Paul Vigna

Managing editor, American Banker. Author, The Almightier. Last of the Duke Street kings. Opinions mine own. Email: [email protected]

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

Pub Day!

My new book The Almightier is out today. Already the top new release in Amazon’s money section, it’s a history of money you haven’t heard before: how money came from religion, eventually broke free from religion and how money became its own morality. And how maybe we can do better.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@bgurley 59 is way, way too young. Terrible. He was a daily must-read back in the glory days of blogs.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@barronsonline @LaMonicaBuzz

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

From Liaquat Ahamed’s “1873”:

“Each had been convinced that when the music stopped, they would be able to exit.”

He’s talking about Vienna in, well, in 1873. But he might as well be talking about today, this morning, this very minute.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@f_flint72110 @mcuban @grok That’s fair, but my overarching point was that 150M people didn’t decide to invest in the market, which was what Mark said. The options given us herd us into stocks. The markets gains are engineered. And not for nothing but you’ll see this w/SpaceX, too. Forced buying by funds.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@f_flint72110 @mcuban @grok I dunno, bonds maybe?

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@mcuban The problem is incentives. “Economics” is just the study of how people interact with each other. “The economy” is the result of the incentives we bake into our laws. If we want to put people’s welfare over money, which we should, the only way to do it is to change the incentives.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

“Even if you earned it, you still owe.”

Tupac would have made a great economist. He actually got it.

https://t.co/31DfiMBiSD

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@Heartforever39 @cxllum7 ‘94 did have some effect. It’s an established sport now here. We have pro leagues and the women’s nat’l team is a legit world power. But the men’s nat’l team has never been a contender. If that happens, this country will go soccer mad overnight.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@StruanCumming Oh! Ha ha, I see now. Yeah, I should’ve been clearer. Yes, he was critical in helping me.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

Pub Day!

My new book The Almightier is out today. Already the top new release in Amazon’s money section, it’s a history of money you haven’t heard before: how money came from religion, eventually broke free from religion and how money became its own morality. And how maybe we can do better.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@StruanCumming I was trying to answer the question, what is money? I talked to Hudson before the pandemic. I’d heard of debt jubilees but didn’t know anything about them, or the ancient world for that matter. He helped me explore that whole world.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@StruanCumming Thanks, Struan. Not only are you right, but I’ve interviewed Hudson, and I quote him in The Almightier. A lot of what he said sparked the ideas that became my book. He was critical.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

This is not the first time we’ve had to coin a new word to describe a new class of wealthy. And it ended very, very badly. There’s a lesson there for all the Elon fanboys. Elon, too, for that matter.

https://t.co/PKxvUTreu2

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@ttmygh Well, he’s right that it would be insane for the company to pledge to never sell a bitcoin. But, he definitely did pledge that the company would never sell a bitcoin.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@JefePil Just want to turn the TV off. For the next three months.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@markjeffrey Haven’t seen it in years and years, but it is.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

For 13 games the Knicks were like Christopher Reeve in Somewhere in Time. They mentally willed themselves into being the best team in MBA history.

But at some point before game three they pulled the penny out of their pocket. Broke the illusion.

It’s all over.

[Paul Vigna @paulvigna]

@danprimack I didn’t know that was possible.