Common Sense: The Investor's Guide to Equality, Opportunity, and Growth

by Joel Greenblatt

The United States is supposed to offer economic opportunity to everyone. It shouldn’t take a worldwide pandemic and nationwide protests to bring economic and racial inequality to the forefront of problems we desperately need to solve. But now that the opportunity is here, what should we do? How can we create more equality, opportunity, and growth for everyone? Not someday, but what can government and the private sector do right now to disrupt a status quo that almost everyone wants to change?

In Common Sense , the New York Times best-selling author Joel Greenblatt offers an investor’s perspective on building an economy that truly works for everyone. With dry wit and engaging storytelling, he makes a lively and provocative case for disruptive new approaches―some drawn from personal experience, some from the outside looking in. How can leading corporations immediately disrupt our education establishment while creating high-paying job opportunities for those currently left behind? If we want a living wage for everyone, how can we afford it while using an existing program to get it done now? If we subsidize banks, what simple changes can we make to the way we capitalize and regulate them to help grow the economy, increase access, and create more jobs (while keeping the risks and benefits where they belong)? Greenblatt also explains how dramatically increasing immigration would be like giving every American a giant bonus and the reason Australia might be the best place to learn about saving for retirement.

Not everyone will agree with what Greenblatt has to say―but all of us can benefit from the conversations he aims to start.

Genres: Finance, Business, Nonfiction, Economics, Politics

144 pages, Hardcover

Published September 8, 2020

About the author

Joel Greenblatt is an American hedge fund manager and founder of Gotham Capital. He is also an academic and a writer. He is also an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is the former chairman of the board of Alliant Techsystems and founder of the New York Securities Auction Corporation.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a review copy of “Common Sense” in exchange for a fair review. Joel Greenblatt is an engaging writer. I enjoyed his “The Little Book That Beats The Market.” He explains financial concepts in an engaging way that doesn’t require knowledge of sophisticated math concepts and so I was intrigued about the title and thought that he would be discussing a more socially responsible way to invest. However, this book is only very, very peripherally related to investing. It is more a policy-oriented book about education, immigration and banking regulation.

I am not of the opinion that an expert in one area of knowledge can’t make a cogent and authoritative argument in other areas, so I was amenable to hearing his views. On education, he convincingly argues that public education is just as much about politics ( if not more) than being held accountable for overall excellence. He is a believer in public charter schools so that children who live in zip codes with high levels of poverty and a lower income tax base can achieve academic success.
He also argues for “alternative certification,” for students who don’t pursue the college route. He believes businesses could hire workers who have the necessary skills to be hired without a college degree by designing educational offerings that would demonstrate knowledge and understanding, This would be a good idea provided children are not “funneled” in this direction because of poor schools. Fix the root problem rather than design a work-around.
Greenblatt also champions the benefit of highly-skilled immigration from an economic perspective and courageously outlines the cost:benefit of immigration based on various educational levels. Fortunately, he doesn’t demean the noble history of the US in accepting immigrants who might not have an advanced education. Unfortunately, in the current political environment, I fear that any argument against immigration is one that loses nuance and is used to promote the most restrictive version of immigration possible and heightens an “us versus them” mentality that is not conducive to understanding and tolerance.

I think his perspectives on banking ( too lenient in my opinion) and allowing individual investments in Social Security (he cites Australia as a model) as part of a more robust retirement income replacement policy is fraught with too many unknowns and therefore risky, but he puts forth a sensible argument.

In conclusion, this book, based on the writer’s background, is misclassified as an “investing” book under the traditional definition of investing and investment, but it’s still a well-written book that looks to improve our current socioeconomic condition and can generate some civil discussion., which is no small thing.

[Fellow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original, well researched, data driven, and thought provoking ideas for policies that could solve some important issues in the USA - but not only there.

[Dave Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely US-centric and the book focuses on some logical solutions for social problems facing the US from education to retirement savings. While it is well written, it is limited in scope to US issues and therefore, I didn't clean much from the actual information presented in the book. The only other glaring takeaway I took from this is the logic Greenblatt applies to the subjects discussed in the book, All subjects, in some ways, rely on an institutional design that allows for human behaviour to either be removed from the equation or conform to a "logic" based action. Humans are inherently illogical, so I am not sure any of these efforts would work in the real world.

