“I went from being a Marxist philosopher to working as a capitalist tool,” said Mark Hulbert during his recent lecture visit to Guilford on Friday, Sept. 21. Mr. Hulbert is the creator of the highly renowned Hulbert Financial Digest. He wrote for Forbes magazine for 11 years, and has had his own column in the New York Times since 1998. He is also on the Board of Trustees here at Guilford.

Hulbert’s story begins in the 1970’s at Haverford College. As a philosophy major under the tutelage of Richard Burnstein, he followed the call of Marxism. After graduating, Hulbert went to Oxford to continue his studies. During his time there, he went to many different lectures and met the kinds of people he had written off in the past, only to learn that his stereotypes were not valid.

“I used to think that if you were a registered Republican it automatically took twenty points off your I. Q.,” said Hulbert. But his experiences with others in his field, and his Quaker convictions took him to a different plateau, one led by humility.

“When I’m more in tune with my Quaker values, I tend to withdraw from assuming people are ignorant,” said Hulbert. “We need to have knowledge of our ignorance instead of pointing the finger at others.”

Mark believes that “alienation is an inevitable result from division of labor.” His belief is that the people who serve on the social concerns committees should be the same as those who invest the money. He feels that the people on the left and right are part of the same division of labor; by being divided they have already alienated the other side and cannot work together efficiently.

A seminar held in New Orleans two decades ago changed Mark Hulbert’s life forever. The financial seminar, which is held every November, consisted of a number of experts and their predictions for the upcoming year. Once Mark found that no one was taking a tally, he decided to track the performance of those who thought they knew where the market was going. This became the Hulbert Financial Digest.

After the lecture, Mark took the time to answer student questions. Russian exchange student Alika Khmeleva asked if he projected that Russia would be an equal economic partner in the future. Immediately he alluded to Weber: “A capitalist economy has to have a cultural underpinning to work.” He went on to say that the reason the economists failed in Russia is that they tried to make just a piece work instead of using the much longer entire process mixed with cultural sensitivity.

“I agree with most of the things he said and share many of his beliefs,” said Khmeleva. “He spoke the language I speak, the language of universal wisdom, being a student is a lifestyle and learning is a lifetime commitment.”

Hulbert also answered some concerned questions pertaining to our own economy in this time of national crisis. He told one student, “what will cause a downfall in the economy is our fear of terrorism; it will cause us to withdraw.” He closed the session with hope, however, saying that consumer confidence will return soon.