World Famous Comics: Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life
Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life
By: John C. Bogle Publisher: Wiley Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Wiley Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 288 Publication Date: November 10, 2008
Product Description: For a critical element of American society, including many of its wealthiest and most powerful, there seems to be no limit today on what "enough" entails.
The excesses are most starkly visible in the continuing crisis in banking and investment, and even in the two enormous government-sponsored (but publicly owned) mortgage lenders, to say nothing of the billion-dollar-plus annual paychecks that top hedge-fund managers draw down and the excessive compensation paid to CEOs, regardless of performance.
Throughout his legendary career, John Bogle—founder of the Vanguard mutual fund group, and creator of the first index mutual fund—has helped investors build wealth the right way and led a tireless campaign to restore common sense to the investment world. Along the way, he’s seen how destructive an obsession with financial success can be. Now, with Enough, he puts this dilemma in perspective.
Bogle offers his unparalleled insights on money, on the values we should emulate in our business and professional callings, and on what we should consider as the true treasures in our lives. By explaining what "enough" truly is, he demonstrates how close everyone can be to having it.
Amazon.com Review:
Amazon.com Exclusive: William J. Bernstein on Enough William Bernstein, Ph.D., M.D. is the critically acclaimed author, financial theorist and historian whose books include A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World, The Birth of Plenty, The Four Pillars of Investing, and The Intelligent Asset Allocator. Bernstein is frequently quoted in national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Money, and Forbes.
If you are wondering about the cause of the current market crisis, then you haven't been reading enough of Jack Bogle.
Because he certainly knows not only where, but why and how. For decades Jack has been communicating his disquiet in previous books, speeches, and public testimony. Years from now, when historians and investors dissect the economic and market meltdowns of 2008, they'll consult this slim, well-written volume.
In order to understand the intellectual and moral platform from which he surveys the economic wreckage, you need to know a little of his story. Bogle founded one of the world's great investment companies, the Vanguard Group. Most men in his situation would have levered such success into a multi-billion-dollar net worth; instead, he "mutualized" Vanguard, converting it, in effect, into a nonprofit organization whose only goal was to benefit its fund holders. From an ethical perspective, Vanguard is the only "investment company" worthy of that name. (As opposed to most financial firms, which are in fact "marketing companies" whose main purpose is to milk unwitting investors of fees and commissions.)
The answer to the conundrum of 2008 lies in the book’s title, "Enough," which is the punch line from a delightful Kurt Vonnegut/Joseph Heller story. Simply put, our nation has been suffering from decades of unchecked financial excess, for which we are now paying the piper: excess in investment company fees; excess in financial speculation masquerading as diversification and innovation; excess in the salaries of top executives; excess in salesmanship; and most importantly, excess in the role played by the financial industry in our national economy and national life.
Each of these excesses gets its own chapter, and each one is a tightly written gem. Chapters 2 and 3, which dissect out the frenzy of derivatives, structured vehicles, and layers of intermediation behind the recent collapse, alone justify the book's purchase price.
As Bogle states in the book's beginning, in the spring of 2007 the financial services sector--which, after all, produces nothing of substantive value--accounted for one-third of the earnings of the S&P 500. By the time you read this, this outsized influence will have shrunken drastically. Let Enough be your welcome to the brave new world; it will satisfy your curiosity, give you a sense of moral balance in this most materialistic of ages, and even plump up your investment portfolio.
--William J. Bernstein
Product Description Enough. is a piece of work that simply has not been seen by the likes of Jack Bogle before. Sure, the world knows of his legendary financial mind. He is the Father of Index Investing. He is the founder of Vanguard. He is St. Jack. And now he wants to share his own journey, filled with famous characters and telling anecdotes, that aims to teach investors the importance of doing the right thing, how to be a strong leader in today's world, and what it means to have "enough."
