Mark Higgins: Financial History Is More Relevant Than People Think
The Long View
Agency conflicts in investment consulting
Mark criticizes consultant incentives that push complexity and alternatives rather than simpler, lower-cost portfolios.
Our guest on the podcast today is Mark Higgins. Mark serves as senior vice president for IFA Institutional, where he specializes in providing advisory services to institutional plans such as endowments, foundations, pension plans, defined-contribution plans, and various corporate plans. He’s the author of Investing in US Financial History: Understanding the Past to Forecast the Future. Mark graduated from Georgetown University, Phi Beta Kappa, and Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in English and psychology. He received an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He is a CFA Charterholder and CFP professional. Mark, welcome to The Long View.
Background
Investing in US Financial History: Understanding the Past to Forecast the Future
Articles and Papers Discussed
“The Story of Hetty Green: America’s First Value Investor and Financial Grandmaster,” by Mark Higgins, ssrn.com, March 11, 2022.
“Rediscovering an American Treasure: The True Value of Hetty Green’s Legacy,” by Mark Higgins and Bethany Bengtson, researchgate.net, February 2025.
“Investors Can Temper Their Inflation Fears: Post-Covid Inflation Is Unlikely to Resemble the Great Inflation of 1968-1982,” by Mark Higgins, papers.ssrn.com, Aug. 15, 2021.
“The Phantom Menace: Inflated Expectations,” by Mark Higgins, finhistory.substack.com, Sept. 26, 2023.
“Six Stages of Asset Bubbles: The Crypto Crash,” by Mark Higgins, businesstimes.com, Jan. 24, 2023.
Other
“Origins of the Great Inflation,” by Allan Meltzer, fedinprint.org, 2005.
“The Anguish of Central Banking,” Lecture by Arthur F. Burns, perjacobsson.org, Sept. 30, 1979.
“A Rediscovered Masterpiece by Benjamin Graham,” by Jason Zweig, jasonzweig.com, March 31, 2015.
“Portraits in Oversight: Ferdinand Pecora and the 1929 Stock Market Crash,” levin-center.org.
Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment, by David Swensen
“Private Equity Confronts Swollen Investment Backlogs With Dealmaking Stuck,” by Maria Armental, wsj.com, June 2, 2025.
“The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be for These Funds,” by Jason Zweig, wsj.com, June 6, 2025.
The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence, by Robert Samuelson
The Big Board: A History of the New York Stock Market, by Robert Sobel
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