing, particularly as a finance writer, 122 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 3: if you're just writing about data and charts, like a 123 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 3: lot of people, even in the industry, it's like it's boring, 124 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 3: You're not going to catch you. So you got to 125 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 3: tell a good story. And so I'm always trying to 126 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 3: find examples from fields that have nothing to do with 127 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 3: finance that explain how people think about greed and fear 128 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 3: and risk, because not only do I think that gets 129 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 3: you closer to the truth of what's happening in finance, 130 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 3: if you can really get like, why are people thinking 131 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 3: the way they are? But from a writing standpoint, I 132 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 3: think it's more interesting if you can be like, oh, 133 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 3: here's a story from World War two that explains how 134 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 3: people think about risk, and let me tell you how 135 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 3: that bleeds into finance. I think it's more interesting as 136 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 3: a writer to catch people's attention that way. 137 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 2: So we're recording this at an event in Huntington Beach 138 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 2: at Future Proof isn't one of your most famous stories 139 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 2: about parking cars in Los Angeles at one point being 140 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 2: a valet. 141 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 3: So yes, it was a hotel here in Los Angeles 142 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 3: that I was a valet at during college, and it 143 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 3: was a high end, five star hotel, a lot of 144 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 3: rich people coming through, and there was one member who 145 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 3: was just an absolute animal with money. He was very, 146 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 3: very wealthy. I think he was worth hundreds of millions 147 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 3: of dollars and money has never burnt a hole in 148 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 3: someone's pocket so fast. He wandered around, he was he 149 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 3: was always drunk, and he wandered around with a stack 150 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 3: one hundred dollar bills I swear six inches thick, and 151 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 3: he would just flash money like no other. And we 152 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 3: did a lot of errands for this guy. As a 153 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 3: vala tipped very well. And one day he came to 154 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,559 Speaker 3: one of my colleagues and he peeled off a thick 155 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 3: stack of one hundred dollars bills and he said, go 156 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 3: down to the jewelry store down the street and buy 157 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 3: me some gold coins. I think there were a thousand 158 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 3: dollars gold coins. And he came back any gold courts 159 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 3: and this guy with a group of friends sat there 160 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 3: at the Pacific Ocean skipping a gold coins to see 161 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 3: how far they could go. Oh my god, And I 162 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 3: remember thinking I was twenty one at the time, and 163 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 3: I remember watching this and thinking like, how long can 164 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 3: this last? And it was probably ten years later that 165 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 3: I said, what's this guy up to? And I googled 166 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 3: his name and sure enough, he went bankrupt. He went, 167 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 3: his company went out of business. He went, And it 168 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 3: was like, when I saw the headline, he was like, 169 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 3: of course, of course this guy. So to me, it 170 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 3: was always so interesting that he was so smart. He 171 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 3: was an entrepreneur who made a lot of his companies 172 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 3: built parts for satellites, and he had a patent that's 173 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 3: in every Wi Fi device, Like he was such a 174 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 3: genius technically, but his relationship with money was so broken 175 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 3: and so bad. So that was like, it doesn't matter 176 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 3: how smart you are, it's not about like what your 177 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 3: IQ is. If your behavior with money is wrong, you're done. 178 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 3: It's out. And then there's a flip side of that. 179 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 3: It's true too, which is that some people who are 180 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 3: not that intelligent by their test scores or whatever, but 181 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 3: they have a great behavior with money can do spectacular 182 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 3: over time. 183 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 2: I'm probably taking the wrong lesson away from this anecdote, 184 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 2: but did anyone go after the coins? 185 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 3: For all I know? 186 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: They're still there all right later today, Joe, this is 187 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: this is this is good to know. So this is 188 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: you know, obviously there are going to be individuals who 189 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: maybe don't have high income but or do a good 190 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: job of accumulating savings over years, or people of massive 191 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: incomes that blow it all kinds of things. You know, 192 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: you always hear these other stories about the cohorts and 193 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: people who went through something together, like people who came 194 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: out of the Great Depression and then they like you know, 195 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: were like hoarders or something like that, or people who 196 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: came out of whatever it is. Is that true? People 197 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: say that all the time, or people experience like the 198 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: inflation in Wymar Germany and support like when you in 199 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: your research when you read take It, you read a 200 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: ton of history, like does that seem to be a 201 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 1: real thing? 202 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I think every generation experiences the economy in 203 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 3: their own unique way, and those experiences, particularly what you 204 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 3: experience in your teens and twenties, like your formative years 205 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 3: where you're starting to pay it attention to the economy 206 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 3: really sticks with you. Everyone is seen or probably heard 207 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 3: of the studies about the generation that went through the 208 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 3: Great Depression, and then right after that it was World 209 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 3: War Two. So that was fifteen years of hell, and 210 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 3: those people coming out of it like that stayed with 211 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 3: them forever, and there's been academics who have measured how 212 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 3: that impacted them. They're very scared of debt, didn't want 213 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 3: to invest in the stock market way more so even 214 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 3: when you talk about people in warmer Germany, or that 215 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 3: people went through World War Two in Germany or in 216 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 3: France or in Russia, those people were completely scarred economically 217 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 3: for the rest of their lives. And more recently, all 218 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 3: three of us became young adults in the early two thousands, 219 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 3: So for me nine to eleven was the first like 220 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 3: adult big event and then so that was massive, and 221 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 3: I think for our parents' generation, who were adults in 222 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 3: the nineteen nineties, when things were so