The Rational Reminder Podcast · Thursday, August 27, 2026
David Booth discussed the foundational work of Jim Lorie and Lawrence Fisher in collecting stock and bond return data, which began as far back as 1926. He also mentioned the development of the first index portfolio, the Samsonite Index, funded by Samsonite with $6 million, and the Black-Scholes option pricing model.
“Jim Lorie was one of my favorite people. He was one of these professors. He was never going to get a Nobel prize and I don't think he bought into this notion of market efficiency or whatever.”
“He persuaded Merrill Lynch to fund the data collection on stock returns and bond returns, starting as far back as Fama and Fisher could go was 1926.”
“It's the Samsonite Index, called the Samsonite Index, because Samsonite funded with $6 million.”