Real history. Practical insights.
History Helps
Using insight from the past for navigating the present.
Joseph Moore is a historian, author, and investor who uses the stories of the past to help people think more clearly about the anxieties around money, opportunity, work, and the future.
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Speaking
Bring history to life.
Joseph’s talks use surprising stories from American history to make modern questions about wealth, work, risk, technology, and progress easier to understand.
From CPAs and Financial Advisors to Real Estate agents and Investors, Joseph's talks are tailored to his audience.
How does history help?
Practical insight from the past for navigating the present.
History does not give us a script for the future. It gives us perspective.
Joseph Moore explores the patterns, decisions, mistakes, and unexpected opportunities that have shaped American life, helping audiences understand the forces shaping their own.
Money and Markets
Historical lessons about wealth, risk, and opportunity.
Technology and Disruption
Old patterns for new frontiers.
Work and Careers
Timeless insights for navigating change.
Organizations and Change
How people and institutions adapt when the rules shift.
Opportunity and the American Dream
Real stories of ambition, mobility, and what it takes.
Newsletter
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Featured book
How to Get Rich in American History
300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked (& Didn’t)
In his national bestselling book, Joseph Moore examines the financial advice Americans have followed, questioned, repeated, and regretted. Along the way, he tests history’s ideas on himself, uncovering surprising lessons about wealth, risk, opportunity, and the American Dream.
“Smart, entertaining, and full of insights that feel urgently relevant today.”
William Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing
About Joseph
Meet Joseph Moore.
Joseph Moore is a historian, author, and investor whose work explores the people, decisions, and ideas that shaped American prosperity.
He spent more than a decade studying how Americans were told to manage money, pursue opportunity, and build wealth. His work combines serious historical research with experiments, humor, and practical questions about life today.
- Historian and author
- Former professor
- National bestselling author
- Published in major media and academic outlets
- Speaker on money, opportunity, history, and change
Articles and ideas
Essays from Joseph's Substack
Sep 15, 2026 | Uncategorized
“We’re from the History Department and we’re here to help!” A phrase that has never been uttered seriously. But there are some helpful history lessons in the theory of Fast and Slow Time, if you know where to look. Here are a few of those lessons. For reference, see Parts 1 (the theory) and 2…
Sep 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
You can’t really model a personal financial life because it would require accounting for marriage quality, job security, national economy, local real estate, schmoozing skills, resting heart rate, proclivity for gambling addictions, commitment to sunscreen, tendency to text and drive, and so on. There is a perfectly valid criticism of social scientists that they use…
Sep 2, 2026 | Uncategorized
Financial professionals make sense of the complexities of finance for everyday people’s lives. They are professional translators between one complex adaptive system (markets) and another complex adaptive system (humanity). They’ve responded eagerly to the distinction between Fast Time & Slow Time in my book, because it can help clients who just rewatched The Big Short…
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Final thought
The past can't tell us what comes next.
But it can help us think more clearly about what to do now.