“It's hard to imagine a better time to publish a book that advocates moderation, balance and integrity in the business world. In this wise meditation, Bogle, the folk-hero creator of the first index mutual fund and founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group, deplores ‘our worship of wealth and the growing corruption of our professional ethics but ultimately the subversion of our character and values.’ Directly in his sights: CEOs and hedge-fund managers who draw ‘obscene’ compensation. At this time of plunging portfolios, it is a relief to be told that ‘enough’ is within reach.” —TIME Magazine
“Why don’t people publish pamphlets any more. I’m not talking about the slim-jims handed out at trade shows, but rabble-rousing, world-changing works like Common Sense and The Communist Manifesto. John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, follows in the footsteps of the great pamphleteers…‘Central to the effective functioning of capitalism,’ he writes, ‘was the fundamental principle of trusting and being trusted’—and that is disappearing. The problem now: No one is satisfied with having ‘enough’ money or enough success. … If pamphlets were still the rage, 48 pages distilled from the contents of this book could be something as powerful to our age as anything written by Thomas Paine or Marx and Engels. In our more bookish time, though, Bogle has fleshed his ideas out to an interesting, 266-page overview of his life and his views.”—Barron’s
“’What have I created?’ [Bogle] asks in mock horror in his new book…his cry reflects a deeper personal dilemma, one that jags like a scar through this thoughtful meditation on the excess and greed that created the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. … I applaud his enthusiasm and don’t doubt his wisdom and sincerity. ‘Enough’ – with the period – is a worthy addition to the canon, a variation of his familiar sermon on thrift, simplicity, and the superiority of low-cost index funds.”—James Pressley, Bloomberg News
“Bogle is a rarity - a true captain of industry who speaks about complex economic issues in a language comprehensible to the layperson.” —Michael Smerconish, The Philadelphia Enquirer
“Enough shines a light on Bogle's sense of despair over the state of the financial industry, and perhaps industry in general. … From CEOs who implode their companies and float away on golden parachutes, to financial companies who create instruments so complex they themselves have trouble understanding them, to mutual fund companies that market rosy returns while sugarcoating their fees, Bogle sees a lack of integrity and a willingness to play fast and loose with ethical rules in order to make a buck. (Or, maybe more accurate, 150 billion bucks.)” —Justin McHenry, BlogCritics Magazine
“Jack Bogle’s passionate cry of Enough. contains a thought-provoking litany of life lessons regarding our individual roles in commerce and society. Employing a seamless mix of personal anecdotes, hard evidence, and all-too-often-underrated subjective admonitions, Bogle challenges each of us to aspire to become better members of our families, our professions, and our communities. Rarely do so few pages provoke so much thought. Read this book.” —David F. Swensen, Chief Investment Officer, Yale University
"Enough. gives new meaning to the words 'commitment,' 'accountability,' and 'stewardship.' Bogle writes with clarity and passion, and his standards make him a role model for all of us. Enough. is must-reading for millions of U.S. investors disenchanted by today's culture of greed, accounting distortions, corporate malfeasance, and oversight failure." —Arthur Levitt, Former Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
"What went wrong? What can, and should, go right? The great Jack Bogle has the answers. Enough. will leave you hungry for more." —James Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer
"Jack Bogle's wonderful, thoughtful, helpful, and fun-filled little book inspired me to create my own title: Never Enough of Jack Bogle!" —Peter L. Bernstein, author of Capital Ideas Evolving and Against the Gods
"In Enough., Jack Bogle, 'the conscience of Wall Street,' distills his half-century of observations on the capital markets, and on life in general, into a few hundred entertaining pages—required reading for those concerned about their own future, their family's future, and the nation's future." —William J. Bernstein, author, A Splendid Exchange and The Four Pillars of Investing
“This is an impressive message from a distinguished businessman. It will challenge all decision makers to consider the sufficiency and direction of their lives and work. What do we mean by Enough? Enough of what? Enough for what purpose? Feast here and reflect.” —Robert F. Bruner, Dean and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration, Darden Graduate School of Business
“From one ‘battler’ to another: Thank you for putting in one little book the premise for an active, long life. A primer for those who will abjure complacency and just wanting more, who’d rather focus on the joy of trying to move some ball downfield.” —Ira Millstein, Senior Partner, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
“The balances one must create in investing, in running a business, and in life more generally are simply and clearly stated in Jack’s most recent book, Enough. Unfortunately there are not enough Jack Bogles around in today’s world of instant gratification. Enough. should be must reading for business students and corporate board members.” —David L. Sokol, Chairman, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company
This book is Filled with VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE for everyone ! John Bogle has encapsulated a lifetime of knowledge in the investment business (founder of Vanguard) into this book. The most fundamental knowledge provided here is the basic economic proofs that broad based long term investment in the market trumps speculative buy/sell approaches to investment, and the case against financial industry costs as reducing returns to the investor.
The book gets into understandable explanations of how the current financial crisis came about and points out the financial industry's interest in complexity for it's own financial gain rather than value to the investing public.
Truly one of the most valuable and easy to grasp books I've ever read on the subject of investment and economics.
Enough is enough! Great perspective on investing, economics and life. An insight into the mindset that has built one of the most trusted brands in the investment world. Great job Mr. Bogel.
