Mark R. Rank Journalist Profile

Articles

Lessons from a random world

Dec 5, 2024 | source.washu.edu | Mark R. Rank |Leslie Gibson McCarthy

We live in a world often influenced by accident rather than design. As detailed in my latest book, The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us (April 2024), the ways in which our lives unfold are frequently shaped by chance events. A happenstance encounter, a missed subway connection, a last-minute cancellation, a serendipitous discovery — all of these and more can profoundly affect how our lives turn out. So, too, with the world around us.
Index funds are the best way to invest in the stock market - and if you need more proof, here it is

Jun 22, 2024 | morningstar.com | Mark R. Rank

By Mark R. Rank Darts, monkeys and Wall Street: Your stock market success might just be dumb luck A Russian circus monkey named Lusha was able to select an investment portfolio that beat 94% of the country's investment funds. Trying to outguess the stock market has been an active sport for decades, if not centuries. Determining when and where the market and individual stocks are heading in the short run has been the gold standard for many professional and amateur investors alike.
Here’s more proof that index funds are the best way to invest in stocks

Jun 18, 2024 | flipboard.com | Mark R. Rank

Finance 13 hours ago 5 Dividend Kings to Buy Now for Dependable Retirement Passive Income 247wallst.com - Lee Jackson • 13h While getting to retirement age can be a blessing and a curse, the reality of counting on the U.S. government to provide for your needs is not the … Health 8 hours ago This weightlifting workout in your 60s can preserve strength for years The Washington Post - Leo Sands • 8h Older people had stronger leg muscles years after a 12-month weightlifting program than those who...
Opinion: Darts, monkeys and Wall Street: Your stock market success might just be dumb luck

Jun 17, 2024 | marketwatch.com | Mark R. Rank

Trying to outguess the stock market has been an active sport for decades, if not centuries. Determining when and where the market and individual stocks are heading in the short run has been the gold standard for many professional and amateur investors alike. For anyone who can do so on a consistent basis, considerable money is to be had. Yet the vast majority end up losing. Why? The reason can be found in the random factor.
What we gain by recognising the role of chance in life

May 23, 2024 | psyche.co | Mark R. Rank

Appreciating the world is random can foster perseverance, gratitude for our own luck and empathy for the plight of othersYour luck, they say, can turn around. All you need to do is work a little harder.
Biological Poverty Line for Infants-Evidence and Implications

Apr 22, 2024 | jamanetwork.com | Joan Luby |Mark R. Rank |Deanna Barch

Biological Poverty Line for Infants—Evidence and Implications Decades of behavioral and educational research have clearly demonstrated the powerful detrimental effects of exposure to poverty on child development. Building on this, a burgeoning body of literature has also demonstrated adverse effects on brain development. Together such findings suggest that exposure to poverty very early in life alters the structure and function of the developing brain.
The Lottery of Getting Into Harvard

Mar 22, 2024 | time.com | Mark R. Rank

IdeasMarch 22, 2024 7:00 AM EDTAt this time of year an aspiring group of high school seniors have their hopes set on gaining admittance to a university or college of their choice. For some, those aspirations lie with a small number of extremely selective institutions. Their anxieties and their parent’s anxieties may be running high in wondering what more they could have done to increase their chances of acceptance.
How much will luck play into who wins March Madness championship? I'd go with 12%.

Mar 17, 2024 | yahoo.com | Mark R. Rank

Sometimes sports comes down to luck, as any fan can attest to. Especially in the playoffs, a lucky or unlucky bounce may be the difference between advancing or going home. With March Madness upon us, college basketball fans are sure to be glued to their screens. But as the tournament proceeds, how much will luck shape the final outcome? Maybe not as much as you think.
America Looks at Poverty All Wrong

Jun 1, 2023 | time.com | Mark R. Rank

Poverty in America has, for decades, been framed as an issue of “them” rather than “us.” The poverty stricken are routinely thought to reside far outside of mainstream America. Central to this understanding is the belief that the poor haven’t worked hard enough to pull themselves up by their bootstraps—or that they’ve made bad decisions and choices throughout their lives, resulting in poverty. There is also a strong racial component to this perception.
America Looks at Poverty All Wrong

Jun 1, 2023 | ca.sports.yahoo.com | Mark R. Rank

Read full articleHomelessness in San FranciscoA homeless man in San Francisco, California on May 16, 2023, as homelessness rates rise due to the displacement of communities and citizens residing in low-income regions of the city. Credit - Tayfun Coskun—Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesPoverty in America has, for decades, been framed as an issue of “them” rather than “us.” The poverty stricken are routinely thought to reside far outside of mainstream America.