But I will confess a small pleasure at watching one of the greatest mathematical economists of our time wrestle with the concept of the blockchain. I have to tell you it took me a while to get my head around the concept, too, and it took Harry only five minutes. (It took me days.) Once you really grasp the blockchain, you can understand why hundreds of millions of dollars of venture capital has gone into the technology from some of the smartest VCs on the planet, and why every major bank in the world is working on some aspect of it. You are not going to wake up one morning and find your world suddenly transformed, but blockchain is going to change the workings of a myriad of financial as well as nonfinancial transactions, including the transfer of property. And yes, it will eventually change the process of how money itself works. It is a truly profound concept.
Harry was in his usual affable mood, and we sat for the better part of an hour talking about the world in general and me listening to Harry tell stories. He tells such great stories. As we slowly walked back to the room (he is 88 but still make sure to walk for 30 minutes to an hour a day), he tried to explain diversification, covariance and correlation, and why Modern Portfolio Theory will still be relevant 62 years from now. (It has been 62 years since he presented his paper establishing Modern Portfolio Theory.) Sometimes you just get to bask in the moment – walking by the ocean, taking in the phenomenal view, and realizing that I was walking with history. It doesn’t get much better than this.
You have a great week. I think I’ll just go ahead and hit the send button and wander over to the reception and see what other great moments emerge in my immediate future. You just gotta love life.
This article was originally published at Mauldin Economics.
John Mauldin is editor of Mauldin Economics' Outside The Box.