Robert P. Murphy is Research Assistant Professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University.  In addition to The Primal Prescription, Murphy is the author of several economics books for the layperson, including Choice (Independent Institute 2015), The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (Regnery 2007), and the textbook Lessons for the Young Economist (Mises Institute 2010).  He blogs at ConsultingByRPM.com.

1.  Everyone has a sense that the healthcare industry is a mess in the US. Obviously it’s a big story with a lot of moving parts, but how did we all get into this mess?
2. You wrote this with the help of a medical doctor, and with your background I’d expect you focused more on the economics side of things, but what would be the prescription for us as individuals to give us a better chance at surviving the “sick care” sinkhole? What does “primal” mean?
3. Based on the continued trajectory of the Affordable Care Act, where do you see the likely future of the healthcare industry heading?
4. As a society, what are some steps we can take to start fixing healthcare, or is it a lost cause?
5. Many futurists are excited about the advances in medical technologies, like DNA sequencing, robotic surgery, stem cells, home medical tricorders, etc. Is it possible that technology will bail us out of the holes our government has dug?

David is the Betty R. Miller Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and department chair at Cornell.  He specializes in organometallic chemistry with a particular expertise in the organic chemistry of lithium.  David is an avid student of markets, economics, and geopolitics and writes a Year in Review posted at Peak Prosperity and Zerohedge.  Dave has been cited in the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian and has appeared on Russia Today.

1. What were the 3 biggest events in 2015 (or building over the last few years) that you think will have a big impact on 2016?  What’s your long range prognosis?
2. This is your 7th year in review that you’ve produced.  What have you learned over that time from doing this incredible amount of informational synthesis every year?  Do you dread Decembers yet?  :)  What have you gotten most wrong?
3. How did you get started and what insight has being an organic chemistry professor at Cornell given you?
   
4. I love that at the beginning of every review, you include how your personal portfolio is positioned.  There are so many voices out there sharing their opinions in the financial world, but we never know if they have any real real conviction behind what they’re saying.  It drives me nuts.  Why are you willing to be so transparent and show your personal skin in the game?
5. You have roughly 20% of your net worth in precious metals.  I found the fervor both for and against gold to be almost religious in nature.  What are your thoughts about gold?  

Victor Ricciardi is an Assistant Professor of Financial Management at Goucher College.  Professor Ricciardi is a leading expert on the academic literature and emerging research issues in behavioral finance.  He is the editor of several eJournals distributed by the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at www.ssrn.com, including behavioral finance, financial history, behavioral economics, and behavioral accounting.

1.  What’s the bias with the biggest impact that’s the least understood or noticed?

2.  Wisdom of the crowd usually exists only when there’s a diverse population.  Given the typical investor is pretty homogenous (white, affluent), should we expect the wisdom of the crowd to not apply to the stock market?  What about changing demographics with whites becoming a minority and women now earning more bachelor’s degrees than men?

3.  Financial literacy scores in the US are pretty dismal, which to me really calls into question the validity of the Efficient Market Hypothesis.  How can we improve financial literacy?​

4.  Investors nearing or reaching retirement are often those searching for yield.  In a low interest rate environment like today, that yield is often unavailable without considerable risk attached.  Do you think there’s a lot of unknown risk being assumed right now by people who can least afford to take it?

5.  ​Conventional academic wisdom has it that the price of a security going down means there’s greater risk (due to a higher beta), and that risk and return are positively correlated.  Value investors believe that a lower price, all things equal, actually represents less risk while offering a greater potential reward.  What are your thoughts on the subject? 

Gareth Jones is a Fellow of the Centre for Management Development at London Business School and a visiting professor at Spain’s IE Business School in Madrid.  Rob Goffee is Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School, where he teaches in the world-renowned Senior Executive Programme.  Goffee and Jones consult to the boards of several global companies and are coauthors of Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? and Clever, both published by Harvard Business Review Press.

Arthur T. Benjamin is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College who specializes in combinatorics.  He is known for mental math capabilities and "Mathemagics" performances in front of live audiences.  His mathematical abilities have been highlighted in newspaper and magazine articles, at TED Talks and on The Colbert Report.  He is the author of several books, including The Magic of Math: Solving for x and Figuring out Why.