Neither are admirable states of mind, and it is no wonder that they give markets a bad name, writes Oliver O'Connor. There are other psychological dispositions at the heart of business and all management that are more relevant and commonplace. One of the most important is confidence.
Confidence is for managers and investors, while fear and greed are for speculators.
What matters to most people trying to run businesses, non-profit making organisations or public bodies, is their degree of confidence that allows them take risks to shape the future rather than just cope with it as it comes. I think all are related in creating an underlying disposition that for us, non-speculators, is a lot more powerful than fear and greed. This is a particularly important time to think about confidence. Not just because the year turns, but also because the economy seems to have peaked in terms of growth. In terms of public policy in the Republic, the solutions to yesterday's problems are now well embedded, by and large, and fortunately so.