Monthly Archives: April 2012

Anti-fragile life of economy khaleejtimes.com

By allowing some individual entities to stand out from the crowd, anti-fragility improves the fate of a population under a challenging situation. The number of candidates for anti-fragile behaviour among biological structures is enormous. Cells are essentially made of macromolecules, which, even when coded from the same gene, are never entirely identical to one another. The very process of macromolecular biosynthesis is tied to the structure of the environment. No two cells are the same.

This remarkable variety, deployed within a strict genetic envelope that limits its range, roots life in anti-fragility. This is an essential point that biology should retain. And, as the global economy responds to the unpredictable challenges of economy crisis and recovery, it is a point that economists, too, should bear in mind.

via Anti-fragile life of economy.

Nero belonged to a…

Nero belonged to a society of sixty volunteer translators collaborating on previously unpublished ancient texts in Greek, Latin, or Aramaic (Syriac) for the French publishing house Les Belles Lettres. Organized along libertarian lines, one of their rules is that university titles and prestige give no seniority in disputes. Another rule is the mandatory presence at two “dignified” commemorations in Paris, every November 7th , the death of Plato, and every April 7th, the birth of Apollo. His other “membership” is a local club of weightlifters that meets on Saturdays in a converted garage. The club is mostly composed of New York doormen and mobster-looking fellows who walk around in the summer wearing sleeveless “wife-beater” shirts.

via Nero belonged to a… | Facebook.

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs | Famed Author, Nassim Taleb, to Speak at WWS, April 10

Famed Author, Nassim Taleb, to Speak at WWS, April 10

Best-selling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb will speak at the Woodrow Wilson School on Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 4:30 p.m., in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall. Taleb’s talk is part of the School’s “Economic Recovery: Perils, Politics and Possibilities” thematic lecture series. A book sale and signing of his New York Times bestseller, “The Black Swan,” along with a public reception will immediately follow the talk in the Shultz dining room.

… The event will archived online for later viewing on the Woodrow Wilson School’s Webmedia site – http://wws.princeton.edu/webmedia.

via Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs | Famed Author, Nassim Taleb, to Speak at WWS, April 10.
HatTip to Dave Lull

Throw Out the Old Economic Models – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com

Throw Out the Probability Models

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a former derivatives trader, is a distinguished professor of risk engineering at Polytechnic Institute of New York University. He is the author of “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.”

Updated April 2, 2012, 4:44 PM

After the events that started in 2007 and the subsequent reactions by economists, anyone who takes the current economics establishment seriously needs to spend time in a sanatorium.

via Throw Out the Old Economic Models – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com.
HatTip to Dave Lull.