“Most people are too busy earning a living to make any money.” — Joe Karbo, “The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches”
“O wise humanity, terribly wise humanity! How inscrutable is the civilization where men toil and work and worry their hair gray to get a living and forget to play!” — Lin Yutang, “The Importance of Living”
When I first started in the business world, I saw an ad for a book entitled, “The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches,” by Joe Karbo. The price was $10, but on the cover, it said the book was worth $1,000…or more.
“His subtitle caught my eye: “Most people are too busy earning a living to make any money.”
I ordered the book, and in a few days, it appeared in my mailbox. I anxiously read the book cover to cover to see what his secret formula was for making it big in the business world.
His formula was simple. Do what he did: start a mail-order business!
I’ve been running a mail-order business for my books ever since, and it has allowed me to break away from the “busy world” and have the free time to play sports, travel with my family, read books, meet often with friends and colleagues, engage in good causes and enjoy a life of leisure.
That life of Riley also gave me the opportunity to become an adjunct professor at various colleges and universities — from Columbia Business School to Chapman University — and to write two textbooks, “Economic Logic” and “The Making of Modern Economics.”
It also gave me the chance to travel to 78 countries and live in the Bahamas, London and several states in the United States (Florida, New York and California).
It led to my producing FreedomFest, “the world’s largest gathering of free minds,” every July in Vegas and other cities. It’s a for-profit business that has been successful and has given me a lot of pleasure over the years fighting for a good cause.
Are You Too Busy to Do the Important Things in Life?
I often think of Joe Karbo’s subtitle, “Most people are too busy to…” Fill in the blank: “Spend time with their family… take a vacation… play a musical instrument… read a book… do charitable work… Get involved in a good cause… or attend FreedomFest and other worthwhile conferences.”
Too many business people only focus on working 24/7 and burning the candle at both ends.
In my latest 10th edition of “The Maxims of Wall Street,” I added this somber quotation (p. 23)
“We squander health in search of wealth,
We scheme and toil and save,
Then squander wealth in search of health,
And find at last a grave.”
— Henry Winn (1913)
My Debate at FreedomFest on the Rat Race
In 2011, I debated Todd Buchholz, a former professor at Harvard University, at FreedomFest on the topic, “The Rat Race, Good or Bad for Americans?” He defended his new book, “RUSH: Why We Thrive in the Rat Race.” It was a fun debate and it was recorded by C-SPAN Book TV. Watch it here (48 minutes, if you have the time!) Alex Green, chief investment officer of the Oxford Club, was the moderator.
I don’t know who won the debate, but it is interesting that years later (2022) I met up with Todd Buchholz in London. He was busy as ever, but his latest endeavor surprised me: he produced and wrote with his daughter a musical on the West End called “Glory Ride,” which he saw and enjoyed. Todd seems to be enjoying life to the fullest.
The Story Behind This Special Photograph
For years, Brett Iannuccillo, a long-time subscriber to my newsletter, wanted to come to FreedomFest. It seems that every year he had a conflict. Life was busy and FreedomFest passed by every year.
Well, he finally made it last year. He said he had the best time, and on the final day of the four-day conference, he came up on stage in Memphis for a photograph of all the attendees who bought a silver dollar, our official symbol of liberty and prosperity. It’s an annual tradition to be on stage with celebrity speakers, such as Fox News’ Lisa Kennedy, our emcee Steve Forbes and many others.
Brett is the one kneeling between me and Kennedy holding two silver dollars, with everyone else having a great time at FreedomFest.
His wife contacted us yesterday to tell us how much he loved “the greatest libertarian show in earth.” But then she asked to change tickets to this year’s show in Vegas because, sadly, Brett died a month after FreedomFest in Memphis. I was glad he finally got to fulfill his wish to attend our big show.
NEW SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT!
We are putting together a great program for you this summer, including a big Bitcoin debate with John Mackey (former CEO of Whole Foods Market) and Alex Green (chief investment strategies at the Oxford Club), both huge fans of FreedomFest.
Busy as these successful people are, they make a point to carve out three to four days to join us in Vegas.
We have officially confirmed our first round of speakers for FreedomFest Vegas: “Brave New World?” at the CAESARS FORUM conference center July 10-13, 2024! Over 200 experts will speak on investing and finance, politics, medical science and more and we will add them to our website regularly over the next couple of months.
Stay up to date by joining our email list.
Today, we are highlighting two standout speakers and our 2024 emcee!
Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist from Harvard University, will give a keynote address this summer entitled, “Why I’m an Optimist, Even for Harvard!” Pinker is a provocative speaker who has been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In today’s world, it will be refreshing to hear from an optimist and see if he thinks the wars in the Middle East and the Ukraine will spread into another Third World War.
’Enlightenment Now’ is not only the best book Pinker’s ever written. It’s my new favorite book of all time.” — Bill Gates on “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress” by Steven Pinker
Podcaster extraordinaire Tom Woods, producer of the popular “Tom Woods Show,” will also be joining the lineup at FreedomFest this year. He will be speaking on his two latest books, “Diary of a Psychosis: How Public Health Disgraced Itself During COVID Mania” and “National Divorce: The Peaceful Solution to Irreconcilable Differences.” In 2019, he won the Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award from the Austrian Economics Center in Vienna.
She’s back! Our fearless emcee, Lisa Kennedy, is returning again this year to entertain you with her outrageous costumes, hilarious commentary and clever speaker introductions. Kennedy hosted FOX Business Network’s primetime program “Kennedy” for many years and appears frequently on FOX News Channel’s “Outnumbered” and “The Five.” She hosts a podcast on FOX News Audio entitled “Kennedy Saves the World.” She got her start in television as an MTV VJ in 1992. Oh, the stories she could (and does!) tell!
This just in: We just confirmed another speaker. Emily Compagno, co-host of Fox News’s show “Outnumbered,” will make her FreedomFest debut. She is also the host of the Fox True Crime Podcast. She has a huge following.
Early Bird Special: Only $397 (Save $150)
Most four-day conferences cost $1,000 or more, but not at FreedomFest. You pay only $397 if you take advantage of our “early bird” special…$150 off the retail price. Guests pay only $347…and students $197. To register, go to www.freedomfest.com, or call Hayley at 1-855-850-3733, ext 201.
Don’t let your busy schedule delay coming to FreedomFest! As Steve Forbes says, “FreedomFest is where the best and the brightest get together to change the world. I wouldn’t miss it.”
See you in July… and don’t forget to bring (or buy) a silver dollar!
Good investing, AEIOU,
You Nailed it!
‘The Best Short Story of the Economy I’ve Ever Read’
By Mark Skousen
Last semester, a professor of accounting at Chapman University came up to me and said that he always wanted to understand economics, so he read the book “Economics for Dummies.” But after reading it, he still couldn’t understand economics… until he read my short essay (15 pages with 11 amazing graphs) entitled “Economics of Life Made Simple.” “It all made sense to me for the first time,” he said.
Van Simmons, my favorite coin dealer, read it and said it was the best article he had ever read on economics and asked me for 20 copies to give out to his best customers.
Since then, a number of friends have asked for multiple copies to hand out to business associates, relatives and students, from 10 to 50 copies. I printed up 2,000, and just reordered another 1,000 copies.
The essay was originally the cover story of Skeptic magazine, published by Michael Shermer. You can read the essay online here .
Or, you can order the print version for $3 each (minimum order of three copies) at www.skousenbooks.com. If you order any of my books, I’ll include a free copy of the essay.
