Investing: The Last Liberal Act
Investing: The Last Liberal Art explores basic and fundamental investing concepts in a range of fields outside of economics. It discusses how the theory of evolution disrupts the notion of the efficient market and how reading strategies for literature can be gainfully applied to investing research. Building on Charlie Munger's famous "latticework of mental models" concept, Hagstrom argues that it is impossible to make good investment decisions based solely on a strong knowledge of finance theory alone. This book is also equipped with a hundred new titles to the invaluable reading list.
"I read this book in one sitting: I could not put it down."
― Peter L. Bernstein, author of Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
"Elegant and irresistible. Robert G. Hagstrom makes the complex clear as he confidently crisscrosses through the disciplines of finance, biology, physics, and literature. The only way to understand investing better, [investing] shows, is to understand the world better. Ideas spark off the page at every turn. This is simply a gem of a book."
― James Surowiecki, New Yorker
"Investing is a brisk and engaging read, and it is a pleasure to be in the presence of Hagstrom's agile mind."
― International Herald Tribune
"Successful investing requires hard work and mental acuity. investing: The Last Liberal Art allows you to approach the task with a full set of power tools instead of a simple screwdriver. Robert Hagstrom masterfully makes the case for a multi-disciplinary approach and then equips you with a dazzling array of ideas from essential fields of study. I wish I could have read this book 25 years ago."
— Michael Mauboussin, Author of More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places and The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing
"Investing is a brisk and engaging read, and it is a pleasure to be in the presence of Hagstrom's agile mind. But while Hagstrom's model of the market as a complex, irrational and ultimately human emanation is provocative, the book is most successful as an educational manifesto."
— New York Times
"Highly recommended as a supplementary resource especially for anyone considering a career in finance, or direct personal management of their own investments."