Interesting thought experiment though. This does make me empathise with my American colleagues though. A lot of American society feels hellish after reading this book.

[Brian Moyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because I really enjoyed his Little Book that Beats the Market. There are really some common sense ideas here. His H1B3 suggestions seem like a no-brainer. Also an expansion of the EITC to reach $15/hr in a phased approach. I particularly liked his suggestion of a company-led certification ecosphere to get people good jobs that didn't go to college. Australia's superannuation retirement scheme is very interesting. I'll have to read more about it. He loses me a little on the charter school idea - I think it can be a great alternative approach in underserved communities, especially if government funding hasn't helped outcomes, but widespread adoption isn't needed.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short book by Greenblatt, but not about investing. He opined on a number of social issues, using the analysis framework of an investor. Issues such as education, immigration, bank regulation and retirement saving. Unlike most such books, which only point out the problem, Greenblatt offers his solution to these problems. He thinks those are common sense solutions. It’s a short read, and I appreciate the honesty. But I think he alluded to it already that the obstacles are usually politics, not the solutions.

[Ill_Literate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the cases Greenblatt argues for in this book are perfectly sensible and well written, and I don't really have any objections. However I'm giving this a low rating because I don't really see the purpose of reading this book? I kept waiting for some through line that would connect all of these arguments to a greater lesson but that never came. Ultimately a bit of a waste of time, unless you're specifically looking to hear a perspective on one of the covered issues.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent distillation of several problems endemic in the US system including education, retirement savings, too big to fail banking subsidies and low earners. Greenblatt carefully states the problems and offers solutions, that, on their face value seem remarkably reasonable. A shame that partisan politics, zero sum thinking and entrenched interests can't get over their myopia.

[Mzakaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joel explores various topics:
Education/Charter Schools
Certification for Jobs instead of 4 year education
Retirement
Banks being too big to fail
Social Security
Immigration

He gives his opinion on what the best solution can be for these. The chapter about banking is an excellent explanation on the shaking status of our banks. And how Dodd-Frank helped deleverage (some) of these risks.

[Wenguang Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read and very creative and practical solutions to important social problems

Fun to read and very creative and practical solutions to the inequality and other problems! Recommended for everybody! Hope to see his solutions get realized in real life.

[Alessandro Orlandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book about investing but still interesting. It's about how politics are so angry to each other they lose the facts and avoid looking at problem with a more logic way. here Joel as very logic person states the fact and tries to find some better solution to problems in our society.

[Ensen Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good ideas about real problems

While I don’t believe all of his ideas are workable as presented,Joel recognizes some of the thorniest of our times. And he offers more than the status quo.

[Brendan Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an easy read that provides useful information on his views as it relates to topics such as achieving equality. I was particularly interested in the information documented about charter schools.

[Heikki Keskiväli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big fan of Greenblatt - not a fan of this book.

Took way too long to get to the core idea of the book, and still wondering why the book exists. It’s more a collection of few ideas than a book. I was expecting much MUCH more.

[Suhrob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well intentioned and collects several promising ideas.
My only gripe is that upon closer analysis, the science on these proposals is not quite as decided as Greenblatt presents.
Nonetheless, these are important topics, deserving attention and work.

[Ikweethetniet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joel's concern and possible solutions regarding a few major social issues were the focus of the book. I went in blind, not sure what to expect. It was a decent short read with some interesting points, though it was hard to take away much from it as a resident on the other side of the ocean.

[Spence Byer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast/short, informative, and gives pragmatic ideas for key American policy - worth the time

[Andrew Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read offering simple solutions to make the system more equitable for all.

[Denny Troncoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book wrong title

[Lefthat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ratings of this book represent ability to understand what this book is all about. Read it again, Google terms you do not understand and develop your sense of humor while at it.

[Matt Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too political

[Jørgen Astrup · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that interested in his view of the school system. Dident enjoy the content

[Sanford Chee]

Bloomberg Interview on relative value investing:
Joel Greenblatt on Relative Value Investing (Podcast) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/...

Podcast w/ Ted Siedes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast...