Munger Goes Mental

Atanu Dey passed on a speech by Charlie Munger to me. I tried to find the source and of course it was Whitney Tilson of Tilson funds who has been writing his notes and commentary in the Fool on everything Buffet, Munger and Hathway. Some notes from the transcript. You can find the transcript here.

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are undoubtedly the greatest investment duo ever, so I think any sensible investor should try to learn as much as possible about these two men and how they achieved their success. In the case of Buffett, it's not hard -- there are many books about him, he's published lengthy annual letters for decades (you can read the last 27 of them for free on Berkshire's website), and he gives speeches and makes public appearances regularly. But Munger is more private; there are only two books about him, he is a far less prolific writer, and rarely gives speeches.

Thus, my heart skipped a beat when a friend gave me a recording of a speech Munger gave to the economics department at the University of California, Santa Barbara last Oct. 3. It's 85 minutes long and entitled, "Academic Economics: Strengths and Faults After Considering Interdisciplinary Needs."

With that kind of title, it sounds like a real snoozer, eh? But it's not. In this speech, Munger applies his famous mental models approach to critiquing how economics is taught and practiced, and I think the lessons he teaches are profound -- both for investors as well as anyone who seeks to be a better, clearer thinker.

Munger is the best when it goes to explaining mental models and helping us understand the use of them. Nobody else comes anywhere near that. So get a hold of the transcript and read it in its entirety.

Tilson ends with this:

I'll conclude this column with a bit of classic Munger humor: While Buffett bends over backward to appear humble, Munger's the opposite -- he jokes about his big ego. In his opening remarks, he said:

As I talk about strengths and weaknesses in academic economics, one interesting fact you are entitled to know is that I never took a course in economics. And with this striking lack of credentials, you may wonder why I have the chutzpah to be up here giving this talk. The answer is I have a black belt in chutzpah. I was born with it.

For more on Tilsons collection of speeches, check it out here.