Common Sense: The Investor's Guide to Equality, Opportunity, and Growth

"The looming issue of automation is one of the more commonly discussed problems facing the American economy -- but it is not the only one. Big business has done much to accrue wealth for itself, while leaving the people behind. Our education system is inherently unequal, breaking along race and class lines. Hostile immigration policies keep would-be workers of today and tomorrow away. In Common Sense, Thomas Paine wrote: "a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom." In this book, Joel Greenblatt offers disruptive ways to break the status quo, as a businessman whose work has touched on these issues: some from personal experience, some from the outside looking in. He aims to start a conversation on building an American economy that truly works for everyone, following the social enterprise ideal that we should try to build a better tomorrow for all"--
The United States is supposed to offer economic opportunity to everyone. It shouldn’t take a worldwide pandemic and nationwide protests to bring economic and racial inequality to the forefront of problems we desperately need to solve. But now that the opportunity is here, what should we do? How can we create more equality, opportunity, and growth for everyone? Not someday, but what can government and the private sector do right now to disrupt a status quo that almost everyone wants to change?In Common Sense, the New York Times best-selling author Joel Greenblatt offers an investor’s perspective on building an economy that truly works for everyone. With dry wit and engaging storytelling, he makes a lively and provocative case for disruptive new approaches—some drawn from personal experience, some from the outside looking in. How can leading corporations immediately disrupt our education establishment while creating high-paying job opportunities for those currently left behind? If we want a living wage for everyone, how can we afford it while using an existing program to get it done now? If we subsidize banks, what simple changes can we make to the way we capitalize and regulate them to help grow the economy, increase access, and create more jobs (while keeping the risks and benefits where they belong)? Greenblatt also explains how dramatically increasing immigration would be like giving every American a giant bonus and the reason Australia might be the best place to learn about saving for retirement.Not everyone will agree with what Greenblatt has to say—but all of us can benefit from the conversations he aims to start.
In Common Sense, the New York Times best-selling author Joel Greenblatt offers an investor’s perspective on building an economy that truly works for everyone. With dry and self-deprecating wit, he makes a lively and provocative case for disruptive new approaches.