JIm Grant: "Life is a matter of tradeoffs"

Life is a matter of tradeoffs. And early on people would plague you if you held this view in public by saying, “You mean to tell me that you are willing to trade off profits for human lives?”  Well no, I’m willing to trade off risks, and it’s what we all do whether we realize or not, whether we can express this or not.  We are all, at least subconsciously, living according to our tolerance for risk.  We look both ways or no, we don’t look both ways.  We scrupulously observe 55 miles an hour or we are young and quick and bold and drive 75 miles an hour and probably not run a risk to ourselves or others.   So people by and large – not exclusively and not entirely, but people by and large know these things about themselves.

~ Jim Grant, "Living Economic History: Q&A with Jim Grant," The Coffee Can Portfolio, December 9, 2020