Love it, or hate it, #MintTheCoin (and then #PrintTheIOU) got a lot of attention in recent days. And since you've probably had your fill of pundits for and against the idea/s, I'm not going to assemble list of related articles in this post. But if you would like to read about the economics of the $1 trillion platinum coin, here is one piece to consider: Platinomics from the Economist.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the issue of the debt ceiling and Congress's ineptitude has prompted some to ask: Just how unpopular is Congress these days? Well, according to a new poll that surveyed 830 American voters: "Congress is now less popular than root canals, NFL replacement referees, head lice, the rock band Nickelback, colonoscopies, carnies, traffic jams, cockroaches, Donald Trump, France, Genghis Khan, used-car salesmen and Brussel sprouts."
And now without further ado, these are some of the other articles I found interesting, in case you missed them:
Investing
- In a note to clients, Howard Marks, founder of Oaktree Capital Management, cautions that "the wise man invested aggressively in late 2008 and early 2009 . . . only the fool is doing so now." (Oaktree Capital Management, PDF)
- Don't write off the 60/40 portfolio just yet. (InvestmentNews)
Behavioral Finance/Retirement
- At every age people think they are done changing, and at every age, people are wrong: "Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to Be." (New York Times)
- See also "Stay Alive: Imagine Yourself Decades From Now," in which Cass R. Sunstein, the former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, discusses the "present bias," which "leads some of us to make decisions that produce short-term rewards but long-term headaches. . . . With respect to health and finances, some people seem to think about their future selves in the same way that they think about complete strangers." Sunstein writes about an interesting experiment to assess whether anything be done to encourage people to give the future a bit more weight. "Hal Hershfield, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and his co-authors tried a simple nudge: Provide people with digital pictures designed to show them what they will look like a few decades from now. Then explore whether seeing those pictures will make people more likely to save for the future, rather than spending the same money on a fun occasion or 'to buy something nice for someone special'," Sunstein writes. "The result? People who were exposed to images of their future selves significantly increased (and in some cases more than doubled) the amount of money that they allocated to their retirement account [emphasis mine]." (Bloomberg)
Economics
- Noah Smith, author of the incredibly funny blog post, "EconoTrolls: An Illustrated Bestiary," takes on a more serious subject — "the multiplier" and why it doesn't matter. As Smith explains, what he means is "the 'pure' or theoretical Keynesian fiscal multiplier doesn't matter, in the United States, at this time." (Noahpinion)
Practice Management/Leadership
- In his blog post, "Are You the Don Draper of Your Wealth Management Firm?," Brian Lauzon, CFA, managing principal at AdvisorAssist, looks at the organizational dynamics of having "star" performers and concludes that "wealth management firms that revolve around their own versions of Don Draper bear significant key person and succession risk." (AdvisorAssist)
- G. J. Hart, executive chairman, CEO and president of California Pizza Kitchen, tells Adam Bryant, Corner Office columnist at The New York Times, that there are six steps of leadership, surrounded by courage: (1) be the very best that you can be, because you can’t lead anybody if you can’t lead yourself; (2) dream, and dream big; (3) lead with your heart first; (4) trust the people you lead; (5) do the right thing, always; and (6) ultimately it's about serving the people you lead. (New York Times)
- If you never read What It Takes by the late Richard Ben Cramer, read this write-up from 1992: "The Man Inside the Hopefuls’ Heads." If you are wondering why, The New York Times described Cramer's tome as "a prodigious account of the 1988 presidential election that has been widely hailed as among the finest books about American politics ever written." (Washington Post)
The Industry
- Is Singapore the new Switzerland? (Huffington Post)
And Now for Something Completely Different
- Make yourself a coffee, settle in to a comfy chair, and enjoy one of the most entertaining (and fascinating) articles I have read in a while: "A Pickpocket's Tale: The Spectacular Thefts of Apollo Robbins." (The New Yorker)
Please note that the content of this site should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute.
Photo credit: ©iStockphoto.com/JLGutierrez