The Trading Game

I love an underdog story. Few things excite me more than hearing about someone beating the system. Winning the game. Gary won.

Everything you’ve read about banking and finance? It’s true. The drugs, the partying, the girls—all of it. This industry attracts a certain type of person: narcissistic, money-hungry, ruthless. But Gary? He doesn’t fit the stereotype.

He comes from a poor, working-class family. Expelled from his grammar school, he somehow makes it to the London School of Economics and then lands a job at Citi as an FX trader. He’s there for one reason and one reason only: bank robbery. Not literal bank robbery—metaphorical. His goal is simple: make enough money so he never has to work again, and do it as fast as possible. But let’s just say the bank has other plans.

I loved this book because I felt his pain. I, too, want financial freedom. I like reading about the sacrifices people make to get there.

It also reminded me that not all work is equal. Leverage matters. Your 40-hour week is not the same as someone else’s. Who you know matters. It’s not always the hardest-working, the most disciplined, or even the smartest who win the game. Sometimes, it’s just dumb luck. But you can increase your surface area for luck—and I suppose that’s what Gary did by getting into FX swaps after the 2008 financial crisis.

Unrelated to the book, Gary’s blog is where he dives into wealth inequality. He introduced me to his economic theory on why the economy will only get worse: the rich will keep accumulating assets while the middle class shrinks, pushing more people into poverty. I’m not sure how much I agree with him, but some of it is undeniably true. This cycle has played out throughout history—the wealthiest accumulate land, buildings, and other assets, then rent-seek, driving down wages and living standards. Eventually, people get fed up. Revolutions often start this way.