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Investing: The Last Liberal Art

Robert G. Hagstrom

4.10 · Rating details · 723 ratings · 58 reviews

Offering a picture of investing within the larger world, this title explains how investment managing works by borrowing the big ideas from other complex disciplines: biology, economics, mathematics, philosophy, physics and psychology. In the biology chapter, Hagstrom analyses the central nervous system and the immune system as complex adaptive systems and then draws parall ...more

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Paperback, 224 pages

Published April 22nd 2002 by Texere Publishing (first published November 17th 2000)

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Nov 03, 2013 Ian Robertson rated it it was amazing

Investing: The Last Liberal Art contains no direction on how to read a balance sheet, or on how to project earnings into the future and discount them back to today’s value, nor are there arcane financial terms to send readers scrambling for dictionaries. Still, Investing is an essential book for professional and amateur stock pickers who want to excel, portfolio managers preparing to interview prospective analysts, and investors trying to choose amongst the many advisors ready to serve their nee Investing: The Last Liberal Art contains no direction on how to read a balance sheet, or on how to project earnings into the future and discount them back to today’s value, nor are there arcane financial terms to send readers scrambling for dictionaries. Still, Investing is an essential book for professional and amateur stock pickers who want to excel, portfolio managers preparing to interview prospective analysts, and investors trying to choose amongst the many advisors ready to serve their needs.

Hagstrom takes his central premise that a broad education will pay dividends in investment performance from Warren Buffett’s quieter partner, Charlie Munger. Munger, through several speeches and in his book Poor Charlie’s Almanack, contends that to be successful in stock picking “you’ve got to have models in your head ... and you’ve got to array your experiences - both vicarious and direct - on this latticework of models.”

Hagstrom takes Munger’s latticework idea and provides both the ‘why’ and the ‘how to’ in a concise, straightforward and entertaining format - a bit like Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything through an investment lens. He covers physics, biology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, literature, and mathematics, and concludes with a chapter on decision making. Hagstrom helpfully appends the reading list for the Maryland’s St. John’s College, where “the entire curriculum is devoted to discussing the great books of Western civilization; [where] there are no separate disciplines or departments, no electives,” and his bibliography is even broader - another excellent source for those wishing to take up his challenge.

There is, of course, information directly relevant to investors. In his chapter on Psychology, Hagstrom ponders the question ‘How often should investors review their holdings to be “indifferent to the historical distribution of returns on stocks and bonds?” From pioneering work of behavioural economists Richard Thaler and Shlomo Benartzi, the answer is once per year. When smartphones come pre-loaded with apps allowing us second by second stock valuations, and when larger market swings generate headlines in all media, our instinctual “myopic loss aversion” kicks in and we are driven to suboptimal investment decisions. Without knowing our own psychological predispositions - we feel losses about twice as intensely as gains - it is impossible to correct for them and to achieve superior returns. We should be strategic rather than tactical with our investment portfolios.

In his chapter on Philosophy, Hagstrom shifts from individual traits to those of the broader market. “One reason we have such difficulty understanding markets is that we have been locked into an equilibrium description of how they should behave.” “We must remain open minded to accepting new descriptions of systems that appear complex.” Hagstrom’s first point harkens to his chapter on physics, while the second relates to his chapter on biology. Markets are complex systems with many feedback loops, and “the only way to do better than someone else, or more importantly, to outperform the stock market, is to have a different way of interpreting the data that is different from other people’s interpretations. To that I would add the need to have sources of information and experiences that are different.” A broader reading list rather than more Google alerts.

For investors trying to sort through investment advisors’ credentials and experience, Hagstrom offers some considerations in his final chapter on decision making. “Having been schooled in modern portfolio theory and the efficient market hypothesis, will [they] quickly and automatically default to [the] physics-based model of how markets operate, or will [they] slow down [their] thinking and also consider the possibility that the market’s biological function could be altering the outcome? Even if the market looks hopelessly efficient, will [they] also consider that the wisdom of the crowds is only temporary?” The latticework that advisors use is just as important as their technical education.

“Reading this book requires both an intellectual curiosity and a significant measure of patience,” cautions Hagstrom, perhaps underestimating his audience, but readers will be well rewarded and very likely more successful with their investing. Despite its broad relevance, unfortunately, Investing will likely find audience only with those already inclined towards the Gatsby ideal - “that most limited of all specialists, the ‘well-rounded man’.” (With apologies for Fitzgerald’s gender bias).
...more

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May 05, 2016 May Ling rated it it was amazing

Shelves: finance, reading-about-reading-writing

I have rallied against STEM and business education for some time and it's rally against the liberal arts who like Ghandi do not put up a fight. This is yet another book that articulates so well the net affect on society.

