An Economist Walks into a Brothel
Allison Schrager is an economist, Quartz journalist, and co-founder of LifeCycle Finance Partners, LLC, a risk management firm. Allison broadened her experience by working in finance, policy, and media. She oversaw retirement product innovation at Dimensional Fund Advisors and advised international organizations such as the OECD and the IMF. She has also written for the Economist, Reuters, and Bloomberg Businessweek.
Is it worth swimming in shark-infested waters to catch a 50-foot career-high wave? Is it more dangerous to make an action film or a horror film? Should sex workers forego half of their earnings for added security, or take a chance and keep the extra cash?
Most people would not expect an economist to have an answer to these questions, or to questions about who to date or when to leave for the airport. But those people haven't met Allison Schrager, an economist and award-winning journalist who has spent her career researching how people manage risk in their personal and professional lives.
Every day, whether we realize it or not, we all take risks, big and small. Even the most cautious among us cannot avoid taking risks; the question is always which risks to take, rather than whether to take any at all. What most of us don't know is how to assess those risks and maximize our chances of achieving our goals in life.
Schrager equips readers with five risk-management principles in An Economist Walks Into a Brothel, principles used by some of the world's most interesting risk takers. For example, she interviews a professional poker player about staying rational when the stakes are high, a paparazzo in Manhattan about spotting different types of risk, horse breeders in Kentucky about diversifying risk and minimizing losses, and a war general who led troops in Iraq about preparing for what we don't see coming.
When you start looking at risky decisions through Schrager's new framework, you can increase the upside and better mitigate the downside in any situation.
Author: Allison Schrager
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525533966
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