Human beings like to imagine themselves as rational creatures. We pore over balance sheets, compare interest rates, read expert opinions, and insist that our decisions are grounded in evidence. Yet, history suggests otherwise. We don’t live by logic alone. We live on stories. More importantly, we live on hope.
Poor people often vote against their immediate economic interests, because they don’t think of themselves as poor, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. They are rich people in exile, waiting for their turn to arrive.
That same instinct shapes financial markets. People don’t merely buy shares. They buy futures in which they themselves are protagonists. Every investment is, in some sense, a bet on a story about tomorrow, which helps explain why the SpaceX IPO has generated such extraordinary excitement.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
