--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the 1930s, there was a stretch where…" description: "\"In the 1930s, there was a stretch where you could borrow more against the real estate than you could sell it for. I think that's what's going on in tod..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fe/charlie-munger-458_1930s_in-the-1930s-there-was-a-stretch-where-y_2450259.jpg" --- # In the 1930s, there was a stretch where you could borrow… ![“In the 1930s, there was a stretch where you could borrow more against the real estate than you could sell it for. I think that's what's going on in today's private-equity world.” quote by Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fe/charlie-munger-458_1930s_in-the-1930s-there-was-a-stretch-where-y_2450259.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fe/charlie-munger-458_1930s_in-the-1930s-there-was-a-stretch-where-y_2450259.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fe/charlie-munger-458_1930s_in-the-1930s-there-was-a-stretch-where-y_2450259.jpg) > “In the 1930s, there was a stretch where you could borrow more against the real estate than you could sell it for. I think that's what's going on in today's private-equity world.” [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comparing past real‑estate over‑leveraging to modern private‑equity excess, warning of unsustainable debt. **In simple terms:** Over‑leveraging is risky. Key Takeaway Avoid excessive debt. Themes finance risk history investment leverage Mood cautious analytical Type financial advisory When to use this quote - investment decisions - corporate strategy - risk assessment Key Concepts economic cycles financial bubbles Questions to Reflect On - How can leverage be managed responsibly? - What lessons apply today? A Different Perspective It oversimplifies complex markets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1930s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1930s-382/) [1930S Stretch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1930s-stretch-564490/) [Borrow Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrow-real-564492/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equity/) [Estates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/estates/) [Hats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hats/) [Private equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-equity/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real estate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-estate/) [Sells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sells/) [Stretch Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretch-borrow-564491/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I've heard that one-half of the students at elite schools want to go into private equity or hedge funds. They want to keep up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-ve-heard-that-one-half-of-the-students-at-elite-schools-want-to-go/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [It's important that we educate Americans about how hedge funds and private equity play completely different roles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-schwarzman/it-s-important-that-we-educate-americans-about-how-hedge-funds-and/) [Stephen A. Schwarzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-schwarzman/) > [We really wake up every day trying to build businesses. That is the goal of private equity. It's a misnomer out there that private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-pagliuca/we-really-wake-up-every-day-trying-to-build-businesses-that-is-the/) [Stephen Pagliuca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-pagliuca/) > [A good default, like Portugal or Greece, would be very good for the private equity business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bonderman/a-good-default-like-portugal-or-greece-would-be-very-good-for-the/) [David Bonderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bonderman/) > [Private equity firms aren't necessarily evil by definition. There are many stories of successful turnarounds fueled by private equity, often involving multiple floundering businesses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/private-equity-firms-aren-t-necessarily-evil-by-definition-there-are/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [It's quite astonishing how much money people make in the hedge fund business and in the private equity field, and how well-off affluent families…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-rogoff/it-s-quite-astonishing-how-much-money-people-make-in-the-hedge-fund/) [Kenneth Rogoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-rogoff/) > [Hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds have played an important role in providing liquidity to our financial system and improving the efficiency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-reed/hedge-funds-private-equity-and-venture-capital-funds-have-played-an/) [Jack Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-reed/) > [Let's face it, we're skunk drunk and it's because of money. It's almost like we all need to enter Betty Ford Clinic 2.0 together.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rubel/let-s-face-it-we-re-skunk-drunk-and-it-s-because-of-money-it-s-almost/) [Steve Rubel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-rubel/) > [Some of the very best private equity people, in my experience, are people who start out as stock pickers - people who really understood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bonderman/some-of-the-very-best-private-equity-people-in-my-experience-are/) [David Bonderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bonderman/) > [Nobody in my generation ever started out in private equity. We got there by accident. There was no private equity business - actually, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bonderman/nobody-in-my-generation-ever-started-out-in-private-equity-we-got/) [David Bonderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bonderman/) > [In our equities business, 49 of the 50 most important Lehman clients are back doing business with us. The flows are 75 to 80…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-diamond/in-our-equities-business-49-of-the-50-most-important-lehman-clients/) [Bob Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-diamond/) > [I delivered lectures, and I was also a consultant for international companies in finance, both private equity and big venture capital funds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ehud-barak/i-delivered-lectures-and-i-was-also-a-consultant-for-international/) [Ehud Barak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ehud-barak/) > [People in private equity complain that they have so much capital and so few places to invest. But you have lots of entrepreneurs trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/people-in-private-equity-complain-that-they-have-so-much-capital-and/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Not all private equity people are evil. Only some.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/not-all-private-equity-people-are-evil-only-some/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [The private equity world is a relatively small one. There are currently probably a few thousand professional jobs worldwide. In private equity, that's probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bonderman/the-private-equity-world-is-a-relatively-small-one-there-are/) [David Bonderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bonderman/) ## More by Charlie Munger > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [If you want good behavior, don't pay on a commission basis. Our judges aren't paid so much a case. We keep them pretty well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-want-good-behavior-don-t-pay-on-a-commission-basis-our-judges/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group then to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/acquire-worldly-wisdom-and-adjust-your-behavior-accordingly-if-your/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I think time and time again, in reality, psychological notions and economic notions interplay, and the man who doesn't understand both is a damned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-think-time-and-time-again-in-reality-psychological-notions-and/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I have what I call an iron prescription that helps me keep sane when I naturally drift toward preferring one ideology over another and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-have-what-i-call-an-iron-prescription-that-helps-me-keep-sane-when/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [The tax code gives you an enormous advantage if you can find some things you can just sit with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-tax-code-gives-you-an-enormous-advantage-if-you-can-find-some/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [The great lesson in microeconomics is to discriminate between when technology is going to help you and when it's going to kill you. