Wisdom in fragments

The key danger is that regulators try to remove all the risk from the marketplace- this cannot be the case. There has to be risk in all these products, and if they try to remove them too much, they'll create vanilla products that simply cannot deliver.

The people in the advanced countries now face a choice: we can express justified horror, or we can seek to understand what may have led to the crimes. If we refuse to do the latter, we will be contributing to the likelihood that much worse lies ahead.

Renowned Linguist & Political Activist, Critic of US Foreign Policy

I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and takes him out and takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids.

U.S. Representative from Texas; known for controversial statements

We even regulate toy guns, by requiring orange tips — but lawmakers don't have the gumption to stand up to National Rifle Association extremists and regulate real guns as carefully as we do toys.

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist & New York Times Columnist

Since citizens' militias are anachronistic, gun owners now use the second amendment merely to defend individual gun ownership, as if that somehow offers protection against tyranny. A reckless, right-wing Supreme Court has agreed with them. As a result, gun ownership has become perversely linked to freedom in the vast gun-owning American sub-culture. But, instead of protection of freedom, Americans nowadays are getting massive bloodshed and fear.

Economist & Director of UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Transparency is paramount. We have to make sure that we have sufficient transparency in the investments we are making, to be able to manage risk for our clients.

Climate scientist and energy systems researcher at University of Manchester

A corporate bond is ultimate a long-term loan structured in the form of a bond. Corporate entities are not default-remote and are not guaranteed to pay-back their debts.

Climate scientist and energy systems researcher at University of Manchester

Sovereign debt is reasonably unique in that there are no underlying assets one can claim unlike corporate bonds.

Climate scientist and energy systems researcher at University of Manchester

Investors who previously thought that sovereigns were a quasi-risk-free asset have been challenged in that respect. Domestic local-currency sovereign debt is certainly not risk-free. It very much depends on the willingness and ability of the sovereign to pay-back its debt!

Climate scientist and energy systems researcher at University of Manchester

Before you think about the alpha, you have to think about the client's beta.

Climate scientist and energy systems researcher at University of Manchester

The only source of value in our business is the consumer's desire for the product. That desire is built on emotions ascribed to diamonds.

All the market research we have done shows that consumers use diamonds to mark special moments in their lives because they are timeless, have been in the ground 3 billion years and are unique.

Diamonds are rare, there haven't been any major finds for over 20years, and there are no major mines on the horizon. Demand- particularly in China and India- is growing rapidly, and in the very near future we will see demand outpace plateauing supply.

More than just being a luxury item, they are pieces that represent milestone moments- that's why they're important.

The truth is nobody needs a diamond. You don't need a diamond to heat your home, run your car or power your cell-phone. As a business, it's clear to us that there is only one source of value for diamonds- and that is the consumer's desire for the product.

The cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of action. Every day we delay comprehensive HIV programs, we're not just counting dollars - we're counting lives.