The book is written with such positive light of what a liberal arts education could do for a person. The ability to think is what should be the focus, not the acquisition of knowledge. It has several great book lists that I hope to add to my noggin. I love the examples from Char ...more

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Jan 28, 2020 Pedro Esperanca rated it it was amazing

Easy to read book on polydisciplinary wisdom.
As most of the best books on this subject, investing, even though being the main focus, is simply in the background.

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Aug 21, 2018 InvestingByTheBooks.com rated it it was amazing

In the last chapter, the author writes something that perfectly sets the context for this in my mind slightly overlooked investment book (1st ed 2000): “Improving the resource condition of our System 2 thinking – that is to say, deepening and broadening our reserves of relevant information – is the principal reason this book was written”. Writing that in 2000, two years before Daniel Kahneman received the Swedish Riksbank’s economic prize in memory of Alfred Nobel for a lifetime’s effort to put In the last chapter, the author writes something that perfectly sets the context for this in my mind slightly overlooked investment book (1st ed 2000): “Improving the resource condition of our System 2 thinking – that is to say, deepening and broadening our reserves of relevant information – is the principal reason this book was written”. Writing that in 2000, two years before Daniel Kahneman received the Swedish Riksbank’s economic prize in memory of Alfred Nobel for a lifetime’s effort to put System 2 in people’s System 1 (so to speak), the timing was impeccable. However, Robert Hagstrom’s elegant book had one drawback: the title. Named Latticework: The New Investing it failed to catch attention. This was however resolved the next year with the paperback edition. Scholars populating the world of Benjamin Franklin, Charlie Munger and the Santa Fe institute are certainly familiar with the reference point of the original title: Munger’s presentation to the students at USC in April of 1994, where he spoke under the header Stock Picking As a Subdivision of The Art of Worldly Wisdom. This speech, and Hagstrom’s book shoot off from the assumption that uniting the mental models from several disciplines – physics, biology, psychology, philosophy etc. – to create a figurative latticework of understanding is a powerful tool to build a richer life and achieving superior investment results along the way.

The journey towards worldly wisdom travels through two equally important territories. Firstly, learning significant concepts from the different disciplines (“the big ideas”). Secondly, learning to recognize patterns of similarities among them. Investing: The Last Liberal Art deals with the former, by way of educating and stimulating the reader of the starting points to the big ideas within seven disciplines. Perfectly fitting to the idea of interconnectedness and understanding X due to seeing the similarities with Y, Hagstrom is the obvious hand-in-glove author of this book. Being intimately familiar with the Buffett and Munger worldly views via several previous books (The Warren Buffett Way as the standout), he also works at Legg Mason Investments whose collaboration with the Mungeresque multi-disciplinary Santa Fe Research Institute, gives him a continuous and re-enforcing education on the topic.

But then how is the world of economics and finance related to physics, biology and philosophy et al? For starters, what is supply and demand if not the (physics) law of equilibrium at work? The chapter on physics overall is a gem, where I personally am most intrigued by the importance of the cumulative nature of human knowledge – a backbone of the latticework model. There would be no “Sir” in Isaac Newton without Kepler, Galilei and Descartes. And furthermore would there have been a Eugene Fama without Newton, Bachelier and Samuelson? As for biology: “Natura non facit saltum” (the motto of The Origin of Species). Nature does not make leaps. And neither does capitalism, explaining why certain businesses generate “über-profits” without extra competition for prolonged periods of time (and vice versa). Great companies in good industries tend to stay that way, an obvious early-age Munger- realization. In one of the more intricate twists of irony, Sir Isaac Newton himself was made poster boy for another important piece of the latticework puzzle; sociology, via the infamous South Sea Company mania. How can sociology be important to one’s reference points? By interlinking biology’s adaptive systems with psychology, it explains the simultaneous brilliance and madness of crowds. The key separator of course is societies needing to be diverse and independent (i.e. individuals independent of each other), which of course is not the case in financial markets with everybody watching the same CNBC.

As the author aptly suggests, let’s give Charlie Munger – who bizarrely could be one of the more underappreciated figures in finance outside a tiny cult-clique – the last word: “What I’m urging on you is not that hard to do. And the rewards are awesome. It’ll help you in business... It’ll help you in life. And it’ll help you in love...It makes you better able to serve others and...yourself, and it makes life more fun”. Loollapalooza, Munger-style! ...more

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Mar 25, 2020 Abdullah rated it it was amazing

Charlie Munger once said "stock picking is a subdivision of the art of worldly wisdom". Instead of looking at markets through mere finance/economics lens, you need to consider a wide body of knowledge.

