Kick the Dogma

Ladder or Lottery?

Good non-fiction books teach you something. Great non-fiction books make you think. And the latest book from Gary Hoover, Ladder or Lottery, Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead, did just that. You might think, I’ve heard this story. Income inequality, rich people and their children have inherent advantages. It isn’t a fair world. Well, you’ve heard a story, but you’ve heard a different version of it. Versions that emphasize college admissions, the varsity blues scandal, ACT tutors, financial aid shenanigans, maybe nepotism. But those are symptoms of a deeper problem, or maybe signals…bread crumbs…The deeper problem is that the social contract that many of us grew up believing was central to our country’s values, one I certainly benefited from, that said if you did a list of things put before you, checked all those boxes, you would be rewarded with personal, professional, and financial progress. I had the pleasure of speaking with Gary this past week for the Kick the Dogma Podcast. And what he does is go back to “first principles” and it’s there, that no matter the subtopic, be it healthcare, education, family structure, student loan debt, employment certainly…you can see the erosion of the social contract. Buy the book here! [https://www.amazon.com/Ladder-Lottery-Economic-Promises-Reality/dp/0520402626] Here’s my talk with Professor Gary Hoover.

The Middle-Class New Deal

Buy The Middle-Class New Deal here: https://www.amazon.com/Middle-Class-New-Deal-Restoring-Mobility/dp/0520423399 [https://www.amazon.com/Middle-Class-New-Deal-Restoring-Mobility/dp/0520423399]

Busting the Bankers’ Club

New Ep is Up! Bankers brought the global economic system to its knees in 2007 and nearly did the same in 2020. Both times, the US government bailed out the banks and left them in control. How can we end this cycle of trillion-dollar bailouts and make finance work for the rest of us? Busting the Bankers' Club confronts the powerful people and institutions that benefit from our broken financial system—and the struggle to create an alternative. Today we have Professor Gerald Epstein, author of Busting the Bankers’ Club: Finance for the Rest of Us. It was a great talk, about the history of banking regulation, the revolving door between government and industry that poisons our financial system, central bank independence, a fascinating concept called public banking, and my favorite topic, bailouts, what does that word even mean, who is getting bailed out, and WHY. Listen up, Jon Stewart and the Daily Show [https://www.cc.com/shows/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart], you should have Professor Epstein on, because that last question boils down to privatization of profits and socialization of losses, a favorite topic of Mr. Stewart’s. Follow Professor Epstein on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerald-epstein-60aa1920/] or at UMass Amherst [https://www.umass.edu/economics/epstein]. Buy the book here [https://www.amazon.com/Busting-Bankers-Club-Finance-Rest/dp/0520385640] or wherever books are sold.

The Ownership Dividend…

Today we talk to historian, fund manager, and author Daniel Peris. In his fourth book, The Ownership Dividend, Daniel makes the persuasive case that we are on the verge of a major paradigm shift for investors in the U.S. stock market. Dividend-focused stock investing, he explains, has been receding in popularity for more than three decades in the U.S.; once the dominant investment style, it is now a boutique approach. That, argues Peris, is about to change. Daniel Peris is a fund manager at Federated Hermes, but leans heavily on his academic and professional past as a historian to allocate capital. You can follow Daniel here on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-peris/], and here on X [https://twitter.com/HistoryInvestor]. Buy The Ownership Dividend wherever books are sold, including here [https://www.amazon.com/Ownership-Dividend-Daniel-Peris/dp/1032273194/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TICOQRH1ZOUZ&keywords=ownership+dividend&qid=1706808628&sprefix=ownership+dividend%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1]. (New intro music by Gregor Quendel sourced at Pixabay)

The Abundant University

New Ep is up! Today we have Michael D Smith, Professor of Information Technology and Marketing at Carnegie Mellon, and the author of the new book, The Abundant University: Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World. College has been in the news a lot the last few years, mostly due to the skyrocketing cost and the student loan debt crisis. Also, the Varsity Blues admissions scandal and some recent chaos in college rankings by publishers trying to stay relevant in the space. It just reeks of an institution ripe for disruption. As you’ll hear, the Internet is something that has been expected to transform higher education for a long time. I think this is a when not an if, and the when might be right now. Follow Michael on the Carnegie Mellon website here [https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/faculty-research/profiles/smith-michaeld], and LinkedIn here [https://www.linkedin.com/in/msmith17/]. Buy the book where ever books are sold, including here on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Abundant-University-Remaking-Education-Digital/dp/0262048558].