The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds 201 - Roger Babson's Fight
Aug 21, 2016
Comedians dive into the bizarre life of Roger Babson, exploring his tragic upbringing and revolutionary impact on finance with his investment newsletter. They recount Babson's obsession with gravity after personal losses led him to create the Gravity Research Foundation. Quirky tactics like essay contests and eccentric inventions, including chocolate-covered fish, highlight his unique quest. Babson's influence on academia and lasting legacy add depth to this comedic yet insightful journey through an unconventional life.
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Building Success From Sickness
- Roger Babson contracted tuberculosis but continued working from home and built a lucrative financial-reporting business.
- He founded Babson's Reports and made millions while managing illness with open windows and extreme cold.
Newtonian Economics Predicts Market Crash
- Babson applied Newtonian action-reaction thinking to economics and predicted the 1929 crash with his chart of indicators.
- His businesslike translation of physics into finance gave him credibility and public influence.
A Personal Grudge Against Gravity
- After his grandson drowned, Babson blamed gravity and launched an obsessive search for a 'partial insulator of gravity.'
- He bought Invention Incorporated to have investigators monitor patents for any gravity-related alloy or formula.
