Markets as Complex Adaptive Systems and the Dangers of Information Cascades

"Who is America’s best-known banker? That would be Jamie Dimon. But who is the richest? That would be Andy Beal, with an estimated net worth of $9 billion." Friend-of-the-show Frederik Gieschen joins us for an impromptu conversation about his article on the life and work of Andy Beal, the richest banker in America. Important Links:

• High Roller: Lessons from America’s Richest Banker
• Frederik’s Twitter
• Frederik’s Substack
• Frederik’s previous episode
• The Internet Contrarian

Show Notes:

• The Arena, the Maze, and the Labyrinth
• Why do myths endure?
• “You can’t do a good deal with a bad person”
• America’s richest banker: the Andrew Beal story
• Agreeableness, contrarianism, and accountability
• Thinking like a banker vs. thinking like an investor
• The random buzz generator: How to fight linear thinking
• The alchemy of success
• Bubbles: When heterogeneity becomes homogeneity
• “The higher you rise in a hierarchy, the less good the information you get.”
• Deterministic vs. probabilistic thinking
• The difference between being an investor and being in the investing business
• The return of Andrew Beal
• The importance of agility
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• The Cosmic Trigger trilogy; by Robert Anton Wilson
• Aesop’s Fables; by Aesop
• Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art; by James Nestor
• The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time; by Michael Craig
• What Works on Wall Street; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life; by Alice Schroeder