Democracy Café

Peter Atwater, president of Financial Insights (financial-insights.com), has made it his bailiwick to understand how changes in confidence affect our preferences, decisions and actions. His acclaimed book 'Moods and Markets' gives investors keen insights about how they might improve their returns by using non-market indicators of confidence. But now we are entering new territory -- an age of what Peter by turns describes as 'fanaticism', 'stridentness', and 'colornessness'. How might we invest in such times -- not only in the markets, but in our democracy itself? Listen in as Peter, a fellow graduate of the College of William & Mary, where I first knew him way back in 1980 when he was resident advisor on the dormitory hall of none other than Jon Stewart of 'Daily Show' fame. Hopefully you'll come away from this exchange with Peter, a popular commentator on programs like CNBC, with more tools to deal effectively on a number of fronts with these deeply uncertain times -- but also, surprisingly, you might e