Mind over Money by Claudia Hammond

Mind over Money by Claudia Hammond

Having been trained for many years in psychology, then switching over to what academics sometimes refer to as "the dark side" working in the corporate world, I have enjoyed the blending of the two worlds in behavioral economics.

This book covers some of the various ways we think about money. My only quibble with it is that the author goes from research studies to specific recommendations, which comes off as a bit jarring to me. Studies are typically more circumspect, with qualifications such as, "in general" and "under certain circumstances" people tend to do x or y, but rarely would they suggest those findings as blanket behavioral recommendations. They might go with, "under similar circumstance, you may consider doing x or y, to obtain a desired result" but one can see the limitations or qualifiers in that statement that seemed absent in Hammond's text.

I am curious, now, to read this English author's previous work treating how we think about time, also an interesting topic for me.  We can always make more money, but we can't make more time, so in that sense it is even more valuable. Like money, we have many odd and sometimes fascinating biases and heuristics about time.

Michael Lewis- Moneyball, Liar's Poker, The Big Short- is a funny and scary writer at the same time

Enjoyed reading another of his books, Boomerang, Travels in the New Third World.

A couple of specific quotes that rang true based on some observations from training this past year and the past 2-3 years of watching our national political discourse:

1. He notes a sign outside of a Greek bank (the Marfin Bank) that was part of what he described as a sad shrine. The sign had a warning that I think is timely today, even for a Republic:  "with a quote from the ancient orator Isocrates: 'Democracy destroys itself because it abuses its right to freedom and equality. Because it teaches its citizens to consider audacity as a right, lawlessness as a freedom, abrasive speech as equality, and anarchy as progress.'" (pg. 81)

2. Towards the end of the book he describes a conversation with Dr. Peter Whybrow (pg. 203-206), in which they discuss some of his arguments from his book American Mania, "human beings are neurologically ill-designed to be modern Americans" because we're wired for scarcity, but now live in a world of relative abundance and haven't made the adjustment. The quote that stood out to me:
"What happens when a society loses its ability to self-regulate, and insists on sacrificing its long-term self-interest for short-term rewards? How does the story end? 'We could regulate ourselves if we chose to think about it,' Whybrow says, 'But it does not appear that is what we are going to do.'" (pg. 205).

Perhaps rather than timely- maybe more timeless- observations about democracy and human nature.

Recently read and enjoyed as I cap off a year at the Army War College

Flight of the Avenger, George Bush at War, by Joe Hyams

This one reminded me of a time when we didn't try to tear everyone down- or maybe a time when I just wasn't aware of the tendency to criticize and vilify those with different political opinions. While the future President surely had faults as all do, the author clearly was weaving a tale of an honorable man serving in the military during WWII. I am thankful for all those who chose to serve then, as I am thankful for all those who choose to serve now and consider it an honor and blessing to serve alongside them. We mourn those who gave the final full measure of devotion and we work to honor them with our continued service.

As I finished up at the Army War College over the past few months, I got to do quite a bit of work with a research team looking at the INDOPACOM region and proposing some arguments for how the Army should be postured in 2028 and beyond. As part of that, got to study the potential threats- what should we be postured to do and why. With that, got to learn quite a bit more than I had previously about China. Earlier War College material introduced me to the Thucydides trap argument, and I more recently worked through one of the more aggressive U.S. perspectives about the CCP's plans and intentions which gave me much to think about:

The Hundred-Year Marathon, China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower, by Michael Pillsbury, a paperback edition, 2016 with a new afterword.

The question I have in my head is whether the U.S. as a whole will feel a need to compete and try to retain as much power as possible, and if so, exactly how the U.S. will go about it relative to the DIME- instruments of national power- diplomatic, information, military and economic. We made some recommendations for the Army relative to what it should be ready to do in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility, but I don't at this point see an overall strategy, like there was relative to Russia after NSC 68, albeit an "M" heavy strategy.

It was an honor and pleasure to learn at the Army War College over the past year. Great to make acquaintance and build friendships with wonderful peer students, faculty, staff and beyond. Great to have the opportunity to slow down and focus on learning, and I fully recognize that not many are afforded such a blessing. I feel for those who are having to complete the same military education requirement in the distance education format.W