Combining mental models from different disciplines to form a latticework of understanding can lead to ideas with high conviction. Physics, Biology, Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, Literature, Mathematics, Decision making-all of them are somehow tied to the world of investing.

Economics borrowed ...more

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Sep 20, 2017 Will Akins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have read a few books and blogs on mental models and applying those to decisions, but this is the first book that helped me understand them on a deeper level. I hit somewhat of an obstacle with applying mental models in my life which is what led me to this book. That, and I found it for $3.

Prior to reading the book I could understand a concept (model), and then apply it to a situation, but I didn't know how to apply multiple models, and weigh them independently, in decision making. The models ...more

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Mar 18, 2017 Russ rated it liked it

Interesting take on both investing and college education. After reading, I'd recommend reading the last 2 chapters first. Then, if intrigued, go back and read from the beginning. The author's premise is that the liberal arts degree was meant to expand our thinking not focus it in one limited area. I concur his his assessment. He spends a chapter on various liberal art topics - physics, biology, social sciences, psychology, philosophy and literature. He weaves his investment philosophy through ea ...more

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May 24, 2017 Jai Gupta rated it really liked it

The book is interdisciplinary in nature and talks about investing from multiple perspective. The author primarily focuses on the fact that the notion of investing, economics and markets are symbiotically associated with a larger body of human knowledge, yet the forces of this new era compels and demands us to specialise in one particular field. One needs to start on the quest of connections and parallels between Finance and ideas in multiple avenues of knowledge to be able to invest in a more in ...more

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Aug 31, 2013 Igor Chalhub rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great book on mental models.

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Jul 27, 2017 Harsh Thaker rated it it was amazing

The book answers the question, why multi disciplinary thinking is required not only to be a better investor but also a better thinker

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Jun 15, 2019 Peter S rated it liked it

I thought this book was going to be for people with a liberal arts background. I hoped Hagstrom would reveal all the great qualities a liberal arts education would have for an investor, and how to apply those ideas. Instead, it worked in the opposite view, and assumed the reader was not well read at all. So, it felt like it was for an investor who needed to be convinced about the merits of opening their minds.

It had chapters on all the major fields of a liberal arts degree - math, physics, biol I thought this book was going to be for people with a liberal arts background. I hoped Hagstrom would reveal all the great qualities a liberal arts education would have for an investor, and how to apply those ideas. Instead, it worked in the opposite view, and assumed the reader was not well read at all. So, it felt like it was for an investor who needed to be convinced about the merits of opening their minds.

It had chapters on all the major fields of a liberal arts degree - math, physics, biology, history, literature, sociology, psychology etc, and then went through the major works in each of those fields. So you learn a little about Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Marx, Tetlock, Kahneman, and so on. The greater your understanding of humans, the greater your understanding of markets and therefore investing.

The book was based on the ideas put forward by Benjamin Franklin and Charlie Munger (whose hero is Benjamin Franklin). To be great at anything, you need to be able to rely on a latticework of mental models that are not domain specific. Unfortunately, there was not much by way of actionable info and only brief overviews of some of the great works of mankind.

If you have read on a variety of subjects to any extent, this book is probabaly not worth reading.

EDIT: I think this excerpt from the book's first chapter summarizes the thesis very well. Instead of reading the book, just try reading a lot about a lot.

Charlie Munger believes that “true learning and lasting success come to those who make the effort to first build a latticework of mental models and then learn to think in an associate, multidiscplinary manner. It may take some work, he warned, especially if your education has forced you to specialize. But once those models are firmly set in your mind, you are intellectually equipped to deal with many different kinds of situations. You can reach out and grasp the model that better solves the overall problem. All you have to do is know it and develop the right mental habits.”
...more

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Sep 25, 2020 Md. Nazmus Sakib rated it it was amazing

A book that will spark new way of thinking.

We are often blindsided by our notion of sticking to one discipline, being specialized, having a core philosophy of looking at the world. The tendency to gain expertise in one area is not a bad thing to do or bad thing to be but not having the flexibility to look at other disciplines or other school of thoughts may deprive us of building a mental model that is more useful. It’s obviously better to have lots of angles to look at things than having a sin ...more

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Nov 07, 2018 Sandy Salzinger rated it liked it

This is a rah rah book for the advocacy of Charlie Munger’s mental models and a more interdisciplinary attitude towards higher education. The author has separate chapters for physics, biology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, literature, mathematics, and decision making ( Kahneman’s Systems 1& 2) where he touches on basic knowledge in each discipline and then tries to show how this knowledge could help the investing professional. Not being an investing pro I guess what one could get out of thi ...more

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May 07, 2019 Nirav Mehta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is different from most investing-related books that I have read. It follows the principle that investing is actually a liberal art, and being a good investor requires an individual to have broader horizons and the importance of wisdom over intellect.

