market folly

Time for the third installment in our series of 4 articles revealing Blue Ridge Capital's recommended reading list. Previously, we've revealed Blue Ridge's recommended Analytical Reading List, as well as their Historical/Biographical List. This week, we'll turn to their recommended Economics and 'Other' books.

Long-time blog readers will know that we track Blue Ridge because they are the pure definition of a Tiger Cub. Griffin was Julian Robertson's right-hand man while at Tiger Management and was one of the first to strike out on his own. And, Blue Ridge is also a part of the Tiger Cub Portfolio created with Alphaclone where you can replicate their 15.5% annualized returns since 2000. (More info on Griffin at the bottom for those unfamiliar).

Make sure to check back next week as we'll reveal the Behavioral Finance suggestions (the last category on their list).


Economics

Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman: A must-read by one of the most well-known economists out there.

The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman: A book that deals with understanding globalization and argues that globalization (the Lexus) is "the central organizing principal of the post-cold war world."

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt: With an introduction by Steve Forbes, this book is a great primer on economic thinking.

Eat the Rich by PJ O'Rourke: A tour of two years worth of economic practice, focusing on good capitalism and bad capitalism, among other things.


Other

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: The "grandfather of all people-skills books." It details fundamental techniques and principles for dealing and interacting with people.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand: Not only recommended by Blue Ridge, but by many other hedge fund managers out there, this book deals with philosophy of objectivism.

The Tao Jones Averages by Bennett Goodspeed: Touches on the mindset required to succeed as an investor.

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff: Despite the somewhat silly title, this book examines what a Western Taoist is.

The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff: Similar to the above, this book examines the Taoist embodiment of Te, or virtue.

Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright: Address the convtroversial question of 'purpose in evolution.'


That completes their Economics and 'Other' recommendations. We'll cover their Behavioral Finance suggestions next week. In the mean time, make sure you also check out our past Recommended Reading Lists where we've covered the topics of:

- Blue Ridge Capital's Recommended Analytical Reading

- Blue Ridge's Recommended Historical/Biographical Reading

- Fundamentals

- Good Market Reads

- Gurus

- Technical analysis

- John Burbank's hedge fund Passport Capital: Suggested Reading List


Background on Blue Ridge:

Griffin is a Tiger Cub, and as mentioned above, he was Julian Robertson's right hand man. So, needless to say, he knows his stuff. Blue Ridge seeks absolute returns by investing in companies who dominate their industries and shorting the companies who have fundamental problems. While hedge funds typically closely guard their short positions, we've gotten a sneak peek in the past at what Blue Ridge had been shorting. Both Griffin at Blue Ridge and Lee Ainslie over at Maverick Capital like to effectively hedge with a solid balance of both long and short positions (like a true hedge fund... not like some of the crazy funds these days that aren't truly hedged). Griffin attended the University of Virginia for undergrad and received his MBA from Stanford.