at least in 223 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 3: relative terms, calm, stable, prosperous, not just economically but politically 224 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 3: and geopolitically, we're like so solid and there was a 225 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 3: recession or you know, there's a hiccup at ninety four 226 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 3: and ninety eight, but for most people that was like 227 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 3: unless you were a bond trader, didn't matter. The nineties 228 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 3: were great. Nine to eleven was like, oh wow, like 229 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 3: we really got knocked down here, but that was a 230 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 3: one time event, like America is still as strong as 231 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 3: it's ever been. And then in two thousand and eight, 232 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 3: I was like, wow, we got knocked down again, like 233 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,560 Speaker 3: two times in the last eight years. That's pretty bad. 234 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 3: And then COVID twenty twenty, it's like the world broke again, 235 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 3: like three times in twenty years. The world has broken 236 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 3: in the United States, and I think that is like, 237 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 3: what's the quote, fool me wants shame on you for 238 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 3: me twice. Now that people have been fooled, so to speak, 239 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 3: three times in twenty years, I think we now our 240 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 3: generation believes that the world breaks every five to ten years, 241 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 3: and I think that's a good I think that's the truth. 242 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 3: I think the previous generation that was America strong and 243 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 3: stable and nothing bad happens, that was the anomaly, and 244 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 3: I think I think we're a more pessimistic generation because 245 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 3: of it. 246 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: So I was kind of going to go into that, 247 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: you know, the one thing that I've been really fastened 248 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: by over the last few years is what sort of 249 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: strikes me, and particularly in like market it's an investing 250 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: is this sort of like I almost call it like 251 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: a sort of like nihilistic bullishness, like you saw it 252 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: like buying NFTs or duage coin or whatever, where it's like, 253 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: on some level it looks like optimistic speculative activity like 254 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: maybe we saw in the late nineties, but it also 255 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 1: has this sort of like edge of like none of 256 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: this really means anything. 257 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,960 Speaker 2: You're knowingly chasing a bubble or buying a lottery because 258 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 2: there's no other way to make money for the. 259 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,840 Speaker 1: Wall Street bets like bragging about going broken your robin 260 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: hood thing. Like it seems like we're in this era 261 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: of like speculation but not coming out of a place 262 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: of optimism. 263 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. I almost think like the yolo mentality of trading 264 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,080 Speaker 3: NFTs or whatever it may be, is actually like comes 265 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 3: from a very pessimistic place. If you're optimistic, then you're like, 266 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 3: I want to own the S and P five hundred for 267 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 3: the next fifty years. That's optimism. Pessimism is it's all 268 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 3: going to go to hell anyways, Let's just throw it 269 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 3: all on an NFT yeah, so it looks from the 270 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 3: outset like a very like bullish, Like I'm so bullish 271 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 3: on crypto. I know. I think it comes from a 272 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 3: pessimistic place. You made this point years ago that stuck 273 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 3: with me during the gold bubble, if we call it 274 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 3: that around twenty eleven, that there's nothing more pessimistic than 275 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 3: betting on a rock. It's like, if you're optimistic, you 276 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 3: bet on people. And how pessimistic do you have to 277 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 3: be to say a rock is going to outperform humans? 278 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 3: It's like the most pessimistic thing. And I think there's 279 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:23,319 Speaker 3: a very like there's an analogy in there with NFTs. 280 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: Yeah. 281 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 2: Wait, I take the point about people being pessimistic about 282 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 2: these big sort of sociological breaks breaks in society. But 283 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 2: if you look at the legacy of the two thousand 284 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 2: and eight financial crisis, it wasn't necessarily a terrible time 285 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 2: to start accumulating wealth and money. You know, if you 286 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 2: bought the S and P five hundred in two thousand 287 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 2: and nine, right up until twenty twenty, you'd be doing 288 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 2: reasonably well. Like, what do you think the legacy is 289 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 2: of that particular era where we're still sifting through the 290 00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 2: wreckage of two thousand and eight, we have ultra low 291 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 2: interest rates. Everyone's worried about deflation and subpar growth. 292 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 3: I remember, I don't know if it was twenty eleven, 293 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:08,959 Speaker 3: So if I'm getting this date wrong, I'm sorry, but 294 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 3: I remember I think it was twenty eleven and the 295 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 3: market went up substantially. Does that sound right to you? 296 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 3: Twenty eleven? I think twenty twenty five percent? It was. 297 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 3: Maybe it was twenty ten. 298 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: Twenty even bought him in October. 299 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 3: Maybe I was twenty year year. Maybe it was twenty ten. 300 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 3: Maybe it's twenty twelve. I forget the year, but the 301 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 3: market went up twenty twelve. I think maybe it's twenty twelve. 302 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 3: The market went up twenty or twenty five percent. And 303 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 3: I think it was Gallup who pulled Americans and said, 304 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 3: did the stock market go up or down this year? 305 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 3: And it was like sixty percent of Americans thought the 306 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 3: market went down during a year when it went up 307 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 3: twenty five percent. I actually think this was two thousand 308 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 3: and nine, which makes sense. Okay, it makes more sense, right, 309 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 3: And so that wasn't I think this explains the question 310 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,599 Speaker 3: of like, in hindsight, it was a great time to 311 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 3: accumulate assets. But during the time, even a year when 312 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 3: the market went up twenty five percent, people were so 313 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 3: sure that the economy was bad that they assumed the 314 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,439 Speaker 3: market went down. And Joe, both of you will remember this, 315 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 3: from basically twenty nine to twenty sixteen, if you were 316 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 3: a bullish on the stock market, you looked kind of 317 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 3: like a fool and you got dragged on Twitter. This 318 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 3: was like, oh, the cape ratio is too high, and 319 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 3: there was all this. So in hindsight it was a 320 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 3: generational buying opportunity, but it was that's all hindsight. It 321 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 3: was very hard to be bullish during that era, and 322 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 3: a lot of it was twenty eleven was double dip 323 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 3: recession right around the corner, and the idea that the 324 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 3: financial crisis of two thousand and eight was just to 325 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 3: prelude to what was to the big crash that was coming. 