The concept of ‘takers’ is so foreign to me that I find myself struggling to understand how they have come to be and in midst of this query, I find myself thinking about an Edgar Allan Poe story “The Imp of the Perverse”.
I am a firm believer in creating value the old-fashioned way (heavy lifting/long term view). In my opinion, while ‘financial engineering’ can be a tool, it is a dangerous one and one that is used far too often. With this background (disclosure) in place, I continue with the story of how the Grinch stole my Christmas.
In the context of the above, I have tried to pay tribute, in particular, to Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business by Rana Foroohar, which I believe is a classic when it comes to describing the dilemma. Having disclosed all this, my goal is not to bash the “bad (read taker) guy”, but to reinforce the good (read maker) guys.
I am often intimidated by the challenge of translating complicated subject matter into very few words and simplifying it to make it more understandable. Therefore, I have chosen a “recipe” metaphor for this article because I believe there is no single component to innovation. With the right ingredients and assembly of those ingredients (allowed to cook together if you will), the outcome is worth the effort.
I have been tracking the see-saw around good/bad behavior in business for about five decades not because I am surprised at the presence of bad actors – the temptations are obvious and (apparently for some business people) irresistible but because I was troubled by (growing) incidents I observed.
Aug 22, 2016 ~ Written by: W.B. “Bud” Kirchner “The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” – Author Unknown I trust the preceding blog (Financialization As A Symptom) did an adequate job of illustrating – we have a problem(s). Accept what you will of...
August 16, 2016 ~ Written by: W.B. “Bud” Kirchner “They who are of the opinion that Money will do everything, may very well be suspected to do everything for Money”. – George Savile, Complete Works, 1912 “When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, as it did...
November 24, 2015 ~ Written by: W.B. “Bud” Kirchner “It is helpful to think of people as having two fundamental motivations: the desire to see ourselves as honest, good people, and the desire to gain the benefits that come from cheating – on our taxes or on the football field.” ~ Dan Ariely Given the holistic...