GREAT VALUE INVESTOR JOEL GREENBLATT ON SOME REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS FROM HIS NEW BOOK, COMMON SENSE

August 7, 2020

One of the biggest issues to emerge from the pandemic is income inequality. It has become even more pronounced as millions of low-income workers lose their jobs and the much smaller number of high-income workers keep theirs and benefit from a powerful bull market.

This week’s guest is on a crusade to change this dynamic, by giving opportunities to lower-income individuals and their families to achieve economic success.

He is Great Value Investor and Financial Thought Leader Joel Greenblatt. He has a new book Common Sense: The Investor’s Guide To Equality, Opportunity, and Growth and like Thomas Paine who successfully campaigned against the monarchical and tyrannical rule of Great Britain over the 13 colonies in 1776 with his widely-read pamphlet Common Sense, Greenblatt is on a crusade to disrupt the established order in a few key areas including education, corporate hiring, taxation, and immigration.

One area ripe for disruption is the education system which he says is “unfair, unequal and doesn’t make sense for those most in need.”

Greenblatt has tackled these inequities personally by co-founding and supporting the top-performing Success Academy Charter Network in New York. He has other real-world solutions to address these gaps.

Greenblatt’s investment bona fides are also impressive. He is Managing Principal and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Gotham Asset Management.

Normally investment strategy would be the focus of our entire conversation, but in today’s pandemic pivot we are starting with an essential prerequisite for a successful capitalist democracy, economic opportunity for all.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Greenblatt explains why he, a professional money manager, felt compelled to write his version of Common Sense.