Unknown Knowns: On Economics, Investing, Progress, and Folly

In the last 250 years the world has gone from poor to rich, sick to healthy, and isolated to connected. We still face many problems, but we are constantly discovering new ways to solve them. Investment returns have also reflected these improvements, and have rewarded patient investors for providing the capital needed to achieve this progress.

Yet we seem to have arrived in this place without much of an idea of how we did it, and many are uncertain about whether the future will be worth living in. In Unknown Knowns, Laurence B. Siegel, author of Fewer, Richer, Greener, shows why the future will be even better than the past. In addition, reflecting on his career as an investment manager, Siegel presents practical advice for investors, based on a solid grounding in economics.

This book consists of articles, book reviews, and interviews, many written with Siegel's valued co-authors. The book reviews and interviews provide a window into some of the greatest minds in economics and investment management, including Jack Bogle, Mohamed A. El-Erian, Paul Volcker, and Nassim Taleb. The articles unravel some of the greatest mysteries that now confront us, from the retirement and pension crisis to the future of democracy and liberalism.

Some of the ground covered includes:

• Progress, growth, and productivity
• Investing and finance
• Savings and retirement
• Monetary policy and inflation
• Policy and governance, and
• Provocative takes on the big questions in economics, social science, and human affairs.

Filled with stories, anecdotes, personalities, and data, this book provides refreshing and useful perspectives. It can help you grasp some of the wrenching changes of the last decade and anticipate those to come, leading you more deeply into the fields of economics, investing, and progress - all conveyed with a sense of humor and an appreciation for the folly as well as the wisdom that surrounds us.