Introduction by Rajnish Mehra......................................................................................................1
Munger’s Opening Remarks:.........................................................................................................1
Non-use of Efficient Market Theory at Berkshire.............................................................2
Personal Multidisciplinary Education................................................................................3
The Obvious Strengths of Academic Economics..............................................................4
What’s Wrong with Economics.........................................................................................5
1) Fatal Unconnectedness, Leading To “Man With A Hammer Syndrome,” Often Causing Overweighing What Can Be Counted...........5
2) Failure To Follow The Fundamental Full Attribution Ethos of Hard Science.......................................................................................................6
3) Physics Envy..............................................................................................7
Washington Post case study.......................................................................7
Einstein and Sharon Stone.........................................................................7
4) Too Much Emphasis on Macroeconomics.................................................8
Case study: Nebraska Furniture Mart’s new store in Kansas City...........8
Case study: Les Schwab Tires..................................................................9
Causes of problem-solving success...........................................................9
5) Too Little Synthesis in Economics..........................................................10
6) Extreme and Counterproductive Psychological Ignorance......................13
7) Too Little Attention to Second and Higher Order Effects.......................14
Mispredicting Medicare costs..................................................................14
Investing in textile looms.........................................................................14
Workman’s comp madness......................................................................15
Niederhoffering the curriculum...............................................................15
8) Not Enough Attention to the Concept of Febezzlement..........................17
9) Not Enough Attention to Virtue and Vice Effects...................................18
Religion....................................................................................................18
Pay for directors and judges.....................................................................18
Not a vice that some systems are deliberately made unfair.....................19
Contributions of vice to bubbles..............................................................19
Paradoxical good contributions from vice; the irremovability of paradox.........................................................................................19
Conclusion......................................................................................................................20
Clinging to failed ideas – a horror story..................................................20
Repeating the big lesson..........................................................................21
Q & A ..............................................................................................................................21