326 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 3: That was a very popular view during those years, and 327 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 3: I think it was it was really hard to be 328 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 3: a long term goal. 329 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: So we talked about this in the intro. This phenomenon 330 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: of like people started like anchoring to what they know, 331 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: and I feel like for a lot of people like ZERP, 332 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: really low nominal interest rates like, oh, that's normal, and 333 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: what we have right now, where like the ten years 334 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: yielding four percent and a mortgage is over seven percent, 335 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: that feels like aberrationally high. Like again, going sort of 336 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: back to the past, like does it take a while? 337 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: I mean it must you sort of as you describe it, 338 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: like it seems to like take a while for like 339 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: at this sink in that It's like, no, that was 340 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,119 Speaker 1: that was then, and it wasn't necessarily like normal or abnormal, 341 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: but that was a different time. 342 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 3: I think that that does make sense. But the counter 343 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 3: to that would be in the other direction. You know, 344 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 3: in the late nineties, a mortgage was seven percent run 345 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 3: by two thousand and three it was three or four percent, 346 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 3: And I think people got used to that really quickly. 347 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 3: That was kind of the basis of the housing bubble 348 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 3: that peaked in two thousand and six, is that by 349 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 3: two thousand and six people were already completely used to 350 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 3: low interest rates that didn't exist four years prior. 351 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: That's wild. 352 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 3: So I do think people get accustomed to it fairly quickly. 353 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 3: And a lot of that, I mean, at the corporate level, 354 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 3: a lot of that debt rolls over every five years, 355 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 3: so there's gonna be like that, the credit cycle is 356 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 3: going to wash out in a fairly quick period of time. 357 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 3: But interest rate cycles are also pretty long. Like interest 358 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 3: rates bottomed after World War Two in the early fifties 359 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 3: and then peaked in the late or the early eighties, 360 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 3: Like it was a really long cycle for them to 361 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 3: go from three percent to fifteen percent. 362 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 2: What sort of different behavioral patterns do you observe between 363 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 2: eras of low interest rates versus eras of high interest rates. 364 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 3: I think because the interest rate cycles are so long, 365 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 3: and there's only been a couple cycles in the post 366 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 3: World War two era, it was like they went, what. 367 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 2: Were people in the nineteen sixties doing? Tell us? 368 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 3: So much of that debt, though, didn't really exist, like 369 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 3: at the end of World War two and forty five, 370 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 3: consumer credit barely existed at all. In fact, a lot 371 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 3: of the GI Bill was introducing new forms of consumer 372 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 3: credit to make sure the economy didn't collapse after World 373 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 3: War Two. It was like, we want you to be spenders, 374 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 3: so like credit cards and installment loans. A lot of 375 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 3: that just exploded after World War Two. But then the 376 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 3: rates were so high during that period that it really 377 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 3: wasn't until the nineties that consumer credit just like exploded, 378 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 3: So we don't have that much history about what it is, 379 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 3: and so I don't think there's a ton of precedent 380 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 3: for what we're dealing with in terms of like the 381 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 3: consumer credit. But there's also a thing where you've seen 382 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:11,959 Speaker 3: I know, Joe, you've seen this chart. I think you've 383 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 3: tweeted this chart of as a percentage of income, household 384 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 3: debt payments right now are actually very low, like historically 385 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,680 Speaker 3: near the bottom that they've been in the last forty years. 386 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 3: So if you just look at the nominal amount of 387 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 3: household debt, it looks scary, but actually, as like a 388 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 3: percentage of income, it's actually very low right now. 389 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: You know, Obviously, economists, like macroeconomists, the last real inflationary 390 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,639 Speaker 1: period that anyone remembers was the seventies. And interestingly, like 391 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: I sort of the grandees of economics, many of them 392 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,439 Speaker 1: came during the seventies, So like looms very large. But 393 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 1: setting aside like how academic economists think from the from 394 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: your perspective, we're looking at sociology and history, etcetera, Like, 395 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: does this remind you of the seventies or is that 396 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 1: just sort of like a fake analogy because inflation was 397 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: high then too. 398 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 3: I think the seventies were really unique too, because because 399 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:04,119 Speaker 3: in addition to inflation that was so crippling, there was 400 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 3: so much social unrest between Vietnam. All of that blended 401 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 3: together to just an era of pessimism. So a lot 402 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 3: of the pessimism wasn't just because of inflation or just 403 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 3: because of FED policy, Like there's all these other things 404 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 3: boiling up that made people just really upset about the 405 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 3: state of America that all falls in it. And I 406 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 3: think that was true in the nineties as well. It 407 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 3: wasn't just economic prosperity. It was economic prosperity mixed with 408 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 3: political stability, mixed with Soviet Union was gone, so America 409 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,199 Speaker 3: is untouchable. It was just like all these things mixed together. 410 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 3: And I think if you view optimism solely through an 411 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 3: economic lens, like ninety percent of households don't read the 412 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,160 Speaker 3: Wall Street Journal, don't know what the Dow did yesterday. 413 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 3: They're putting all of these things together. It's not just 414 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 3: is the economy strong, it's is Washington in good shape? 415 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 3: Are their political fights? Or is my kids school in 416 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 3: good shape? It's like all these things mixed in one, 417 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 3: and I think a lot of financial economists and journalists 418 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 3: only view it through one narrow lens. But that's not 419 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 3: how most households think. 