Extremistan and black swans

Interview with thinker and investor Nassim Nicholas Taleb on measuring risk and why it is so difficult.

Alan Greenspan lowered interest rates thinking it would help the economy. All it did was push banks to take risks—hidden risks. Do you realize that we don't understand globalization? Globalization increases Extremistan. That's one problem with this Tom Friedman guy—he [the bestselling author of The World Is Flat, which argues the advantages of globalization in the internet age] didn't seem to understand the very simple dynamics that globalization forces redundancy out of the system. And whenever you don't have redundancy, you have Extremistan. Things are way too efficient, so the smallest mistake blows up. We depend so much on the internet. Tomorrow, if there's a problem in Bangalore, we're toast for a long time, you see?

Taleb's take on the business world "...I found nothing interesting about the details of the business world – inelegant, dull, pompous, greedy, unintellectual, selfish, and boring.”

Another article about the financial crisis

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7073131.stm

The Financial Crises

Well I guess the good news is that it has kept terror off the front page.

Noting original from me so just a link to this great post about the financial crises.

The Financial Crises explained in pictures.

Sub Prime Cartoon

View SlideShare presentation .

Gaming the banks

Greed is the incentive that drives hedge funds, those that don't make profits go bankrupt and die. Here is a nice article about how the Hedge funds are gaming current market conditions as controlled by US Treasury. The smartest people in the room have worked out that the US Government will pay the ransom of a Treasury bailout every time the viability the of a large corporation is threatened . We all understand that paying a ransom only helps in the short term, in the long term another hostage will be taken. Why don't the people in US treasury understand this?

Why avoiding harm is dangerous

Time to round up those sacred cows for some slaughter! This post highlights (with graphics) how organisations come to be paralysed by risk aversion.

Pictures that tell and sell

Most people are very visual so it makes sense to use graphics to sell your message.

I just loved this post that includes a raft of clever images.

The clever people at commoncraft show that complex ideas can be presented in a form that is easy to digest.

Executive or not?

Dick Cheney is arguing that the office of Vice President is not part of the executive and therefore does not have to transfer records to the national archives. Some might wonder what would happen if the Vice President has to act as president? This will make a good study for future archivists, is it easier to shred paper or delete files?