Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
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Posted 7 months agoComments & 3 notes • April 8th, 2009
From Financial Times
By Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Published: April 7 2009 20:02
These are the 10 principles read the article to see each items explanation.
A free registration is required to read articles at the Financial Times. Via: Max Zeledon- What is fragile should break early while it is still small.
- No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains
- People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new bus
- Do not let someone making an “incentive” bonus manage a nuclear plant – or your financial risks
- Counter-balance complexity with simplicity.
- Do not give children sticks of dynamite, even if they come with a warning
- Only Ponzi schemes should depend on confidence. Governments should never need to “restore confidence”
- Do not give an addict more drugs if he has withdrawal pains
- Citizens should not depend on financial assets or fallible “expert” advice for their retiremen
- Make an omelette with the broken eggs.
Quote of the day
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Posted 7 months agoComments & 12 notes • April 4th, 2009There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it’s only a hundred billion. It’s less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.
- Richard Feynman (via seashelllz)
Video of the Day
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Posted 7 months agoComments & 1 note • April 3rd, 2009
Geithner Plan II Explained Chalkboard Style
The video was made by The Khan Academy—an educational non-profit focusing on math training. The conclusion: The money ends up in the hands of the people who created the mess.
Via: Max Zeledon
Obama as Gorbachev: a Regime in Crisis
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Posted 7 months ago • SourceComments & 1 note • March 29th, 2009
Audio Podcast - 37 minutes:
Six people the from the US, Europe and Asia discus the scope of the International Economic Crisis, Obama’s potential choices and what outcomes we can expect, both positive and negative.
The consensus seemed to be this is a game changing crisis and the economic systems will be very different once the changes finish. Things can get dire or a new order could emerge that is more sustainable and just for every one.
They have a fascinating discussion.- Ugo Mattei - Italy
- Christopher Lydon- US
- Alfred Gusenbauer - Austria
- Ho-fung Hung - China / US
- Nandan Unnikrishnan - India
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Samir Saran
Business as Usury
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Posted 7 months ago • SourceComments • March 24th, 2009
THOMAS GEOGHEGAN | May 6, 2008
The American Prospect
Excerpt:Business as Usury
Before Congress goes after bank misdeeds on Wall Street, let’s stop the petty theft on Main Street — predatory mortgages and usurious loans. Had we protected the poor and the weak, the problems of our mighty banks might not be so great.We may be the first society since the Code of Hammurabi to be operating with no law against usury at all.
I’d at least like to hear a Democrat, any Democrat, call for a cap on interest rates. For Visa and MasterCard, I’d go for 12 percent. (Does anyone bid 11?)
As to payday loans, let Congress end them. But how will people get money? If people can’t get credit from Visa and MasterCard, let’s set up little state-run banks to offer little payday loans, or encourage NGOs to do so. New Dealers used to think in those terms. But they used to go to movies like It’s A Wonderful Life.
Quote of the day
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Posted 1 year agoComments • October 9th, 2008
General Motors lost almost a third of its market value on Thursday amid concerns about the carmaker’s ability to continue funding its operations in the face of the credit crunch and weakening sales.
The 100 year-old carmaker’s shares closed at $4.76, their lowest level since the early 1950s. They touched $40 a year ago.
- Via: Financial Times By Bernard Simon — Published: October 9 2008
Photo of the Day
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Posted 1 year agoComments & 1 note • October 5th, 2008


VIA: i1326:
Chart Porn: What the financial landscape looks like.
Quote of the day
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Posted 1 year agoComments • September 30th, 2008Finance is so central and peculiar, so essential, and yet it carries a death threat for the economy,…. we’ve seen, once again, that finance is a very powerful instrument, but one that needs to be intensively watched.
- Via: FinFacts Jagdish Bhagwati, a professor of economics at Columbia
Video of the Day
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Posted 1 year agoComments & 1 note • September 26th, 2008via: i1326 [Maximo]
Professor Shiller on the Paulson bailout.
Professor Shiller is hesitant to cast blame, I am not hesitant
China is already giving the US it’s lunch money; it looks like they will be eating our lunch as well. As the world shifts to a new economy (one NOT centered on oil) China might be leading the way.
read whole article