Paul Johnson
The Navigator
Judgement in the fog, money, risk and the call others cannot make.
Paul Johnson is the Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, where he engages deeply with economic policy and its implications. This interview reveals his ability to steer through the complexities of economic orthodoxy and political challenges, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based decision-making.
“The timing's great, the end of October four years ago. Paul and I were attending the Gramm and Doddsville breakfast the annual event hosted by the Columbia Business School, and afterwards I asked him what's going on, what's new, just catching up. And he said, ah, I finally bit the bullet and I'm going to write a book. Oh, great.”
“And we tie all this back. Now, we think if you only get a shot, one question, a p.m., you're going to only get their attention for a minute. We think the third question is really the most important. How did the market get it wrong and how did you figure it out? The other question sort of answer themselves.”
“Oh, absolutely. It ends up that if you're looking at Wizamacrow from Farmer's perspective, it really is about information processing and then trading. If you look at it from the behavioral side, they're trying to see it.”
“Question. I'm with Paul 10 years ago, I'd probably even say 15 years ago. It was great because there were a lot of retail, a lot of unsophisticated, and we could come into a good situation and really exploit it. You call the CEO and say, oh, you're the first person I talked to in a year, and it sort of warms your heart.”
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson — The Paul Johnson One
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