420 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 2: All right, So just on this point, I mean, one 421 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 2: of the oddities of our current economic environment is that 422 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 2: the hard data says we're doing relatively well, but if 423 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 2: you look at the survey based data, if you just 424 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 2: look at what people are talking about on a daily basis, 425 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,159 Speaker 2: it's like we're already in a depression. Basically, how do 426 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 2: you explain that discrepancy? 427 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 3: I remember years ago someone saying that consumer confidence, like 428 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 3: the statistic that's released, is fueled by three things the 429 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 3: stock market, gas prices, and politics. And to the extent 430 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,679 Speaker 3: that that's true, then I think it's it's politics is 431 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:33,359 Speaker 3: probably what's why that's being partisan in the way it 432 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,199 Speaker 3: is partisanship. Yeah, and I almost think it's it's so 433 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 3: extreme that no matter, the Dow could double and the 434 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 3: unemployment right could collapse to one percent. I mean, someone 435 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 3: brought up recently, I think it was Josh Brown, who 436 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 3: was like, you, guys, the stock market's near an all 437 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 3: time high, unemployments three and a half percent. You can 438 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 3: earn five percent on your cash. Why are you not 439 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 3: why are you not happy here? And I think for 440 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 3: a lot of people, the answer is politics. 441 00:19:57,359 --> 00:20:00,919 Speaker 1: Hopefully inflation is soon going to be back at target 442 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: or you know, defence target. But we don't know for sure. 443 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,120 Speaker 1: But we obviously, you know, we had the highest recently 444 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: had the highest inflation in forty years, something we haven't seen. 445 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about like some of the 446 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: sort of like nihilistic speculation, what do you see as 447 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,960 Speaker 1: some other knock on effects from the last few years, 448 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: whether it's the inflation or just the COVID disruption or 449 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: anything else that we've experienced since March twenty twenty. 450 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 3: COVID was so interesting because it was so binary in 451 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 3: terms of if you were a tech worker in twenty twenty, 452 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 3: it had never been better, Whereas if you owned a laundromat, 453 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 3: it's worse than the Great Depression, and the actual Great Depression, 454 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,879 Speaker 3: in facted virtually everyone at the same worst. COVID was 455 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,399 Speaker 3: so different, and so you have probably half of America 456 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 3: for whom twenty twenty was a great year financially, and 457 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 3: half it was the worst it's ever been by an 458 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 3: order of magnitude. And because of that, I think when 459 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 3: you have half the country that doesn't understand what the 460 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 3: other half went through, that also leads to an era 461 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,880 Speaker 3: of like, I don't trust this the numbers, trust the statistics, 462 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 3: I don't trust the politicians because what this guy is 463 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,719 Speaker 3: saying is so counter to what I experienced in either direction. 464 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,360 Speaker 3: And I think that also just leads to an era 465 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,479 Speaker 3: of hyperpartisanship of like, if you're saying that about the economy, 466 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,120 Speaker 3: how disconnected are you in a way that we really 467 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 3: haven't dealt with. And a lot of the reason that 468 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 3: a lot of the policies during the Great Depression, the 469 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 3: New Deal got through in a semi biparson ways because 470 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,160 Speaker 3: it's a great depression impacted everybody. Two thousand and eight 471 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 3: was I think similar to that as well, like everyone 472 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 3: was going to be screwed if the banks went down, 473 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 3: so it makes it easier to push through policy. 474 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 2: This is also my theory of why people care more 475 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,879 Speaker 2: about inflation than the unemployment rate, because if you personally 476 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,400 Speaker 2: haven't lost your job, it's hard for you to sort 477 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 2: of envision, oh, unemployment is at you know, a multi 478 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,640 Speaker 2: decade low, but you can definitely see egg prices at 479 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 2: your local grocery. Everyone can see those, and so it 480 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 2: seems like it becomes a much bigger talking point. But okay, 481 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 2: let's talk about a bright spot, which is I guess 482 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 2: we can now earn four or five percent on a 483 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 2: bank account or a certificate of pose. It that seems great, Yeah, and. 484 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 3: It's it's weird. There's almost a point when if you're 485 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 3: buying a one year CD right now you get five 486 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 3: and a half percent, it almost feels like you're robbing 487 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,880 Speaker 3: the bank. You're like, You're like, really, you're gonna fig 488 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 3: me that when you when you've had fifteen or ten 489 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 3: years whatever, observe. It's it's a wild thing to deal with. 490 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 3: But you both of you know this historically weird. This 491 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,840 Speaker 3: is normal. Yeah. I think that's what's hard to wrap 492 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,640 Speaker 3: your head around, is that historically this is what we're 493 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,880 Speaker 3: dealing with. Is not the anomaly. This is the completely 494 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 3: normal part. And I think it would I think everything 495 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 3: would be better if we live in an era if 496 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 3: we never go back to deserve. Everything would be better if 497 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 3: we have an era where there is some sort of 498 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 3: anchor on speculation and people can earn a decent return 499 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 3: on their cash with some level of risk. I think 500 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 3: that's so much healthier in every aspect. 501 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 2: So one of the weird things though, just on that point, was, 502 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 2: you know, earlier this year, when interest rates on bank 503 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 2: accounts were starting to creep up, we actually didn't see 504 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 2: that many people who seem to actually be moving their 505 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 2: money into higher yielding accounts or money market funds. It 506 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,120 Speaker 2: didn't really happen, I guess until March when we had 507 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 2: the SVB drama. But what do you think accounts for that? 508 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 2: Is it just it takes people a while to realize 509 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 2: this is something available to them. 510 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I think there has been quite a 511 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 3: bit that have moved into money market accounts. I mean, 512 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 3: what are money market accounts now five trillion dollars or something, 513 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 3: So there has been money that's that's moved over. I 514 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 3: think the average American just doesn't think about it that much. 515 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 3: And maybe if you don't have a very high level 516 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 3: of savings, there's kind of