4 Lessons Ben Stein Got From the Recession
November 21, 2009 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Business, Finance, Work
While I’m not always a huge fan of Ben Stein, he does come up with some interesting insights every now and again, and he does have some clever and funny things to say about them. For Fortune Magazine, he recently offered these 4 lessons that he learned from the recession:
- Economic forecasting is difficult.
- Financial market forecasting is more troublesome than economic forecasting.
- The financial sector in this country has lied a great deal.
- The government cannot predict the economy or financial markets.
These are, of course, very good lessons to learn. It is important to realize that neither the government, nor the financial “experts”, have all the answers. No one can predict what any market is going to do, nor can anyone see all of the economic consequences of policy measures. So it is important to consider your own financial situation, and make the best decisions you can.
One way to do that is to look at things for the long term, and change your financial habits so that they reflect prudent behaviors that help you prepare to weather the down cycles. Because they will always come.
Image source: Daylife
On the contrary, I do like Ben Stein. He strikes me as quirky and oddly funny. He also strikes me as a brilliant man stuck in an entertainers body.
The 4 lessons to be learned from our economy are priceless. Trouble is we as a nation seem to forget the trouble spots quickly after they are dust in the wind. It would behoove us as a nation to remember the plights, lies, arrogance, and outright unethical behavior that brought us to this current mess.
And yes… as always be prepared to plan your own future.