And Speaking of Investor Discipline

Managers and investors are natural enemies. Investors want high returns. Managers want backdated options and gold keys to the washroom.

I've long thought my favorite bit of investor discipline is Episode 15, Season 2 of The Simpsons, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" That's the one where Homer finds his long-lost half-brother, Herb Powell (who sounds suspiciously like Danny DeVito). Herb is deep in megabucks as the president of Powell Motors. Stunned and smitten by his newly-discovered family, Herb turns to Homer for advice on designing his new model called, appropraitely enough "The Homer."

Of Course it is a disaster. Herb loses everything and is last seen boarding the bus with, if memory serves me rightly, a cardboard suitcase. "His life was an unbridled success," laments Lisa, "until he found out he was a Simpson."

Now, that was my idea of investor discipline. Until this. Hat tip: Tyler Cowen.