Unique historical perspective
on finance and globalization

Highlights

William Bernstein, Ph.D., M.D., is the author of two books of economic history that illuminate the keys to success in today's economic environment.

The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created distills from history the four conditions necessary for sustained economic progress and projects how these factors will shape the future of the global economy.

His book, A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today, explains how our age-old dependency on trade has made us both prosperous and vulnerable and puts the perrennial debate over free trade and protectionism in historical context.

Bill’s most recent book, The Investor’s Manifesto, is a timely guide to help you plan a lifetime of investing in good time and in bad.

Bill is best known as a grassroots hero to independent investors. A practicing neurologist, he comes to the problems of saving and investing as someone who had to figure this out himself, from first principles up.

He is the author of The Intelligent Asset Allocator, the editor of the quarterly asset allocation journal Efficient Frontier, and the founder of the popular website Efficient Frontier. He is a principal in Efficient Frontier Advisors.

The Intelligent Asset Allocator is a plain-spoken guide on how to build a diversified portfolio—without the help of a financial advisor.

Human Prosperity

In his first two books and through his financial planning practice, Bill Bernstein has explained how individuals get rich. In his third book, The Birth of Plenty, he explains how the world got rich—or at least, a lot richer. In it, he develops a hypothesis of wealth and uses it to analyze the progress of the nations of the world and to outline the challenges and opportunities for future economic progress. Four conditions drive human prosperity: property rights, scientific rationalism, capital markets, and communications and transportation technology—so the history of successful economies tell us. But many of today’s economies are not successful. He’s optimistic about the future, though, because now we know that makes progress possible.

Efficient Frontier

Bill has made a name for himself by questioning the value of Wall Street wisdom, skewering the recommendations of self-serving stockbrokers, and showing legions of investors how to successfully manage their own investments with intelligence and long-term vision.

A breath of fresh air for investors tired of overly technical investment tomes, his book The Intelligent Asset Allocator helps investors

• Learn the risk/reward characteristics of various investment types
• Understand and apply portfolio theory to improve returns with less risk
• Sharpen their focus, and take control of their investment programs