Downing Street’s favourite intellectual is Nassim Nicolas Taleb, author of the best selling book The Black Swan.
Janan Ganesh of The Economist investigates his appeal.
Mon, 12 Mar 12
Download: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/analysis/analysis_20120312-2100a.mp3
Podcast home: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/analysis
I’ve been waiting for this!
Nassim Taleb, author of Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about antifragility, the concept behind Taleb’s next book, a work in progress. Taleb talks about how we can cope with our ignorance and uncertainty in a complex world. Topics covered include health, finance, political systems, the Fed, your career, Seneca, shame, heroism, and a few more.
“A Stoic sage is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into information, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.”
via Taleb on Antifragility | EconTalk | Library of Economics and Liberty.
The Predictability of Unpredictability
1st Dec 2011; 18:00
Listen to the audio (full recording including audience Q&A)
Please right-click link and choose “Save Link As…” to download audio file onto your computer.
Download Nassim Taleb’s presentation (pdf)
RSA Keynote
Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the brilliant and controversial author of The Black Swan, described in the Sunday Times as one of the twelve most influential books since World War 2. He came to wider public attention as one of the few prominent academics to correctly warn of catastrophe in the financial system ahead of the credit crunch.
Despite his skills as economist and aphorist, it is Taleb’s theory of knowledge which has made him required reading in 10 and 11 Downing Street. By emphasising the inherent uncertainty and complexity of reality he argues against top down planning and research arguing instead for small scale experimentation and observation. Cameron Conservatives quote Taleb in making the case against central state control and planning and in favour of localism and testing by doing.
Join renowned academic and author Nassim Nicholas Taleb as he discusses his groundbreaking ideas and their relevance to the current economic crisis, national policy making and other topics with Rohan Silva, senior policy advisor to the Prime Minister.
Chair: Matthew Taylor, chief executive, RSA.
BBC Newsnight Friday 19th Aug 2011
Mark Blyth, the co-author of NNT’s recent Foreign Affairs article, was interviewed by Christopher Lydon on Radio Open Source.
Mark Blyth, The Black Swan of Cairo.