John Bogle op-ed in the Wall Street Journal

Mr. Bogle ends his excellent op-ed piece with a quote from Cato suggesting a “vast fund of stupidity in human nature.” I draw the link between that and his earlier point about our financial system being driven by a “giant marketing machine” promoting the interest of sellers. It isn’t just the financial system that is so driven, it is virtually every industry in the US. In addition to tightening our belts in response to the current economic client, we all should also revisit our values and motivations for our investing and consuming behavior. We need to spread an awareness of the forces at work and how they sometimes conflict with our own self interest and that of society as a whole. Mr. Bogle’s new book “Enough!” is a great foundation for understanding the “seller’s advantage” and how to avoid the pitfalls of its siren’s song.
– Larry Herst, http://www.enoughing.com