George Jerome Waldo Goodman (August 10, 1930 – January 3, 2014) was an American author and economics broadcast commentator, best known by his pseudonym Adam Smith (which was assigned by Clay Felker at ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine in order to keep his published articles about Wall Street anonymous). He also wrote fiction under the name "George Goodman".

Background, education, and career

Goodman was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, the son of Alexander Mark Goodman and Viona Cremer Goodman. He attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, graduating ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'', and served as an editor of ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

''. Goodman won a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, where he read for the B. Litt. His first novel, ''The Bubble Makers'', published simultaneously in the UK and the United States, was written during this period. In 1954, before the Special Forces became the Green Berets, he joined the

US Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

in the Intelligence group known as Psywar (psychological warfare). In 1961, Goodman married American actress

Sally Brophy Sally Cullen Brophy (December 14, 1928 – September 18, 2007) was a Broadway and television actress and college theatre-arts professor. Early years Brophy was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cullen Brophy. Her father was a rancher; Brophy ...

, with whom he had two children. She died in 2007. His personal style of presenting economic facts and data has been described as that of "a witty, urbane dinner guest, a droll observer of human affairs", rather than a stodgy economics. Goodman pioneered a style of financial writing that made the language and concepts of

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

more understandable and accessible to the typical investor. Goodman's first non-fiction book, ''The Money Game'' (1968), was a number one bestseller for over a year and earned him the 1969 Gerald Loeb Special Book Award. In ''Paper Money'' (1981), he memorably introduced the catchphrase "

Assume a can opener "Assume a can opener" is a catchphrase used to mock economists and other theorists who base their conclusions on unjustified or oversimplified assumptions. The phrase derives from a joke which dates to at least 1970 and possibly originated with B ...

" to mock the tendency of economists to make unjustified assumptions and asked "Why are the economists almost always wrong?" During a stint in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, he wrote screen plays, including that for ''

The Wheeler Dealers ''The Wheeler Dealers'' (a.k.a. ''Separate Beds'' in the UK) is a 1963 American romantic comedy film produced by Martin Ransohoff, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring James Garner and Lee Remick. The script was written by George Goodman and ...

'', starring

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...

and

Lee Remick Lee Ann Remick (December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film '' Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), and for the 1966 Tony Award for Best Actress in ...

, adapted from his novel of the same title. He was a member of the Editorial Board of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', an editor of ''

Esquire Magazine ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst Communications, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under t ...

'', a writer for ''Fortune'' magazine, and a founding member of ''

'' magazine where he worked with such writers as

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

Jimmy Breslin James Earle Breslin (October 17, 1928 – March 19, 2017) was an American journalist and author. Until the time of his death, he wrote a column for the New York ''Daily News'' Sunday edition.''Current Biography 1942'', pp. 648–51: "Patterson, ...

, and

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in ...

. In 1984, Goodman came to television as the creator,

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

and editor-in-chief of '' Adam Smith's Money World''. Running on the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

in the US, it became the most honored program in its field, winning eight

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations and five Emmy Awards, as well as the

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

Award. The documentary specials won gold medals at the

Houston International Film Festival The WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, founded in 1968, is an annual film festival held annually in April in Houston, Texas. Notable festival alumni include John Lee Hancock, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film '' The Blind ...

and the Flagstaff Film Festival. The show used cartoon characters and reports from the field to explain and simplify complex financial subjects to its audience. Airing in over forty countries, it was also the first American business news show broadcast in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, airing weekly with a Russian soundtrack.

Recent work

Beginning in 1998 Goodman traveled the globe each year doing specials on countries and regions with fast-growing or

emerging economies An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...

such as China, Russia, the

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of co ...

, Latin America, India, and Israel. Goodman has also conducted interviews with leaders in both the fields of business and politics—ranging from

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. Beginning March 10, 2008, Goodman appeared along with two other personal finance advisers in the "Dollars and Sense" television advertising campaign for the

Hyundai Motor Company Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...

Death

Goodman's son Mark announced his father died at the age of 83 on January 3, 2014, at the University of Miami Hospital after a long battle with the bone marrow disorder

myelofibrosis Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a rare bone marrow blood cancer. It is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, a group of cancers in which there is growth of abnormal cells in the bone marrow. ...

Publications

;Fiction: * ''The Bubble Makers'' (1955) * ''A Time for Paris'' (1957) * ''The Wheeler Dealers'' (1963) ;Nonfiction: *''The Money Game'' (1968) *''Supermoney'' (1972) *''Powers of Mind'' (1975) *''Paper Money'' (1981) *''The Roaring ’80s'' (1988)

Notes

External links