This post is in continuation of my book review series (see here)
“Blindspot” by Banaji/Greenwald is a book that covers the hidden biases of people.
All of us who drive cars know that every car has a blindspot-we just can’t see things that are in the car’s blindspot.
In a similar fashion,as humans, our biases ensure that we can’t see things that are plainly obvious to others.
This has quite a few implications and analogies in the investing world.
For instance, one chapter in the book is “The hidden costs of stereotypes” i.e. how our brains are misled by stereotypes.For example,in the Indian context, one would assume that a multinational would handle its tax affairs with integrity and probity.And yet, some of the biggest tax cases are against these august names (Cadbury,Nokia etc)
This book was the outcome of research conducted at Harvard and other Universities.As such, it has a slight textbook feel to it.
Would recommend this book to readers who have an interest in behavioral psychology.