Seykota new book "Govopoly"

Discussions about personal psychology for the individual trader.
Post Reply
TrendsCatcher
Roundtable Fellow
Roundtable Fellow
Posts: 97
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:28 pm
Location: Southern California, USA

Seykota new book "Govopoly"

Post by TrendsCatcher »

What's everyone's opinion on Ed Seykota's new book "Govopoly"?
rhc
Roundtable Knight
Roundtable Knight
Posts: 464
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:46 pm
Location: Oz

Post by rhc »

Firstly, the aesthetics;
A reasonably heavy book due to the very good quality gloss paper used.
Each page features a pleasing-to-the-eye colour picture that acts (most times) as a metaphor for the content on that page complete with Ed’s trademark dry style of humour evident here & there. (which I enjoy)
It’s a somewhat pricey book but as I say heavy glossy paper ‘n all so you gonna be paying.

Secondly, the content;
The message in a nutshell is basically that as an economy matures and the government grows, free competition is stifled & crony capitalism increases. This results in/from increased public debt, rising prices & loss of freedom with no incentive for entrepreneurs to do what they do best (i.e. innovate, invent, create)
Eventually the whole thing collapses due to the government becoming so large that it consumes almost all of the productive resources in an economy. (Think of the predator-prey model)
In the book he uses the metaphor of duckweed growing exponentially & taking over a pond of water and eventually killing all life in that pond. You don’t notice the weed initially (when you could’ve done something about it) and by the time you do notice it’s too late to do anything about it. Such are the properties of exponential growth.

All of this is all illustrated via the ‘systems dynamics’ point of view which is a method of trying to make sense of complex systems & the main variables that interact with each other within that system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_dynamics
I have a lot of time for the system dynamics way of thinking. It appeals to me since much of it is counterintuitive and it often amazes me how a small tweak to one variable can have a profound impact to the system as a whole (Think of your own trading systems)
This is probably why I enjoyed the book as much as i did

Thirdly, my thoughts.
I thought it was a very enjoyable & simple read and by simple I don’t mean ‘dumbed-down’
Seykota seems to have followed the Einstein motto of “make things as simple as possible but not simplerâ€
sluggo
Roundtable Knight
Roundtable Knight
Posts: 2987
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2004 2:50 pm

Post by sluggo »

I will wait a few months and buy it used, to support the used-book ecosystem by voting with my dollars. If it deprives the publisher and author of a payday, I don't mind. They aren't buying from me either.
rhc
Roundtable Knight
Roundtable Knight
Posts: 464
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:46 pm
Location: Oz

Post by rhc »

I’m a big fan of saving money where I can & your idea is a good one, however it should be noted that Seykota’s first book “The Trading Tribeâ€
stamo
Roundtable Knight
Roundtable Knight
Posts: 522
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:27 pm

Post by stamo »

It's amusing to see "The Trading Tribe" available on Amazon used for $225 to $1900+ while Ed sells it new for $125.
rhc
Roundtable Knight
Roundtable Knight
Posts: 464
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:46 pm
Location: Oz

Post by rhc »

An arbitrage opportunity perhaps?
Jake Carriker
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 1493
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2003 10:32 am
Location: Austin, Texas

Post by Jake Carriker »

I have a copy signed by the author. Maybe I could start a bidding war on Amazon or Ebay ;) Don't know what I would do if it sold. Probably have to see Ed's website about a replacement. I wonder if he would still sign that one for free? If so, I have a new trading system...
Hugofrance
Roundtable Fellow
Roundtable Fellow
Posts: 72
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:54 am

Post by Hugofrance »

You might suffer high skid. Might be a rather illiguid market place.
sinkpretend
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri May 08, 2015 8:40 am

Re: Seykota new book "Govopoly"

Post by sinkpretend »

good book and great podcast
RedApple
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:47 am

Re:

Post by RedApple »

stamo wrote:It's amusing to see test link available on Amazon used for $225 to $1900+ while Ed sells it new for $125.
Lol, I was just thinking about buying this book and was going to buy it on Amazon before I found this thread. What are these sellers thinking. :roll:n
Post Reply