In Part Three, we evaluate the prospects for bonds, stocks, and real estate. In Part One, we learned that markets are far from rational. Thus, we cannot rely upon the world to ensure prices are fair. In Part Two we examined the macroeconomic forces driving investments.

In this section, we evaluate investments using the science of irrationality, including our understanding of the lizard brain, and the art of macroeconomics.

With these two complementary tools, we turn our attention to the most important financial investments. In Chapter 7, we examine bonds, and ask if interest rates are going to rise substantially. In Chapter 8, we evaluate the stock market. Has the bull market in stocks returned, or is the early twenty-first century stock market rally a trap? In Chapter 9, we evaluate real estate and ask if there is a housing bubble.

In The Meaning of Life, the Monty Python comedians start by asking, Whats it all about? In answer, the movie provides humorous perspectives on ponderous subjects including birth, conflict, old age, and death, and concludes with:

Well, thats the end of the film. Now, heres the meaning of life.... Well, its nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.

After a tumultuous film, be nice to people might seem a bit obvious. Similarly, the sell long-term bonds advice in this section might appear modest. After brain scans, chimpanzee productivity, and seashell arbitrage, cant the new science of irrationality say more? Absolutely. The final two chapters of this book provide novel and surprising advice on how to outsmart the lizard brain. This innovative logic of the lizard approach builds on the clear evaluations of bonds, stocks, and houses of this section.