Lessons From Financial History: Mark Higgins

The Contrarian Investor Podcast

This podcast episode was recorded Friday, March 1, 2024, and was made available to premium subscribers on March 6. For more information on premium memberships visit our Substack.

Mark Higgins, author of the new book, Investing in Financial History, joins the podcast to discuss lessons from the past and what period is the most appropriate point of comparison to today's market environment.

Content Highlights

• What period from the past compares closest to the one we're living through now? It's a combination of several... (1:56);
• The last time the US -- and Federal Reserve -- battled serious inflation was from 1965 to the early 1980s. Here there are several parallels to today's age... (4:36);
• The Fed appeared to turn more accommodative in December and January. This may have been a mistake (9:04);
• Financial history is very much a history of panics, but there has not been a major bank run in the US since the Great Depression (11:51);
• Portfolios have become increasingly complex without proper consideration of cost -- and risks (15:40);
• Decentralized currencies aren't new and in fact once characterized the US dollar -- and for the same reason (fear of central banks and fiat currency, etc). That didn't end well... (18:06);
• Background on the guest and how he came to write the book (22:05);
• Bubbles and their challenges. Some commonalities include the media as trailing indicator... (27:17);
• The 180 degree turn on public debt by US public officials (29:36);
• The US dollar will likely be replaced as global reserve currency one day (33:25).

More From the Guest

• Website: EnlightenedInvestor.com;
• Order the book on Amazon.com;
• LinkedIn: @MarkHiggins.