Tag: Fads
Undone, but still not understood
One lesson of recent events is that there seem to be no limits to the greed of the greedy. But perhaps the explanation is simply the one Madoff gave to the judge who sentenced him: “I made a mistake.”
George Eliot wrote the book on moral hazard
Do not waste any time on sermons and the prohibition. Even if the Good Lord himself were to deliver the Sermon on the Mount, He would be ignored. Hardened gamblers only give up when they have made the resolution to quit themselves.
Dismal, yes, but economics flies off the shelves
If you want a book on economics to take to the beach, you are spoiled for choice at the airport bookstall. What you will find falls into three categories: Thump books, microeconomics books with little economics and the macroeconomic story-teller.
What a carve up – Book review
If you want to understand how the City came to play such a central role in British economic and political life, why a crash was inevitable, and why the crisis is being resolved on terms which give so much and ask so little of the financial sector, this is the most important thing you need to understand: the influence of investment banks on modern politics and policy.
Managers doomed to repeat the mistakes of history
The Whiz Kids’ capacity for analysis far exceeded their knowledge of the world to which it was applied.
How economics lost sight of real world
There is not, and never will be, an economic theory of everything. We should observe empirical regularities and we will often find pragmatic solutions that work even though our understanding of why they work is incomplete.
From the fat cats to long tails: when all is not...
To choose appropriate models you need to understand both the maths and the business environment. Media industries and financial institutions have both been unsuccessful in marrying these two skills.
History vindicates the science of muddling through
The practical man must build out, step-by-step from the current situation – the science of muddling through.
Kudos for the contrarian
Some economists believe there is a deep underlying structure from which laws of economic behaviour that are universal in time and space can be deduced. I think that search is a wild goose chase.
The east’s innovators are no threat to the west
Commercial and economic success, even in technological industries, depends not on the quality of technology, but on the match between technology and the needs of its customers.
