Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Modern finance

As things unwind, there has been a lot of analysis appearing. Some of it is right on; some ought to be foundational. Recently, the Economist (Oct 19, 2008 - Greed is gone) mentioned that "Wall Street's finest have been humbled as never before" as they went from master to minion is a matter of a year. Actually, the flip-flop was going on longer; the decline was offset by the Fed meddling in order to keep the game going (Savers sacked).

In the same publication, we find a short history of modern finance, detailing what led to the current mess. CBOE's role in the foreign exchange aspect can be traced to 1972, according to the article; of course, CBOE has a much deeper gaming influence.

Recently, we saw the Naked Economist claim that we're in a twilight of "free-market ideology" and describes some of the beliefs that being shown to be myths. Yes, is there such a thing as a free-market or free anything, for that matter? Well, the whole notion depends on several things.

But, essentially, nothing happens that does not expend energy. We'll need to show that the market is near-zero sum (almost always and everywhere) in response to the common belief being touted by those economists who want gaming as the ontological basis.

Remarks:

05/25/2011 -- Lemons problem, dark pools, ... Oh, so much to look at!

10/11/2009 -- Discussion has gone over to FED-aerated. Note the 10/11/2009 Remarks about the Business Week article on India's progress' inhibitors. 'Near zero' recognizes that some always suffer more than others, especially in win-win situations, as the whole notion of characterization minimizes visceral reactions by diminishing the real in favor of the abstracted (ah, the modern world, you say?).

09/12/2009 -- Sandbox was used without definition. Let's discuss that concept.

03/30/2009 -- The WSJ today looks at the Future of Finance. The idea is that finance is like the cardiovascular system. Okay. So leeches are a good metaphor for the sucking out that we see. Like the AIG guy who was central to the losses that we the taxpayers are paying and who left with $300M. We'll be referring back to this discussion.

02/18/2009 -- We can look at why securities become toxic, almost by necessity.

01/18/2009 - We even need to look at why we need finance.

12/01/2008 -- We need to learn what we might be taught about money by Islamic Finance.

10/30/2008 -- Yes, many people see the misuse of mathematics. But, how could the financial people not see the fiduciary (which seems to get lost in gaming) and public trusts that are associated with their work? How did the notion arise that these guys can just play with people's money, in their giant sandbox, where outcomes are secondary to winning little games and lining ones pockets?

Modified: 05/25/2011

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