market folly

Oaktree Capital Chairman Howard Marks is out with his latest memo entitled Political Reality Meets Economic Reality.  In it, he spends the first part of the letter with interesting first and second order effects of the impact of tariffs, examining what's perceived as a benefit versus a risk. 

Marks then goes on to touch on something else that's worrying him even more: increasing anti-capitalist sentiment.

Rising populism is something he's watching, and he's not alone, as Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates has been cautioning about this as well.

Marks writes,

"A great deal of America's economic progress has resulted from people’s aspiration to make more and live better.  Take that away and what do we have?  The people at the bottom won’t have as many at the top to resent.  But without the contributions of those who aim for the top, everyone will have less to enjoy.  This is why I worry about the rise of negative sentiment toward capitalism and antipathy toward those who succeed under it."

Embedded below is Oaktree Capital's latest memo from Howard Marks:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Don't forget that Marks also has a brand new book out: Mastering the Market Cycle that's definitely worth checking out.