Zero-Sum Game - with Dr. Kevin Crotty, Rice University

Understanding the zero-sum game theory is crucial to understanding why it's so difficult to outperform the markets in the long run. The theory basically states that the market consists of the holdings of all investors, and that the aggregate market return is equal to the asset-weighted return of all market participants and that based on this, for each position that outperforms the market, there must be a position that underperforms the market by the exact same amount.