a wide bother mentality. Yeah, 517 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,919 Speaker 3: whereas most I imagine most of the high dollar amount 518 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 3: accounts have moved pretty quickly. And it's a wild thing 519 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 3: if you think about, you know, anyone's guess of future 520 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 3: stock market returns is as good as anyone else's. But 521 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,399 Speaker 3: if you think, like at valuations stocks return like maybe 522 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 3: six to seven percent something like that, that, my guess 523 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 3: is as good as anyone else is. So let's say 524 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 3: stocks return six and you can earn five and a 525 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:49,920 Speaker 3: half percent in a money market account. All of a sudden, 526 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,880 Speaker 3: you're like, for the first time in twenty years, it's 527 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,120 Speaker 3: a really it's not an easy decision to make. 528 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, I have to say so, I think, like, you know, 529 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 1: this has come up a few times, you know, on show, 530 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 1: and the first couple of times we discussed that, I'm 531 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: like five percent, Like, that's not that. 532 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 2: Have you finally been rate pill Jack? 533 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's like it's like it's it doesn't really 534 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: seem worth it to like move it over. But now 535 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: like after like a few months, it's like, actually, yeah, 536 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:18,880 Speaker 1: it is, like it is like meaningful. And as you say, 537 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,480 Speaker 1: like if historical returns on the stock market are like 538 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 1: maybe six and a half percent or something like that, 539 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,639 Speaker 1: and now you can get five percent like truly. 540 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:27,879 Speaker 3: On a money market account. 541 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like that's like pretty good, isn't it. 542 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 3: But that's I think that's the world you should live. 543 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 3: There should be some anchor against speculation. There should be 544 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 3: some temptation for your money that is not just a 545 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 3: yolo mentality. 546 00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:41,640 Speaker 1: Do you think like it doesn't feel right now in 547 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 1: September twenty twenty three, that the speculative fervor that we 548 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 1: saw that really peaked in twenty twenty one, Like it 549 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: still feels like there's still like some embers of that right, 550 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: Like you still see meme stocks, like it's not much, 551 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: but like it's still exists. 552 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 3: That's still twenty five, and I think it's I think 553 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 3: it's wrong to just associate speculative frenzies with interest rates. 554 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,679 Speaker 3: You gotta remember the nineteen ninety nine, like the peak 555 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 3: of the dot com bubble, interest rates were higher than 556 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,679 Speaker 3: they are today. So you can have a crazy bubble 557 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 3: with interest rates. I'm sure it plays a role, but 558 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 3: I think just explaining it as like every ten to 559 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 3: twenty years, people collectively lose their minds financially, like irrespective 560 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,239 Speaker 3: interest rates make what easier to do it. But you 561 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 3: could have a giant speculatve bubble with interest rates where 562 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 3: they are today. So it wouldn't surprise me, even with 563 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 3: the hikes that we've had, if there's a new crypto bubble, 564 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 3: a new meme bubble, like whatever it would be. I 565 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 3: think all that is detached from interest rates. 566 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 2: It feels to me like social media is also I 567 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:42,640 Speaker 2: don't want to say new, because we had message boards 568 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety nine and two thousand where people were 569 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,199 Speaker 2: talking up stocks. But it feels like that sort of 570 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 2: added fuel to that dynamic where people are chasing bubbles 571 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 2: rather than running away from them. 572 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it turns into like a tribal mentality, particularly 573 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 3: in the crypto space, where you're willingness and your ability 574 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 3: to buy certain kinds of crypto is your identity. And 575 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 3: I think that also existed in the nineteen nineties, like 576 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 3: I'm a tech stock trainer, that's your identity. And I 577 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 3: think anytime in finance where you say I'm a blank 578 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 3: whatever it is, even I'm a value investor, anytime you 579 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 3: get that kind of tribal identity, you're like outsourcing your 580 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,720 Speaker 3: thinking to the madness of crowds. And I think it's 581 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 3: a really dangerous way to invest. 582 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: Is there a way like to deprogram that for from 583 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:31,080 Speaker 1: you know, deprogrammed someone or deprogram yourself, because like that 584 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 1: lock in effect where like right, some way that you 585 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,239 Speaker 1: invest you know, and I think even like professional like 586 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: professionals have this all the time, Like it seems really hard. 587 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,120 Speaker 1: Just changing your mind is really tough. Is there all, 588 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: like have you in your research? Are there tools or 589 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: like ideas that actually work to like get better at 590 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: changing your minds. 591 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 3: I don't know if there's tools or ideas, but I 592 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,920 Speaker 3: think some people are just much better at being independent 593 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 3: thinkers than others. Even like I said, if you said 594 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 3: I'm a value investor, it seems so conservative and so 595 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 3: so benign. But Josh Brown has made this joke that 596 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 3: a lot of value investors just end up owning like 597 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,159 Speaker 3: typewriter companies for twenty years. And it's like even if 598 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,360 Speaker 3: you lock yourself into that tribe, it's not safe. 599 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: But even like you know, I was thinking too, like 600 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: you know, in the beginning, like and you still have 601 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: this fight. It's like setting aside eve an investment to 602 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,120 Speaker 1: like team Transitory or like team persons when you're debating inflation. 603 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: It's hard to change your mind really, even with new data. 604 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 3: And I think social media makes that really hard too, 605 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,679 Speaker 3: because now there's like a timestamp on every call that 606 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 3: you made in a way that there wasn't before, and 607 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 3: people would much rather be consistent than be right. And 608 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 3: the reason that is is because I think when most 609 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 3: people are looking at a pundit online, they want their 610 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 3: pundit to be consistent. And most people like, if you 611 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 3: tell people what they want to hear, you can be 612 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 3: wrong forever without penalty. So if you want to be 613 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 3: pessimistic and you listen to Peter Schiff for ten years 614 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 3: saying the dollar is going to collapse next month, even 615 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 3: if it doesn't, he told you what you want to hear, 616 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,960 Speaker 3: and you're gonna buy his newsletters and keep on going. 