A few months ago, an illness forced me to fast for the better part of a week, and I felt genuine, work-halting pain due to hunger. It’s embarrassing, really, how accustomed I am to having whatever food I want in whatever quantity easily accessible at any time. If you’re reading this, odds are very high that you have plenty to eat and some disposable income. And if you’re in the United States, odds are decent that you have too much to…
Monday, February 9, 2009
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Bankers, on hearing the news that they might not be guaranteed millions just for showing up at their desks, reacted thus: Over the Counter claims that “working in high finance is not a job for the faint-hearted” (real quote). Besides the obvious risks of paper cuts and ergonomic discomfort, there is the ever-present possibility of not being lionized for simply following the formulas handed down by one’s B-school professors. Man up, bankers. Shipbreaking in Bangladesh is not a job for the faint-hearted. Being a…
Friday, January 2, 2009
Our New Year’s resolution is to exert as little control as possible over our trading. Why? Because humans are terrible at decision-making, at changing, at acting in any way other than we have in the past. On a collective level, we can’t seem to stop foisting unnecessary wars and economic crises on ourselves; as individuals, we only rarely pursue our real long term best interests. Human behavior is like a stock whose long term moving average never changes direction: sure, there…
Sunday, June 29, 2008
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Here are some articles of interest we found this weekend. Subscribers, make sure you’re logged in and check out our weekend portfolio update. Also, warning: information and ruminations dealing with ethics, justice, and good governance ahead, so stop reading if you are allergic to any of those things. Michael Greenberger is the most cogent defender of the view that the recent parabolic move in oil prices is due largely to structural factors enabling manipulative speculation. In this episode of The Disciplined…
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Forgive us a short rant this evening. This country is sick. When the three main engines of growth – consumer spending, real estate, and financial services – are broken, it’s just not possible to make any economic progress. And for just a moment, let’s think about how pathetic those key sectors really are. Cogent analysis of our per capita consumption requires some historical knowledge, since no contemporary people compares with our particular level of decadence. At least the Romans had some…
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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