The Genius of Money: An Interview with an Anonymous Donor

I choose to read this article because of the title that was appealing to me - An Interview with an Anonymous Donor.  I have great respect for people who like to donate and help the people in need.  I believe that if a donor prefers to stay anonymous and not to disclose his or her name, it shows a lot about the persons personality.  I recognize many anonymous people as being very humble.  This is because they do not expect anything in return.  Unfortunately, some people and organizations donate in order to be recognized and to build a reputation.  I believe that a donation should be made solely for the purpose to help the beneficiary - not to personally benefit from it.  It was interesting for me to read that the person being interviewed was not first into philanthropy, but more interested in psychology.

The Genius of Money: Part 2 - Chapter 2

The author emphasizes how a good business relationship can last for a long time – sometimes through generations. We learn that by being a banker, you are putting your reputation on the line. However, bankers who have a physical branch have the advantage of making these personal relationships. Thus, even if they don’t have the best interest rates, they do have the trust of their customers. The author also discusses the venture capital model. He describes how money is being invested in the people just as much as the idea. I agree with this, and I believe personal connections and trust are by far the most important aspect in business.

Chapter 2 discusses the personal connection people can make through finance.  The author believes that the recent market crash could have been prevented if we had an economic model where people could have had a deep, personal connection between each other.  For instance, he mentions that many years ago, it was the norm that bank clients had a very strong relationship with their bankers - the bankers would know everything about their clients, and their families as well.  To support his claim, the author talks about the CSA – Community Supported Agriculture.  The CSA is an existing economic model in the United States.  Here, the farmer partners together with his community.  The community becomes shareholders of his farm, and the proceeds are shared between the farmer and the community.  In essence, the community works closely together with the farmer to make sure that the farm will be profitable, thereby creating a strong relationship with the farmer.  According to the author, this model works very well, and he emphasizes that there is no doubt that a strong, personal relationship among people will be beneficial.

Chapter 5

In chapter 5, the author starts off with a discussion about Adam Smith and his self-interest.  Adam Smith is famous worldwide for the "invisible hand" - used in economics.  Furthermore,  Smith is the person who created a socio-economic theory where he explains that if a persons self-interest becomes too greedy - it is classified as "never-enoughness."  He further discusses that if people would be honest to their own instincts, they would understand that how they mentally feel is strongly impacted by how much they care for the well being of other people.

It was very interesting to read in the chapter that even Bill Gates mentioned Smith's self-interest principle during a speech he held in Davos.  Gates, used Smith's principle not to talk about an individuals self-interest, but used it to support his opinions and beliefs about computer technology.  Gates mentioned also the same significant fact mentioned earlier by Smith - that people should care about other people.  He also discusses that advancement in technology could not be sufficient to create a vast change for the way people live - but that also "system innovation" is needed.

Chapter 13

In chapter 13, the author explains how money effects modern mind, or in other words - how people are mentally effected by money.  He further discusses how money is important nowadays, and what is associated with somebody who is perceived to have money - a lot of money.  For instance, power and control.  Throughout the middle of the chapter, the author tells a story of a person called Bloggs, who was a very talented drawer.  

It becomes interesting to read that one day when Bloggs had a meal at a restaurant - he haven't had money to pay for his meal and therefore drawed a 20 dollar bill on a napkin - which he offered the restaurant as payment for his meal.  I was surprised to read that Bloggs even used his money drawings not just to pay for meals at a restaurant, but also to buy cloth and pay for rent.  At the end of the chapter, the author discusses that people may change the way they work with money - if they had a greater understanding of how to deal with money.