Egypt, Black Swans and the Bed of Procrustes
Americans pay $80 billion a year for intelligence agencies. But why does society pay analysts phenomenal sums of money for systematically failing to predict the events that impact our lives most deeply?
Americans pay $80 billion a year for intelligence agencies. But why does society pay analysts phenomenal sums of money for systematically failing to predict the events that impact our lives most deeply?
Vivian Norris | Posted 05.25.2011
Taleb has been criticized, but he tells it as he sees it, whether or not everyone agrees.
HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 05.25.2011
A mere half-hour after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner praised the "necessary" and "very substantial" actions of the Bush and Obama administration...
Andrew Winston | Posted 05.25.2011
Since the last Ice Age, our climate has not changed enough to threaten the viability of the species. So we make the error of confirmation and assume that it won't change much going forward.
Jeff Schweitzer | Posted 05.25.2011
Wall Street is our secular religion. As with more traditional beliefs, faith trumps reason. That explains our willful blindness to the obvious scam, the fantastic story told to us by billionaire bankers.
Christopher Lydon | Posted 05.25.2011
For a world that wants better than the fatuous "perfect storm" account of the economic meltdown -- or of BP's gusher -- Taleb has revised and extended his cult classic, The Black Swan.
BusinessWeek | Subramaniam Sharma and Bob Chen | Posted 05.25.2011
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of "The Black Swan" about how unforeseen events can roil markets, said he is concerned about hyperinflation as governmen...
Janet Tavakoli | Posted 05.25.2011
Malfeasance, not models, disrupted the global economy, and Taleb still gets that part wrong. Black Barts imitating the gentleman highway robber -- not black swans -- caused most of the damage.
ft.com | Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Posted 05.25.2011
The core of the problem, the unavoidable truth, is that our economic system is laden with debt, about triple the amount relative to gross domestic pro...
Michael Martin | Posted 05.25.2011
With the demolition of Wall Street firms, something important is disappearing too: their share price data from the stock exchanges.
Bloomberg | Shiyin Chen | Posted 05.25.2011
The current global crisis is "vastly worse" than the 1930s because financial systems and economies worldwide have become more interdependent, "Black S...
Judith Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011
Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger speak about the dangers of mathematical theories. But where were they before now?
Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Posted 05.25.2011
So long as Goldman Sachs may need us again in the future, whatever bonus they are paying today is a bonus that may be covered by the taxpayer tomorrow.
Financial Times | Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Posted 05.25.2011
1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become too big to fail. Evolution in economic life helps those with...
Huff TV | Posted 05.25.2011
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, joined Arianna on Squawk Box to discuss the financial meltdown, mark-to-market accounting and ways to...
Judith Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011
Squawk Box this Tuesday promises to be interesting with both professionalism and punch.
Arianna Huffington | Posted 05.25.2011
I'm going to be guest hosting CNBC's Squawk Box Tuesday morning. Among my guests will be saw-the-meltdown-coming economist Nouriel Roubini, Black Swan author Nassim Taleb, and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank. I'd love to hear what questions you'd like me to ask them. Please put your suggestions in the comments section of this post, then tune in to CNBC from 7 to 9 am Tuesday morning. Memo To Obama's Economic Team: Get Some Sleep! Take the Steering Wheel out of Geithner's Hands Larry Summers: Brilliant Mind, Toxic Ideas Watch: Arianna Discusses Obama's Afghanistan Policy, Bank Bailout On Larry King Live, and Arianna Discusses Tim Geithner on Larry King Live
Judith Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011
Nassim Nicholas Taleb addresses some very important issues in an interview with CNBC. On my blog I have written more than a few posts on this brillian...
Arianna Huffington | Posted 05.25.2011
AIG's CEO prefers not to say who has our money. Same with the Fed. Same with Bank of America's CEO who prefers to go to court instead of saying who got bonuses. It's time to call in all the knowable unknowns.
Wendy Diamond | Posted 05.25.2011
In honor of the 81st Academy Awards, I decided I wanted to start the first annual Lucky Awards. It's not about glamour, but the person or film and their contributions to a greater good.
Judith Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011
Some who are against the stimulus package are so because of an ill-conceived ideology that the poor will be living large on their hard earned dollar.
Carlo Strenger | Posted 05.25.2011