[Archives] Notes To Adam Smith’s Book, “The Money Game”

Notes To Adam Smith’s Book, “The Money Game” by Redfield, Blonsky & Co.

April 11, 2007

I recently read 1976 edition of “The Money Game,” by Adam Smith.  For me, this was a fantastic book and a very enjoyable read.  Adam Smith was the pen name for Harvard and Oxford trained,  George J. W. Goodman.  You can read about George Goodman at this link  http://en.wikipedia.org:80/wiki/George_Goodman .  I forget which of Warren Buffett’s letters suggested reading this book.  Buffett’s old letters can be accessed here http://rbcpa.com/WEB_letters/WEB_Letters_pre_berkshire.html    Very often I write these notes as a future reminder to me for what I found interesting, or perhaps items  I would like to save for future reference.  These notes could be error filled, and I apologize for any inadvertent errors.  Although George Goodman allegedly wrote this book, I refer to him as “Smith” in my notes.  Throughout this paper you will see a slew of quotes from the book.  Please keep in mind that all of the plagiarisms from the book, are indicated as such with “quote marks.”

1. “The market motion is more violent, not really conducive to serenity, and yet, as one wise investment counselor says, the end object of investment ought to be serenity.”
2. “The first thing you have to know is yourself.  A man who knows himself can step outside himself and watch his own reactions like an observer.”
3. This quote appears in Chapter 2, “Mister Johnson’s reading list.”  I am not certain if Smith was a believer of this concept or not.  Perhaps it is total sarcasm, but I did enjoy the quote.  “The market is a crowd, and if you’ve read Gustave Le Bon’s “The Crowd” you know a crowd is a composite personality.  In fact, a crowd of men acts like a single woman.  The mind of a crowd is like a woman’s mind.  Then if you observed her for a long time, you begin to see little tricks little nervous movements of the hands when she is being false.”
4. “What is it the good managers have?  It’s a kind of locked-in concentration, an intuition, a feel, nothing that can’t be schooled.  The first thing you have to know is yourself.”
5. Throughout the book he sarcastically refers to the term “Australopithecus.”  According to Wikipedia, Australopithecus, “are a group of extinct hominids that are closely related to humans.” “The brains of most species of Australopithecus were roughly 35% of the size of that of a modern human brain.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus I think he is relating to human behavior patterns that were inherited from our former human ancestors.  I believe that Smith finds it important to observe and try to understand various behavior patterns.  Once again referring to knowing yourself.  Here is a section I previously wrote on this and how knowing ones self relates to my life.    http://www.rbcpa.com/2006_09_14.html   “I have studied Marty Whitman, Martin Zweig, James Rogers and countless others over the years. They have a common theme of always being concerned. Marty calls it, “always run scared.” As I get older, I