With my mind on my money (and my money on my mind) — Snoop Dogg
My second stop on this tour was in London. This leg of my trip didn’t require giving any speeches or trainings, and I had a bit of time to look around me and do a bit of listening.
The UK is a fascinating place, full of history and tradition. I spent an afternoon wandering through Kensington Palace and Gardens, poking into cafes and meandering down old, cobbled alleyways. In the span of a few hours, I witnessed the grandeur of the British aristocracy, the charm of narrow passages lined with shops that reminded me of Rowling’s Diagon Alley, and the phantoms of Dickensian squalor. I thought about the struggles of both rich and poor as they have built and ruled this great city. The generations of labor, the divide between the ruling and the servant classes, and about how much, and how little, has changed in a few thousand years…I can’t go anywhere without thinking about economics.
Everywhere I went, I watched, and I listened, and everywhere people were talking about money. My colleagues in the UK often ask if I notice a difference in how openly Americans discuss money compared to Brits. They seem to think that the English way is to be more tight-lipped about such things. The truth is that money is on everyone’s minds, all around the world. I stayed one night at a friend’s home in Stoke Newington. The house was full of Air BNB guests, to help him offset the financial struggles of his recent divorce. On the streets, people chatted about bargains and the driver talked about wanting to become an investor. “I’m not planning on being a cabbie forever,” he said. In the shops, American children struggled to mentally calculate the exchange rate with their parents, and at the train ticket counters, many folks walked up and down asking tourists for cash, repeating the same phrase over and over. “Excuse me, can you spare fifty pence? I’m homeless.” Is this different from the US? No, not a bit.
On the plane to South Africa, I met a couple of men from Johannesburg. They are curious about how the American presidential election will affect their investments, and the value of the dollar. They told me that in South Africa, there is a constant fear that one’s financial life is out of your own control. “You can work hard all your life and then…because of some situation you did nothing to create…It’s a frightening time to be an investor.” I learned that these same men have recently been sold some complex financial product by their advisor. According to him, it is something that will make a lot of money if a particular currency rises, and has insurance attached if it drops. The man I was speaking to has no idea how this instrument works, but his advisor has assured him that, “The asset underneath is solid.” I thought about the five-minute rule: “If you can’t understand it in five minutes, don’t buy it,” and I was not at all surprised that this couple feels so afraid for their own financial future.
Another airport — a woman at a table next to me hears my American accent and asks my thoughts on the most recent presidential debate. “America’s economy effects all of us, you know.” Yes, I do. Getting off my last flight in Cape Town this morning, a man on his phone is talking to someone about politics. “No, we don’t know if he’s out yet, but the Rand is still strong. Let’s not worry yet, we’ve figured it into our risk assessment.” …
Everyone, everywhere, has money on their minds.
