Avoiding the Arrogance Cycle: What Every Investor Needs To Know To Protect Their Assets From The Next Big Bubble

by Michael K. Farr

How does the average investor protect their assets? How do they keep their financial goals in sight and their arrogance in check? Investment guru, Michael Farr has counseled thousands of his clients on just that. In Avoiding the Arrogance Cycle, Farr examines the psychology of investing and sets it against the historical and cultural forces at work on individuals and markets and explains in clear, concise layman terms how we just lived through the worst financial disaster since the great depression. He focuses on the individual factors such as rampant consumerism, a sense of entitlement, and narcissism that combined to create the perfect economic storm.In Avoiding the Arrogance Cycle, Farr provides first hand accounts of real client situations to create a profile and case study of the arrogant investor. Throughout the book, he sifts through the wreckage of previous crashes and downturns and finds the proverbial black box of evidence to support his contention that collectively we are the ones responsible. Farr examines the influence of popular culture; the expansion of consumer credit, and the government's ill timed and poorly executed encouragement of home ownership, outrageous increases in executive compensation, and immunity from accountability. Through the lens of arrogance, this book sheds light on our recent financial past and offers a means to detect these insidious attitudes so that in the future we can contain the damage before it spreads.

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Michael K. Farr is President and majority owner of Farr, Miller & Washington, LLC. He is Chairman of the Investment Committee and is responsible for overseeing the day to day activities of the firm. Prior to starting FM&W, he was a Principal with Alex Brown & Sons.

Mr. Farr is a paid Contributor for CNBC television and had appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, NBC’s Nightly News, CNN, Bloomberg, Reuters,
and the Nightly Business Report. Mr. Farr is heard on Associated Press Radio and National Public Radio, and he has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, The Washington Post, Businessweek, USA Today, and many other publications. He is a member of the Economic Club of Washington, DC, National Associaton for Business Economics, The World Presidents’ Organization, and The Washington Association of Money Managers. He is the author of A Million Is Not Enough, published by Hachette Book Group USA in 2008. His second book, The Arrogance Cycle, was released in September 2011 by Globe Pequot Press.

Mr. Farr is the Chairman of the Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Sibley Hospital; he is the former Vice Chairman of the Board of the Salvation Army; he is a former member of the Board of Trustees of Ford’s Theatre; he is the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Traveler’s Aid Society, Nation’s Capitol Progress Foundation, and the Paul Berry Academic Scholarship Foundation, as well as a member of the Board of the Neediest Kids. Mr. Farr is a graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He is married and has two children.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reminder.