617 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,880 Speaker 3: So in the punditry business, that's the way to do it, 618 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,160 Speaker 3: even if it's like from an economic point of view, 619 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:03,719 Speaker 3: it's terrible. 620 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,160 Speaker 2: Well, we're very good at avoiding consistency on this podcast. 621 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 2: Yet we don't have that problem. We change our minds 622 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 2: all the time. No wait, you mentioned value investing, and 623 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 2: it does feel like, at least up until twenty twenty 624 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 2: and maybe even beyond it, the big money was in 625 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 2: chasing momentum. What does that mean because we're talking about 626 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 2: the fallacy of group thing. But on the other hand, 627 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 2: if you have a really good handle on a certain 628 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 2: narrative or what's going to attract people to a particular investment. 629 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 2: It feels like an advantage. 630 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a great George Soros quote quote where he says, 631 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 3: whenever I see a bubble, I rush into buy it. 632 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:43,479 Speaker 3: And it seems so counterintuitive, like why would you want 633 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 3: to buy a bubble? I think his I don't want 634 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 3: to put words his mouth. I think his thinking is 635 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 3: he understands that a bubble is very likely to grow 636 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 3: bigger than you think, just because everyone else is going 637 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 3: to watch their neighbor to get rich and they're going 638 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 3: to come in, which is exactly what happens every single bubble. 639 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 3: So I think that like the chasing of momentum, Yeah, 640 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 3: it has a huge behavioral component behind it. Now the 641 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:04,719 Speaker 3: hard thing is like getting out before everyone else is 642 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 3: someone like George Sorels can do, but virtually no one 643 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 3: else can. So it's like that has no appeal to 644 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 3: me whatsoever, because the idea that you're going to get 645 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 3: out before everyone else when you're chasing their behavior to 646 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 3: begin with, is betting wrong thing. 647 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: So we talked about it in the beginning like this 648 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: sort of like you know, talk about how personal finance, 649 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: personal money is like there's like two kinds and they're 650 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: both kind of I'm not that great where it's one 651 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 1: is like giving people stock picks and you know, let's 652 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: be honest, and the other one is this sort of 653 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 1: like okay, here's like what credit card to get to 654 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: like maximize miles sitting aside like the speculative frenzy or 655 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 1: investing or mem stock. Do you think what we've experienced 656 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: over the last three years will like meaningfully change how 657 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: people consume going forward in some ways, like just general 658 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: consumption patterns. 659 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 3: I think it's not necessarily the last three years in 660 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 3: terms of COVID being the last three years. I think 661 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 3: it's the last ten years of social media that just 662 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 3: massively changes it. It's always been historically that there's no 663 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 3: objective level of wealth. Everything is just relative to the 664 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 3: people around you, your neighbors, your coworkers, and you're like, 665 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 3: relative to that person, here's how much money I have. 666 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: I always hear people say things like, oh, like compared 667 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: to like a king in the eighteen hundreds, you're so rich. 668 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, great, but my neighbors, Like. 669 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 3: Everyone just looks at the people around you, But now 670 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 3: it's the people around you is Instagram, and it's a 671 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 3: curiated highlight reel like everyone around the world. Someone said recently, 672 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 3: I went from keeping up with the Joneses to keeping 673 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 3: up with the Kardashians, Like that's what social media did. 674 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 3: It went from now you're comparing yourself to the highlight 675 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 3: reel of everyone's life. So I think expectations of what 676 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 3: people's definition is of a good life just exploded over 677 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 3: the last ten years. I can see it with my 678 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 3: seven year old son who spends time on YouTube and 679 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 3: what his definition is all at age seven, of what 680 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 3: success looks like. If you watch Mister Beast all day, 681 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,040 Speaker 3: success is like driving a Lamborghini and throwing ten thousand 682 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,719 Speaker 3: dollars at strangers. And I think there's an element of 683 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 3: that in social media. 684 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: It's just. 685 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 3: It turns into that. But it used to be when 686 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 3: you compare yourself to your neighbors, there's much more mundane 687 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 3: than comparing yourself to Instagram. So I think that's that's 688 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 3: the biggest change in consumption. It's just an inflated expectation, 689 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 3: and it's the Luis k joke of everything's amazing and 690 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 3: nobody's happy. If your expectations grow, that much. Then, even 691 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 3: when there is great economic growth and the stock market 692 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 3: is doing well, it never feels like it's enough because 693 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 3: you're comparing yourself to something crazy. 694 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 2: I mean, listening to that, it sounds kind of dire 695 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 2: in the sense that I don't think social media is 696 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 2: going away anytime soon. What does that mean for the 697 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 2: long term? Is there a way for people to break 698 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:49,520 Speaker 2: out of that mindset? 699 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 3: I don't think there is, And of course social media 700 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 3: is not going away, so it would not surprise I'm 701 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 3: not a forecast kind of guy, but it would not 702 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 3: surprise me. In the next generation, we have very good 703 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 3: economic growth, very good stock market growth, and no one 704 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 3: is even a morsel happier for it. I think that 705 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,959 Speaker 3: that it's already happened over the last generation. I mean, 706 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 3: that's almost the whole history of economic growth, like great growth, 707 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 3: but everyone just gets accustomed to it. And there's parts 708 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 3: of that that's great. That's what keeps people wanting to 709 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 3: push harder and innovate more is because it never feels 710 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 3: like it's enough. So a lot of that is a 711 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 3: great thing. But if you're looking at it's easy today 712 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 3: to think, oh, our grandkids, their real income is going 713 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:29,720 Speaker 3: to be double or triple of ours, and that means 714 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 3: their life is going to be so great. It's like 715 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 3: the second part of that is where people make mistake. 