The Strategy Skills Podcast: Management Consulting | Strategy, Operations & Implementation | Critical Thinking

John Campbell, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and co-author of Fixed, joined the Strategy Skills Podcast to explain why the financial system often works against ordinary investors and how to make better personal-finance decisions. After decades studying markets and investor behavior, Campbell saw a pattern: even educated, high-income earners routinely make avoidable mistakes in housing, saving, and investing. "Once I started looking at how people actually behave, I became more and more aware of how pervasive mistakes are, people are just leaving money on the table." Those mistakes compound over time, widening inequality. "It's what economists call a cross-subsidy, from the poor to the rich. My co-author Tarun and I feel that this is really outrageous and we should be concerned about it." Five Key Insights 1. Financial Mistakes Compound Inequality Campbell's research shows that even when borrowers start on equal terms, inaction and misunderstanding drive divergence. "Black borrowers are paying m