Our guest this week is Ben Carlson, the director of institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management. A prolific and insightful writer, Carlson frequently publishes pieces on investing, personal finance, and other topics on his popular blog, A Wealth of Common Sense. In addition, he co-hosts the Animal Spirits podcast with his colleague Michael Batnick and is active on social media, including Twitter, where he can be found @awealthofcs. A CFA charterholder and graduate of Grand Valley State University, Carlson has authored several books, including A Wealth of Common Sense and Organizational Alpha. In today's episode, we'll be discussing Carlson's most recently published book, Don't Fall for It: A Short History of Financial Scams.

Background

Ben Carlson bio 

A Wealth of Common Sense blog 

Michael Batnick bio 

Animal Spirits podcast 

Ritholtz Wealth Management 

Don't Fall for It: A Short History of Financial Scams, by Ben Carlson

Scams: Victims and Perpetrators

Nigerian prince scam 

Annals of Gullibility: Why We Get Duped and How to Avoid It, by Stephen Greenspan 

Charles Ponzi bio 

Bernie Madoff bio 

John R. Brinkley bio 

The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success, by Kevin Dutton

"Troubles at Atlanta Hedge Fund Snare Doctors, Football Players" by Ian McDonald and Valerie Bauerlein, The Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2006.

William J. Bernstein: "The wealthy are different than you and I: They have many more ways of having their wealth stripped away." The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio, Chapter 7, Page 179.

"How Did Spike Lee Convince Michael Jordan to Help Fund His Malcolm X Film?" by Gene Marks, Entrepreneur, Feb. 28, 2019.

"Johnny Depp Spends $200,000 a Month on a Private Jet and $30,000 on Wine--Here's How Else He Blows His Fortune," by Emmie Martin, CNBC.com, Aug. 31, 2017. 

Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life, by John C. Bogle

"South Sea Bubble Short History," Harvard Business School

Railway mania 

"Fraudster Poses as Jason Statham to Steal Victim's Money," by Andy Bell and Dan Box, BBC News, April 29, 2019. 

Ulysses S. Grant bio 

"Lessons From the General," by Michael Batnick, The Irrelevant Investor, Dec. 12, 2017.