While we’ll have to wait for the release of the book to read about Antifragility in detail, Taleb’s prologue says something very interesting about the prevalence of fragility in the world today. Here’s what he writes: While in the past people of rank or status were those and only those who took risks, had the downside for their actions and heroes were those who did so for the sake of others, today the exact reverse is taking place. We are witnessing the rise of a new class of inverse heroes, that is, bureaucrats, bankers, Davos-attending fakes, and academics with too much power, and no real downside and accountability. They game the system while citizens pay the price. At no point in history have so many non-risk-takers, that is, those with no personal exposure, exerted so much control.

via Antifragility – Gaining from Disorder – Value Research: The Complete Guide to Mutual Funds. HatTip to Dave Lull.