The book draws parallels from different streams of arts or sciences with the investing world, including physics, biology, psychology, philosophy, mathematics, etc. The conclusion is in line with Charlie Munger's investing philosophy - that ...more

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Jan 21, 2020 Ashley Rucker rated it really liked it

If you'd like to skip reading this book then all you really need to know are these two things:

1. Everything you learn has the potential to apply to everything you do (not just investing) so when you learn something, try and make connections.

2. Learn everything you can.

Don't misunderstand me, I don't think that reading this is a waste of times. The author takes the two concepts above and very thoroughly applies them to investing. The book is full of interesting facts and biographies of people you ...more

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Jan 25, 2020 Brittanie Smith rated it it was amazing

Excellent. I didn’t agree with every premise, particularly the chapter dealing with evolution and even the whole idea behind the stock market being the main “investment” discussed. But this was wonderfully written, and contained so many “ah-ha” moments for me regarding how to think and how to educate yourself to be able to conduct your life in every area and discipline in a way that leads to success. The idea of the latticework of mental models is awesome and rings so true. Hagstrom has written ...more

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Oct 08, 2017 Massgreen rated it it was amazing

Opening one's mind to absorb knowledge from multiple disciplines and linking them together so that they enforce each other to gain a better understanding of the world helps not only in investing but in many other aspects in life.

Well written book, chapters are well connected, I have learned a great many of ideas (from different disciplines) in this books that I would now have to go and study the original work by respective authors. ...more

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May 05, 2018 Elijah Oyekunle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, business, science

I really love the main concept behind this book, which is that having a broad knowledge in several fields can help improve every aspect of one's life through the combination of ideas.
Then the author tries giving an overview of some really important fields although I didn't think those can do much except provoke an interest in the reader to dive deeper into those topics; because the overviews themselves are not enough.
Overall, this is a good book. ...more

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Jun 28, 2020 Abhay Bhagat rated it it was amazing

This book is about multi disciplinary thinking. Charlie said "worldly wisdom is mostly very very simple , they are a relatively small numbers of disciplines and a relatively small number of truly big ideas. It is a lot of fun to figure out. Even better , the fun never stops further more there is a lot of money. As i can testify from my personal experience". It give broad principles from physics, chemistry, biology and psychology to be used in day to day life.
...more

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Feb 08, 2017 Mourisham Jose rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Did not manage to squeeze into my MUST READ INVESTMENT BOOK but this book nonetheless offered me a new perspective especially on Charlie Munger's latticework of mental models. In order to survive in an unpredictable world that we are living in today, one must be equipped with worldly wisdom. A heavy duty book especially if you do not have science background. ...more

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Oct 01, 2018 Tarin Bansal rated it it was ok

Shelves: investing

This book is basically a collection of summaries from various other authors like Taleb, Kahneman, Pabrai, Munger, Yuval Noah Harari etc. Good value add if this is among the first investment related books you pick, not so much otherwise.

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May 24, 2017 Saikat Sengupta rated it it was amazing

Shelves: finance

One of the best books to explain the 'lollapalooza effect' ...more

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Aug 21, 2017 Gaurav Singh Kopite rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bakshi-sir, read-once-a-year

Brilliant. A must read for any investor who wants to learn what it truly takes to be a good one

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Dec 01, 2017 Patrik Bergman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fantastic

One of the greatest books I have read where liberal arts and broader wisdom are applied to investing. Highly recommended.

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Feb 11, 2018 Adora added it · review of another edition

On mental models as it relates to value investing. Good multidisciplinary approach to the topic.

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Mar 10, 2018 Charlie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Brilliant concept of applying major principles from diverse disciplines. This book changed the way I see and interact with the world.

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Jul 20, 2018 Rahimul rated it liked it

Shelves: investing

I agree with the overarching theme: be broad-minded in your understanding of the world. However, there is more form than substance.

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Jan 08, 2019 Pedro Zagury rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: investing

Great summary of main mental models, from different disciplines. Starting point for having Munger's elementary worldly wisdom. ...more

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Sep 01, 2019 Turgut rated it it was amazing

Recommended.

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Dec 03, 2019 James rated it it was amazing

Excellent read and lead to a number of further book recommendations

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About Robert G. Hagstrom

Robert G. Hagstrom

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Robert G. Hagstrom is Senior Vice President and Director of Legg Mason Focus Capital. He has authored the New York Times best-selling The Warren Buffett Way and The Warren Buffett Portfolio, as well as The Nascar Way. He lives with his family in Wayne, Pennsylvania.