A Must read This book is a "Must Read" for every American who has an interest in investing, saving or the financial industry in general.
It's a wake up call for what's happened to our society and country. Please, read this book and learn from it.
After reading the book one will probably sit and reflect over what has been said.
This book was a fun read. It is small and not too long. In fact, it was short. If it had been formatted a little differently it probably could have been sold as a pamphlet instead of as a book. But I liked it.
As I examined the Table of Contents, something you can see if you go to the Search Inside that Amazon offers, I got the feeling I was reading a book from some old timer who considered himself mature, knowledgeable, and a fairly smart guy. Oh yeah, maybe full of wisdom, too? :)
As I turned the pages I kept thinking about the old line I heard growing up: Son, as long as you do your best, that is all we can ask for. Well, who is to say - What is my best? As far as I am concerned, I can always throw in a little extra effort and do better.
So who is to say - What is enough? The author tries to explain it. But I thought he fell short. He fell short in the same way my folks fell short when they told me I only had to do my best. When terms are relative they are not easily defined. And a book devoted to defining a term that is basically undefinable is bound to be viewed as a failure or at least come up short. This book is not a failure I will have you know.
The book makes a valid point. When determining what is enough the judge (maybe you?) must perform a balancing test. You'll have to figure out what is too much, and what is not enough. And whatever you determine is "just right" IS enough. The author provides us with 10 chapters split into three parts: Money (chapters 1-3), Business (chapters 4-7), and Life (chapters 8-10). He makes some good points. And after reading the book one will probably sit and reflect over what has been said. But does it do a good job defining the term? I think not. 4 stars!
Outstanding and Very Timely! An excellent overview of what ails American society today.
Bogle begins by noting that the world of finance is marked by too much cost and not enough value, too much speculation and not enough investment, and too much complexity. On balance, the financial system subtracts value from our society. During 2006 the financial sector accounted for $215 billion of the $711 billion earned by the S&P 500, more if earnings of financial subsidiaries (eg. G.E. Capital) are included).
Bogle then explains some of the problematic new devices. Structured investment vehicles (SIVs) are essentially money market funds that borrow short and lend long. Solvency of the SIV may be at risk if the value of the long-term security falls below that of the short-term securities. Second, there is a liquidity risk, possibly necessitating a forced sale of the long-term asset. To sell SIVs, banks often issue "puts" - guarantees to repurchase the SIVs at face value on demand. (Citigroup ended up holding $55 billion of CDOs and $25 billion of SIVs that were "put" back to the bank.
Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) are a modern version of alchemy - eg. 5,000 B- or BBI rated mortgages (lead) are miraculously turned into eg. 75% rated AAA (gold), 12% AA, 4% A, and 9% BBB through supposedly risk-reducing diversification.
An interest-rate derivative's (estimated $400 trillion, vs. the world's GDP of $62 trillion) underlying asset is the right to pay or receive a (usually notional) amount of money at a given interest rate. An estimated 80% of top companies use these to control their cash flow.
Credit Default Swaps are often used to provide coverage for a CDO failing to pay. They are unregulated (unlike insurance) and one doesn't need an insurable interest (eg. CDO ownership). In the current market, credit obligations subject to default swaps are valued at $2 trillion, vs. swaps totaling $62 trillion.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have provided some $5 trillion of mortgage loans, using high leverage (eg. 40:1). Faced with a credit crisis the Treasury placed them in a federal conservatorship. (Bogle laments we have privatized rewards, socialized risks here.)
Bogle also believes most mutual funds underperform the market. During the 25 years ended 2005, fund investors on average received a 482% increase, vs. index fund returns of 1,718%. Their survival rates are nothing to brag about either - of the 6,126 mutual funds at the start of 2001, 3,165 were gone by mid-2008.
Bogle then moves on to business (mis)finance. At the market peak of early 2000, nearly all firms raised their assumptions of return on pension assets, some to 10% (actually 1% or less this decade). Security analysts over the past two decades have, on average, projected annual earnings growth of 11.5%, vs. reality of 6%. Recently earnings reported under GAAP have quietly changed to "operating" (without writeoffs) earnings, and auditor-certified earnings restatements soared from 90 in 1997 to 1,577 in 2006.
Why has Avis been sold 18 times since its 1946 inception, each time with fat fees, bonuses, and new theories? Not for any useful reason, per Bogle. Meanwhile, the average compensation of a CEO vs. average worker has risen from 42X in 1980 to 520X; mutual funds hold about 35% os all U.S. stocks.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
If you are wondering about the cause of the current market crisis, then you haven't been reading enough of Jack Bogle.