My New Book: Same As Ever
My new book, Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes, is out today.
You can buy it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. (India edition here, UK edition here).
Books are hard, a multi-year slog from start to finish. But I’m excited for you to read this. I think it’s the best writing I’ve ever done. And it was fun to write! My hope is that you enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it.
My first book, The Psychology of Money, was really about how you, the individual behave. Same As Ever is about how we, the collective, behave, and what we keep doing over and over.
It’s 23 short stories about what never changes in a changing world.
I’ve been thinking about this book for my entire career. I’ve always been skeptical of forecasts, because the world’s track record on predicting the next recession, the next election, or the next technology is so bad.
That should draw you to the question: What’s never going to change?
What do we know for certain is going to be part of our future?
I once had lunch with a guy who’s close with Warren Buffett.
This guy – we’ll call him Jim (not his real name) – was driving around Omaha, Nebraska with Buffett in late 2009. The global economy was crippled at this point, and Omaha was no exception. Stores were closed, businesses were boarded up.
Jim said to Warren, “It’s so bad right now. How does the economy ever bounce back from this?”
Warren said, “Jim, do you know what the best-selling candy bar was in 1962?”
“No.” Jim said.
“Snickers,” said Warren. “And do you know what the best-selling candy bar is today?”
“No,” said Jim.
“Snickers,” Warren said.
Then silence. That was the end of the conversation.
History is filled with surprises no one could have seen coming. But it’s also filled with so much timeless wisdom.
If you traveled in time to 500 years ago or 500 years from now, you would be astounded at how much technology and medicine has changed. The geopolitical order would make no sense to you. The language and dialect may be completely foreign.
But you’d notice people falling for greed and fear just like they do in our current world.
You’d see people persuaded by risk, jealousy, and tribal affiliations in ways that are familiar to you.
You’d see overconfidence and short-sightedness that reminds you of people’s behavior today.
You’d find people seeking the secret to a happy life and trying to find certainty when none exists in ways that are entirely relatable.
When transported to an unfamiliar world, you’d spend a few minutes watching people behave and say, “Ah. I’ve seen this before. Same as ever.”
I hope you enjoy reading it.