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-great-lesson-in-microeconomics-is-to-discriminate-between-when/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Some years ago one oil company bought a fertilizer company, and every other major oil company practically ran out and bought a fertilizer company.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/some-years-ago-one-oil-company-bought-a-fertilizer-company-and-every/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [ They \[Mc Donalds\] take people and give them a first job, which enables them to get a second job. They do a very good… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/they-mc-donalds-take-people-and-give-them-a-first-job-which-enables/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [What good is envy? It’s the one sin you can’t have any fun at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/what-good-is-envy-it-s-the-one-sin-you-can-t-have-any-fun-at/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [We believe that almost all really good investment records will involve relatively little diversification. The basic idea that it was hard to find good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/we-believe-that-almost-all-really-good-investment-records-will/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [It is way less certain to be a wonderful business in the future. The threat is alternative mediums of information. Every newspaper is scrambling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/it-is-way-less-certain-to-be-a-wonderful-business-in-the-future-the/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [In the corporate world, if you have analysts, due diligence, and no horse sense, you've just described hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/in-the-corporate-world-if-you-have-analysts-due-diligence-and-no/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [We have to have a special insight, or we'll put it in the 'too tough' basket. All of you have to look for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/we-have-to-have-a-special-insight-or-we-ll-put-it-in-the-too-tough/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I've heard that one-half of the students at elite schools want to go into private equity or hedge funds. They want to keep up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-ve-heard-that-one-half-of-the-students-at-elite-schools-want-to-go/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Explore all 544 Charlie Munger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) ## More 1930s quotes > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [My grandmother was a minister as well, which was not that common in the 1930s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-firth/my-grandmother-was-a-minister-as-well-which-was-not-that-common-in/) [Colin Firth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-firth/) > [It reminds me in some ways of the debate taking place in this country and around the world in the late 1930s. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/it-reminds-me-in-some-ways-of-the-debate-taking-place-in-this-country/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [As a result of the efforts of Hayek .. and the many others who share his general outlook, the idea of a centrally planned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/as-a-result-of-the-efforts-of-hayek-and-the-many-others-who-share-his/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [When I was in Philadelphia during the Depression in 1930 or '31, I got a very sad job as a night watchman in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-glazer/when-i-was-in-philadelphia-during-the-depression-in-1930-or-31-i-got/) [Tom Glazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-glazer/) > [Working in 3D I didn't experience much of a difference, except that the cameras are very big so they can't be moved around with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frain/working-in-3d-i-didn-t-experience-much-of-a-difference-except-that/) [James Frain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frain/) > [Whatever the reasons may be, I was very much affected by events of the 1930s - the Spanish Civil War, for example, though I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/whatever-the-reasons-may-be-i-was-very-much-affected-by-events-of-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [We're a little bit low in the 1970s, right, post-Vietnam, Watergate era, malaise, all that, but this is more like the 1930s where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-fried/we-re-a-little-bit-low-in-the-1970s-right-post-vietnam-watergate-era/) [Daniel Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-fried/) > [In the immediate postwar era, financial crises in advanced countries were rare events, and before 1970 did not happen at all. Since then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-m-taylor/in-the-immediate-postwar-era-financial-crises-in-advanced-countries/) [Alan M. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-m-taylor/) > [I would not say that Harvard possesses any sort of absolute dominance. And I personally do not take the rankings of schools all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/i-would-not-say-that-harvard-possesses-any-sort-of-absolute-dominance/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > [In the 1930s one was aware of two great evils - mass unemployment and the threat of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-meade/in-the-1930s-one-was-aware-of-two-great-evils-mass-unemployment-and/) [James Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-meade/) > [When comics came along in the 1930s there was a talent pool waiting. And one reason is so many areas were closed to Jews.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-robinson/when-comics-came-along-in-the-1930s-there-was-a-talent-pool-waiting/) [Jerry Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-robinson/) > [In his 1930 book, Dirac took for granted that measurements could be made, but was very vague about what was actually involved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willis-lamb/in-his-1930-book-dirac-took-for-granted-that-measurements-could-be/) [Willis Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willis-lamb/) > [Under the gold standard America had no major financial panics other than in 1873, 1884, 1890, 1893, 1907, 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1933.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/under-the-gold-standard-america-had-no-major-financial-panics-other/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [The crucial role communists played in organizing industrial unions in the 1930s and struggling for social reforms, peace, and civil rights strengthened rather then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-parenti/the-crucial-role-communists-played-in-organizing-industrial-unions-in/) [Michael Parenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-parenti/) [Browse all 255 1930s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1930s-382/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the 1930s, there was a stretch where you could borrow more against the real estate than you could sell it for. 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