The Hindu Business Line : Money and happiness are unrelated

Financiers take risks and make money, but have faced criticism from ancient times for not producing anything useful. The counter argument is that any economy can’t grow without the financial innovations that root out the inefficient and the incompetent, and provide capital for business, says ‘All the Money in the World’ by Peter W. Bernstein and Annalyn Swan ( www.landmarkonthenet. com ).

“If nothing else, financiers are ingenious at recycling capital.” Out of the busts of the early twenty-first century, even greater Forbes 400 fortunes have arisen, note the authors. “The successors to George Soros and Julian Robertson are a close-knit, secretive group of men in their thirties, forties, and fifties who often run funds half the size of their predecessors, but with more diverse strategies that also get out-size returns.”

The book takes you on a tour of big wealth and its ways, and concludes with a discussion of the age-old question: Does money make one happy? “Money may not bring happiness, but it brings such a good imitation that it is often hard to tell from the real thing,” reads a quote of William Feather. “Money does not bring happiness. It brings complexity,” says Kavitark Ram Shriram. And Ross Perot, a Forbes 400 member for 25 years, declares, “Money and happiness are unrelated.”

A treasure of insights.

Sacred and sustainable

Buddhists believe donation to others is an essential step on the path to full enlightenment, writes Bill Clinton in ‘Giving’ ( www.rbooks.co.uk ). “In Jewish law and tradition, giving, tzedakah, is obligatory, up to at least 10 per cent of income. The literal meaning the Hebrew word tzedakah is ‘righteousness,’ but it also is used to refer to justice and to giving to those in need,” the author mentions.

“Islam also has made charity, zakat, obligatory for all those who embrace the faith. Muslims believe that all human beings should be one another’s well-wishers, that the wealthy have a sacred duty to help the poor, disabled, and others in need.” Likewise, Christians are taught to tithe a tenth of their income to the church.

All faiths make giving an imperative, the author observes. Believer or non-believer, we all live in an interdependent world in which everyone matters, and our survival depends upon an understanding that our common humanity is more important than our differences, reminds Clinton.

“Who’s happier? The uniters or the dividers? The builders or the breakers? The givers or the takers?” he asks. “I think you know the answer,” he adds.

Of great relevance to current times.
Changing attitudes

“Prices are determined by one thing and one thing only, and that is people’s changing attitudes toward the emerging fundamentals,” says ‘Martin Pring on Price Patterns’ ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com ). “If it were not for the fact that these changing attitudes move in trends and that trends tend to perpetuate, market prices would be nothing more than a random event, which would mean that technicians would be out of business.”

Pring defines technical analysis as ‘the art of identifying a trend reversal at a relatively early stage and riding that trend until the weight of the evidence shows or proves that the trend has reversed.” Look at price patterns, not in isolation, but as one indicator along with several other indicators, in the weight-of-the-evidence approach, the author guides. “Over the years, technicians have developed literally thousands of indicators,” and you can select four or five indicators you feel comfortable with, he suggests.

Recommended addition to the serious investor’s shelf.
No ultimate victory

The Astors were invincible warriors, wandering and winning battles. Growing tired of their nomadic life, they built an imposing fortress and began to lead a life of merriment. Decades passed by, during which the enemies of Astors gathered strength. One silent night, the enemies attacked the fortress with cannons – a contraption that the Astors had not seen…

Narrating the story, J.R. Sterling writes in ‘The Street-Smart Parables’ ( www.jaicobooks.com ), that complacency can be big killer. Past success is past, and any strategy can get decayed, he counsels. “There is no ultimate victory in the new economy; there is only having the strength to battle another day,” reads a quote of Jack Welch, aptly cited in the book.

Suggested daytime read.
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