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(My notes) The banks have made 2.2 trillion over the last 2 years. Salary plus bonuses.
It is a tax on citizens. Bailout scheme, since Reagan.
You need something to break the bank cartel. Federal Reserve policy is there to help the banks. Last year they had record bonuses.
The ONLY valuable information you can get from bank earnings is how much they pay themselves.
Which is why I like the model of a hedge fund because at least you see what’s there.
$1.58 Billion put aside for compensation and bonuses.
If we bail you out, you should not be paid a bonus.
In business, if you have the upside, you’ve got to keep the downside.
The banks are in the business of hiding risk. They make steady money, collect bonuses, and when the thing collapses, we pay the price.
Hammurabi’s Code

Audio only

NNT interview starts at 4:57

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HatTip to Dave Lull!

Nassim Taleb in conversation with Wharton professor Richard Herring. Video interview. Audio.

 
Taleb: The events in the Middle East are not black swans. They were predictable to those who know the region well. At most, they were gray swans or perhaps white swans. One of the lessons of "Wild vs. Mild Randomness," my chapter with Benoit Mandelbrot in your book, is what happens before you go into a period of wild randomness. You will find a long quiet period that is punctuated with absolute total turmoil.... In The Black Swan, I discussed Saudi Arabia as a prime case of the calm before the storm and the Great Moderation [the perceived end of economic volatility due to the creation of 20^th century banking laws] in the same breath. I was comparing Italy with Saudi Arabia. Italy is an example of mild randomness in comparison with Saudi Arabia and Syria, which are examples of wild randomness. Italy has had 60 changes in regime in the post-war era, but they are inconsequential.... It is a prime example of noise. It's very Italian and so it's elegant noise, but it's noise nonetheless. In contrast, Saudi Arabia and Syria have had the same regime in place for 40 some years. You may think it is stability, but it's not. Once you remove the lid, the thing explodes.

The same kind of thing happens in finance. Take the portfolio of banks. The environment seemed very placid -- the Great Moderation -- and then the thing explodes.

Names Not Numbers Symposium An annual thought leadership symposium. Multimedia
Fragility, Complexity & Society (mp3) Talk with Q&A
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Former Trader and Author of ‘The Black Swan’
Q&A moderated by Matthew Taylor, RSA

Dave Lull just wrote to say the interview is up now.

It’s much better to mistake a stone for a bear, than a bear for a stone.

(Click arrow to play audio) Nassim Taleb ManagemenTV.mp3

Flanerie a Bruxelles en pensant a Jacques Brel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzAmrNS164



Jacques Brel - "Amsterdam" live
www.youtube.com
This is an incredible performance of "Amsterdam" by singer Jacques Brel. Try not to get chills watching this.

As part of the Deloitte Innovation Growth Track program in the Netherlands, we have eight inspiring sessions on different themes with top speakers. For each session, we give Deloitte employees the opportunity to ask a question to one of the speakers.