A Century of Investors

Abstract

Today's investors are more rapidly informed than their predecessors a century ago, but they are neither better informed nor better behaved. In this article, a picture of individual investors during 1906-1918 drawn from investor questions to the World's Work magazine is compared with a picture of investors of the 21st century as reflected in today's media. The investors of a century ago, like today's investors, wanted to be secure while they aspired to be rich, wanted to save while they were tempted to spend, wanted to feel the joy of pride and avoid the pain of regret.

Keywords: Investment Theory: behavioral finance; Investment Industry: other