Common Sense: The Investor’s Guide to Equality, Opportunity, and Growth

In Common Sense, the New York Times best-selling author Joel Greenblatt offers an investor’s perspective on building an economy that truly works for everyone. With dry wit and engaging storytelling, he makes a lively and provocative case for disruptive new approaches―some drawn from personal experience, some from the outside looking in.

Author’s Note:

I’m a professional investment manager and businessman. In a sense, I’m just a guy sitting in the cheap seats. My main skill set involves doing research and then trying to figure out which business models make sense and which ones don’t. Though I have a long-term record that indicates I’m pretty good at that task, I’m still wrong an awful lot. Maybe you shouldn’t really care what I think.

Still, I can’t help having opinions, and yelling at the newspaper hasn’t been very productive. Then again, the Moneyball-like analytics that now dominate decisions at virtually every major league sports team actually originated from the ideas of fans literally sitting in the stands—not from the experienced sports executives sitting in team offices. Of course, that proves nothing—other than approaching issues from a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds can sometimes be helpful.

Though I’ve worked in education reform for the last twenty- five years and even helped start one of the largest charter school networks in the country, I’m not a professional educator. But nearly everyone agrees that true equality starts with a good education. So, it should be troubling that our education system is literally designed to be unequal from the start. Yet, as an investor, it’s hard to imagine a bigger payoff than successfully teaching children how to fish.

Contents:

• GOING TO SCHOOL
• GETTING AN EDUCATION
• TECHNOLOGY, GLOBALIZATION, AND DISRUPTION
• IMMIGRATION
• WALL STREET
• SAVING TIME AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Common Sense: The Investor's Guide to Equality, Opportunity, and Growth By Joel Greenblatt pdf