716 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 3: There's a good chance that our grandkids, their real income 717 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 3: will be double or triple of ours, and I would 718 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,959 Speaker 3: bet heavily that they will not be any happier for it. 719 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 2: Right, They'll be like that guy over there has a 720 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 2: bigger spaceship than. 721 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 3: As exactly what it's going to be. 722 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: Yes, well, what do you do like in your in 723 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: your personal life or with your family, or how you 724 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 1: like think about these things to like escape Some of 725 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: these traps are very hard to fall into. 726 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 3: It's not easy to do. I think my wife and I, 727 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 3: who's in the room right now, are pretty good at 728 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 3: just being like, this is what makes us happy, and 729 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 3: we're gonna we're not gonna let a lot of external 730 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 3: influences let us in. But it's hard for everybody. No 731 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 3: one can escape the comparison game. I think it's just 732 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 3: a natural part of how humans behave is just compare 733 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 3: yourself to your peers. So it's not an easy thing 734 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 3: to do. I think there is something to say for 735 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 3: the idea that nobody is thinking about you as much 736 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 3: as you are, so everyone is like, I got to 737 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,479 Speaker 3: get the nicer clothes so that people will be impressed 738 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 3: with me. They're not impressed with you, and they're not thinking. 739 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 3: They're thinking about themselves. No one's thinking about your car, 740 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 3: nobody's thinking about the size of your house. They're all 741 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 3: busy thinking about themselves. Once you understand that, then I 742 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 3: think your aspiration for showing off like plunges, and that's 743 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 3: what you need to be. Like, I'm just happy with this, 744 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 3: hanging out in my family, going for a walk with 745 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 3: my kids. I don't need to show off to people 746 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,800 Speaker 3: who aren't paying any attention to me. But some people 747 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 3: can do that better than others. 748 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,400 Speaker 2: We've been talking a lot about how human beings respond 749 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 2: to change and the idea that maybe we're going from 750 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 2: an environment of low interest rates to one of high 751 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 2: interest rates. You have a new book coming out. My 752 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,640 Speaker 2: understanding is it's all about change. Is that right? 753 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 3: It's about things that never change over time, which I 754 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 3: think is the more important. I got the idea many 755 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,799 Speaker 3: years ago. There's a Jeff Bezos quote that I'll paraphrase. 756 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 3: He said, people always ask me what's going to change 757 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 3: in technology? And a better question is what is never 758 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,680 Speaker 3: going to change? And he said, you can never imagine 759 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 3: a future at Amazon where customers don't want low prices 760 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 3: and big selection. So because you can't imagine that future, 761 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 3: you can invest all of your money into that knowing 762 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:34,839 Speaker 3: it's going to be just as important fifty years from 763 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 3: now as it is today, which you can't say about 764 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,719 Speaker 3: most other technologies. Most other technologies have a shelf life 765 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:41,960 Speaker 3: of a year or two and then they're absollete. So 766 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 3: it was the idea that part of the started for 767 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:47,120 Speaker 3: me with just the observation that both of you know, 768 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 3: most economic predictions and stock market predictions are very bad. 769 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 3: Our ability to predict what the stock it's not very good, 770 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,320 Speaker 3: so and I think part of that reason is because 771 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,520 Speaker 3: we focus, we try to pay attention on what's going 772 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 3: to change, and if we instead pay attention on what 773 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,920 Speaker 3: we know is not going to change, how people pay 774 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,960 Speaker 3: attention and respond to risk and greed and fear. Let's 775 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,279 Speaker 3: just focus on that, knowing for certain that's going to 776 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 3: be part of our future, rather than pretending like we 777 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 3: can predict what might change in the future. 778 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 1: Well, it's funny like even on the stock market, like 779 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: our friend Sam Row, like who has a great newslettercare 780 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,240 Speaker 1: dot com. His whole thing is like stocks usually go up, yes, 781 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,680 Speaker 1: and you know, we could talk all about, oh, what's 782 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: going to happen with like you know, the if the 783 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:31,440 Speaker 1: FED doesn't hike it, you know, the FED hikes in 784 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:33,839 Speaker 1: November and the FED hikes twice, et cetera. But like 785 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: history seems pretty clear, like in the long term, they 786 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: just the line basically goes up. 787 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,320 Speaker 3: There's another version of that. Derek Thompson from The Atlantic 788 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 3: I think he wrote this in like twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. 789 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 3: He said, you know, since two thousand and eight, there 790 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 3: have been hundreds of thousands of articles written about the 791 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 3: economy and what's going to happen. And you can summarize 792 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,800 Speaker 3: all of that period by just saying things got better slowly. 793 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,320 Speaker 3: That's all the economic news you needed to know during 794 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,640 Speaker 3: that ten year period. And so I think I think 795 00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 3: there's a lot. 796 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: Of true I love talking about all this stuff every 797 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,239 Speaker 1: once in a while, I'm like, it's just sort of fun. 798 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 3: But I don't know, no, I think that's an important topic. 799 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 3: I've been open about how I invest I dollar cost 800 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 3: average into index funds, but I pay attention to the 801 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 3: stock market every day. I read all the economic news. 802 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 3: I read the Wall Street Journal every day because I 803 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,799 Speaker 3: think it's interesting. I think markets are interesting, and you 804 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,759 Speaker 3: don't need to take that news and become a day 805 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,080 Speaker 3: trader with that news. But I think markets are such 806 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 3: a fascinating window into human behavior, and there's no other 807 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,359 Speaker 3: window that shows like how people think about greed and 808 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,680 Speaker 3: fear and risk, which are such important topics in all 809 00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:36,319 Speaker 3: areas of life, but you see it in finance in 810 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 3: a starker way than any other topic. 