I love reading about behavioural economics and how human nature limits our ability to make rational decisions. I love it even more when I find myself behaving irrationally despite being aware of it (this is all very meta). Here are two recent examples: 1) On Sunday I went for a run. In the crazy heat.… Continue reading More Human Than Human
Category: Finance
And now your failure is complete…
Well, it’s official. The WaMu in my building has now become a Chase: I’ll be interested to see if Chase keeps any aspects of the old WaMu. While the bank was run by a bunch of terrible executives, they did provide one great thing: the experience of using the bank. You didn’t stand in a… Continue reading And now your failure is complete…
Simple is the New Complex
This weekend I walked into a gallery on 21st street and saw this sculpture: This photo captures the components of the system, but not the dynamics of it. Basically, you’re looking at two fans facing each other and connected by four pieces of fishing line. Around the fishing line are wrapped two circular streamers of… Continue reading Simple is the New Complex
A Marble In Your Mouth
When I was a kid my dad used to say that when politicians wanted to lie they spoke “with a marble in their mouth.” (I have yet to hear anyone else use this expression, but it’s stuck with me). I couldn’t help but remember that today when John Paulson-the hedge fund manager who made billions… Continue reading A Marble In Your Mouth
How We Got Here
Two recent articles I read have me thinking about path dependence. For those who don’t know, path dependence basically means that we (either individuals or institutions) are the sum of historical experiences – history matters. A corollary is that small events can build up over time to have large historical impacts (read the Wikipedia entry… Continue reading How We Got Here