Jim Grant is a well-known publisher and writer in the United States. He is also the founder and owner of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, an established publishing house that has a long history of more than 30 years. He has written several popular books, with subject matters on finance and financial history. He had also appeared in a variety of popular television shows as well as contributed many articles on financial matters to a variety of well known, international journals and periodicals. He was born in 1946. He has a bachelor degree from the Indiana University. He also attended Columbia University and earned a master’s in International relations. After finishing his education, he served as a Gunner’s mate in the navy.
He started his journalism career in 1972. That year, he joined Baltimore Sun. He left Baltimore Sun and joined Barron’s, in 1975. While working for Barron’s, he initiated the “Current Yield” column in their publications. In 1983, he left Barron’s to set up his own publishing house, Grant’s. In that same year, he started to publish his own journal, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer. It was his first journal, and it is published two times in a month. The journal published articles on the financial markets. However, he and his company did not attend success for a great number of years. This is because he views things differently from his peers, and his skepticism did not find favors with readers who prefer good news to dooms. In addition, during the 1980’s, most observers and writers emphasized rewards of the financial world, rather than the inherent risks. Mr. Grant, however, wrote and published books and papers that focused primarily on the risks of the financial markets. While others have been preoccupied with the rewards of the various investment opportunities in the financial world, Mr. Grant observed and published, books and articles that caution his readers on potential financial pitfalls, such as junk bond, the irresponsible cycles of bank loans, the collapse of the Japanese finance, and the uprising of the Treasury’s appropriating. Today, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer is a very popular reading among hedge funds and many well-know hedge fund managers such as: Seth Klarman of Baupost Group and others read it.
While others saw bull markets, Mr. Grant saw the potential downfall of the market in the very near future. A critic once criticized “Money of the Mind”, a book written and published by Mr. Grant in 1992, saying that he views things from the view point of the accidents. In 1993, Mr. Grant wrote in his book “Minding Mr. Market” that the whole publishing house, Grant’s, also view things from the view point of the accident, not just him. However, in the 200s, Grant’s saw a turn for the better where more and more people would like his style of skepticism, due to increasing disillusion of the world’s economy and the financial markets. After Mr. Grant published “Mr. Market Miscalculates”, in 2008, John Authors, a writer from the Financial Times (FT), wrote an approving evaluation of Mr. Grant in the newspaper. In that article, John Authors praised Mr. Grant for his foresight into the financial tremors. He was amazed that even though the warnings were published in a well-publicized publication as far back as ten years ago, the financial regulators around the world and individuals failed to take notice of its warnings. If they had taken notice of the warnings earlier, they might have come up with ways to prevent the crisis. In addition, investors should have taken notice of the warnings, and refrain from making foolish investing choices. If they did, Mr. Market would not behave as he had.
Today, he is the owner of the publishing house, as well as a writer and author of a number of books. He is the author of numerous books, including “Bernard M. Baruch: The Adventures of a Wall Street Legend” (published in 1983), “Money of the Mind” (published in 1992), “Minding Mr. Market” (published in 1993), “The Trouble with Prosperity: A Contrarian’s Tale of Boom, Bust, and Speculation” (published in 1996), “John Adams: Party of One” (published in 2005), “Mr. Market Miscalculates: The Bubble Years and Beyond” (published in 2008; a collection of his articles in the preceding ten years), and “Mr. Speaker!: The Life & Times of Thomas B. Reed The Man Who Broke the Filibuster” (published in 2011; a biography of Thomas B. Reed who is the second president of the United States). He also contributed papers and articles on financial matters to a variety of journals and periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Foreign Affairs. He also contributed an assay to Grahm and Dodd’s Security Analysis in its sixth edition. In addition, he had appeared on various television programs including, “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer”, “60 Minutes”, “CBS Evening News”, and “Wall Street Week”. He had appeared regularly in “Wall Street Week” for ten years.
Jim Grant’s Personal Info
Jim Grant Age – 69 Years old
Career Duration and Experience – 43 Years
Current Service – Owner of Grant’s, Writer and Author
Style of Writing – Skepticism of the financial markets, and see pitfalls where others only see rewards.
Notable Achievements:
- Founded his own publishing house, Grant’s, in 1983
- Started his own journal, Grant’s Interest rate Observer, in 1983. This journal was published twice monthly and was on financial markets.
- Correctly observed the pitfalls of various financial markets and investments, and therefore, successfully predicted the financial crisis of recent years. He had written on these observations from as far back as ten years ago.
- Authors of several books on finance and financial history
Additional Information
Ron Paul, one of the Republican presidential candidates hopeful in the United States in the 2012 presidential race, named Mr Grant as a likely candidate for the Chairman of the Federal Reserve once the current Chairman, Ben Bernanke’s term expires in 2014. This show how respected Mr Grant and his viewpoints on the financial world are.
Mr Grant is married. His wife is Patricia Kavanagh, a neurologist. They have four children, and they currently live in Brooklyn Heights, in the United States.
Grant’s Interest Rate Observer
Grant’s Interest Rate Observer is a twice monthly journal on the financial markets. It was the first journal that was published by Jim Grant and his publishing house, Grant’s. Its first edition was published in 1983, the same year that Mr Grant set up his own publishing house. The twelve pages long journal is still in publication today and is published twenty four times per year.
Jim Grant Books
Mr. Market Miscalculates: The Bubble Years and Beyond record was published in 2008. It was a collection of articles that Jim Grant had written for the preceding ten years. These articles first appeared in various renowned journals and periodicals, including Mr Grant’s own Grant’s Interest Rate Observer and the Wall Street Insider’s Bible.
Money of the Mind was written by Jim Grant and was published in 1992. It was the second book published by the author. The book is focused on the American financial history of the 1980s, particularly on the history of financial credit, the American marketplace, and the personal histories of influential financiers.
Minding Mister Market was published in 1993. It was the third book published under the author. It was a collection of eighty articles written and published in his own journal, the twice monthly Interest Rate Observer, in the preceding ten years. It provides a comprehensive view of the 1980s, filled with lucid observations.
John Adams: Party of One was written by Jim Grant and published in 2005. It was the fifth book under the author’s name. The book is about John Adams, a diplomat and politician. He was a minister to the Netherlands during the American Revolution, but he eventually helped to found the United States.
The Trouble with Prosperity: A Contrarian’s Tale of Boom, Bust, and Speculation was written by Jim Grant and published in 1996. It was the fourth book published under the author. The book points out the pitfalls of the financial prosperity in the 1990s, and explain to the readers why it is destined to collapse.