The Morgan Housel Podcast

Every great idea can be taken too far. Take the notion that investors should ignore the short run.It's important to recognize that the long run is just a collection of short runs, and capturing long-term growth means managing the short run effectively enough to ensure you can stick around for a long time.

I wrote letters to both of my kids the day before they were born. Here's what I wanted them to know about money. And even if you don't have, or want, kids, I think you'll find this helpful. 

Hacks are hard because shortcuts rarely exist. Prizes take time and effort.The personal finance industry – filled with advice that sounds and feels good without moving the needle – needs to recognize this.These aren’t fun hacks, but no one said this was easy.

Luck plays such a big role in the world. But few people want to talk about it. If I say you got lucky, I look jealous. If I tell myself that I got lucky, I feel diminished.Maybe a better way to frame luck is by asking: what isn’t repeatable?And maybe better yet: The way to get luckier is to find what’s repeatable.

The fun part of behavioral finance is learning about how flawed other people can be. The hard part is trying to figure out how flawed you are, and what stories make sense to you but would seem crazy to others.

A few of the best and most insightful things I've read lately. 

Woodrow Wilson was the only president with a Ph.D. in political science.He came to office having thought more about how a government functions than most before him or since.One of his complaints was that too many people in government held the belief that it was a Big Machine: that once you set up a series of rules you could take your hands off the wheel and let the government run o

Mae West said, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” That might be true for some things – health, happiness, golden retrievers, maybe.But in so many cases the thing that helps you can be taken to a dangerous level. And since it’s a “good thing,” not an obvious threat, its danger creeps into your life unnoticed.Take intelligence. How could someone possibly be too

This episode discusses my take on what you should pay attention to when reading history. There’s a quote I love from writer Kelly Hayes who says, “Everything feels unprecedented when you haven’t engaged with history.”It’s so true. History’s cast of characters changes but it’s the same movie over and over again.To me, the point of paying attention to history is not the

Let me share a little theory I have about optimism, and why progress is so easy to underestimate.I’ll explain it in four parts.