811 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:43,480 Speaker 1: Morgan Housel, so great to finally have you on Outlaws. 812 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,160 Speaker 1: Thank you so much. This is a really fun company. 813 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:48,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, the perfect person for our first personal finance episode. 814 00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:49,520 Speaker 3: I think this has been fun. 815 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,520 Speaker 1: Thanks, this is great. Thank you so much. 816 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:52,840 Speaker 3: Thanks guys. 817 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:06,320 Speaker 1: I'm so glad we've finally had Morgan on. 818 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:06,799 Speaker 3: That was great. 819 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,359 Speaker 2: That was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to the new 820 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 2: book for sure. I also thought the summary of Markets 821 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 2: and Economics as like, it's not really about the line 822 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:19,040 Speaker 2: going up or down, but it's about the human beings 823 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:22,520 Speaker 2: involved in it, the emotions, the sort of like intellectual 824 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,360 Speaker 2: rigor around these ideas. That's the perfect way of summing it. 825 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: Up, Yeah, I totally agree because I basically am of 826 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,920 Speaker 1: this view. It's like the economy will probably overtime grow 827 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,839 Speaker 1: and the stock market over time will go up. And 828 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,040 Speaker 1: I don't want to just leave it at that because 829 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: I do think. 830 00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 2: All this, that's your job, this. 831 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:42,160 Speaker 3: Is my job. 832 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:44,040 Speaker 1: I want people to pay attention. But every once in 833 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 1: a while, I'm like, Okay, why do we pay attention? 834 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,359 Speaker 1: And I think that Morgan captured it as you and 835 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,360 Speaker 1: as you said right there, it's like, it's interesting, we 836 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: learned a lot about how people think and how people behave. 837 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 1: It doesn't necessarily mean like it makes sense to like 838 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: try to like trade to like Morgan Stanley or Goldman's 839 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,160 Speaker 1: like s and p Year in Target or something, right. 840 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:03,440 Speaker 2: I also thought the point about like one of the 841 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:08,279 Speaker 2: things that happened in COVID was the fracturing of people's experiences. 842 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 2: I thought that was really interesting because I think the 843 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:13,759 Speaker 2: knee jerk reaction to a global event like that is 844 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:16,360 Speaker 2: to think, oh, well, we all went through this big, 845 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:21,520 Speaker 2: you know, history making thing. But actually, as Morgan said, 846 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 2: individual experiences varied widely, and I think it makes sense 847 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,600 Speaker 2: that that might be one reason why people now are 848 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,319 Speaker 2: much more distrustful of what they're hearing on a sort 849 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 2: of collective basis. 850 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:34,560 Speaker 1: That was such a good point. That was like a 851 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: light bulb because I guess on some level it's like 852 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 1: maybe that seems obvious, but like that was really well 853 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:44,239 Speaker 1: put in. Like I remember July twenty twenty and I 854 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,759 Speaker 1: was like, things don't seem very good. But then I did, 855 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:48,239 Speaker 1: like you know, I would like follow like these tech 856 00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:51,040 Speaker 1: people and they're like like close another deal today, yeah, 857 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,080 Speaker 1: like over zoom, and I was like wow, like this is. 858 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,480 Speaker 2: A yeah, I'm working from home and like my personal 859 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 2: wealth just went up by ten person, Like. 860 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:00,400 Speaker 1: That's really that bifurcation is really striking. I was like 861 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,280 Speaker 1: this idea of like we had three in the span 862 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,440 Speaker 1: of less than twenty years, yeah, nine to eleven, two 863 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: thousand and one, the Great Financial Layman two thousand and eight, 864 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,120 Speaker 1: and then COVID so less than twenty or three, like 865 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: pretty like sort of earth shattering moments of one way 866 00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 1: or another, Like you see like how like cumulative we 867 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,320 Speaker 1: just begin to expect like oh this is the norm. 868 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:24,799 Speaker 2: No totally, And I think people also react to those 869 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,080 Speaker 2: in different ways because some people might think, well, I 870 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,279 Speaker 2: need to save a ton of money. Yeah, because I 871 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,120 Speaker 2: never know when there's going to be a great recession 872 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:33,120 Speaker 2: coming up next and I'm going to lose my job, 873 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 2: and other people might just think, you know, screw it, 874 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 2: none of this matters. Even if I accumulate all this 875 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,480 Speaker 2: wealth put it in an index fund, Maybe another two 876 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:43,759 Speaker 2: thousand and eight happens tomorrow and it doesn't matter. So 877 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 2: I'm going to buy an NFT instead, right? 878 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:47,239 Speaker 1: Or am I going to be happy with the five 879 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,920 Speaker 1: percent on the CD? Or you know, like I always think, 880 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,479 Speaker 1: you know about the Chinese economy, which is does seem 881 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: to have this same phenomenon of high savings, right, Yeah, 882 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:58,560 Speaker 1: but as you've written a lot about, like some of 883 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:02,240 Speaker 1: the most intense speculative the worldlike people like day trading, 884 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:04,560 Speaker 1: like iron ore futures and stuff like that. 885 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:07,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. All right, well shall we leave it there. 886 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:08,319 Speaker 1: Let's leave it there. 887 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,680 Speaker 2: Okay. This has been another episode of the ad Thoughts Podcast. 888 00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:15,080 Speaker 2: I'm Tracy Alloway. You can follow me at Tracy Alloway. 889 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:17,640 Speaker 1: And I'm Joe Wisenthal. You can follow me at the Stalwart. 890 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,400 Speaker 1: Follow our guest Morgan Housel at Morgan Housel. Follow our 891 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,920 Speaker 1: producers Kerman Rodriguez at Carman Arman and Dash Bennett at Dashbot. 892 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:28,719 Speaker 1: And check out all of our podcasts at Bloomberg under 893 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:32,200 Speaker 1: the handle at podcasts, and for more oddlogs content, go 894 00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 1: to Bloomberg dot com slash Odlogs. We have transcripts, a blog, 895 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: and a newsletter. And check out our discord discord dot 896 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:43,320 Speaker 1: gg slash Odlogs where listeners like yourself, we're chading twenty 897 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:45,480 Speaker 1: four to seven about all of these topics. 898 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,239 Speaker 2: And if you enjoy Oddlots, if you want us to 899 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 2: do more personal finance episodes, then please leave us a 900 00:40:51,480 --> 00:41:12,120 Speaker 2: positive review on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks for listening 901 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:00,960 Speaker 2: in 902 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:13,680 Speaker 1: In