Guest article written for AllAboutAlpha.com – the official publication of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association originally posted at: http://allaboutalpha.com/blog/2011/08/04/alpha-hunter-the-dna-of-financial-markets/ The discovery of DNA’s structure revolutionized our understanding of how the human body works, revealing the source of our biological successes alongside the true sources of previously ‘unpredictable’ diseases. Our current ‘mainstream’ understanding of financial markets is rooted in thinking akin to pre-genetic biology- and many researchers around the world are now putting together…
In this exclusive interview, we speak to Celso Amorim (Foreign Minister of Brazil from 2003-2011, and current Minister of Defence), a man who has been described as having “…masterminded a transformation of Brazil’s role in the world that is almost unprecedented in modern history…” We look at what it takes to build a great country exploring areas including economics, politics, society and culture.
Guest article written for AllAboutAlpha.com – the official publication of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association originally posted at: http://allaboutalpha.com/blog/2011/07/21/alpha-hunter-john-brynjolfsson-the-hidden-risks-of-inflation/ Inflation (the general rise of prices of goods and services in an economy or conversely, the erosion of purchasing power of money) is not a new phenomenon. Even when governments used gold as units of currency– they often melted coins down to mix them with other metals (diluting the gold content, increasing money supply,…
Hypothetical News: “…Traders around the world today began to sell all of the USA’s military assets after a devastating terrorist attack removed confidence in the nation’s ability to protect itself. In other news, a patient who may become terminally ill in the next few weeks has had all treatment ceased as doctors do not wish to invest any more medical-capital into a patient who only has a sixty percent chance of survival…” On the face…
Guest article written for AllAboutAlpha.com – the official publication of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association originally posted at: http://allaboutalpha.com/blog/2011/06/27/the-risks-and-opportunities-of-unforeseen-black-swan-market-events/ The precipitous market-collapse which began the 2007 financial crisis was considered to be a ‘once in a thousand year’ event. Similar ‘not in our lifetime’ rarity was also assigned to the events which followed including the failures of large financial institutions, global contagion, market interventions and (more recently) potential sovereign defaults throughout europe. All…
In this exclusive interview, we talk to Dr. Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation with the Rank of Cabinet Minister. Dr. Pitroda takes us on a very personal journey on India’s technology driven revolution looking at areas ranging from the impact of the phone, through to the sweeping changes in economics, social-structure and even national security.
Regardless of whether one agrees with the rationale behind Wikileaks‘ release of thousands of diplomatic cables, one certainty is that their appearance has opened a necessary debate on moral hazard’s in our own democracy. Manifesting Moral Hazard Information Asymmetry is an important concept, usually noted in transactional situations, where one party has more (or better) information than another- creating an imbalance of power (or influence) in a transaction- affecting the outcome. “Moral Hazard” is a…
The Guardian, along with many major news agencies around the world have been reporting the tragic story of how, “South African police chiefs have called for residents of a township near Cape Town to help track down the “useless scoundrels” who on Saturday killed a bride on honeymoon with her British husband. Anni Dewani, 28, a Swedish-born engineer, who had been married for less than two weeks to 31-year-old Shrien Dewani from Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, was…
At a very fundamental level, war is about defending against a perceived or actual threat. Such aggressions have been frequently used throughout history to defend ideas, ideologies and territories- but more recently, economies. Unlike any other defence environment, the theatre of nuclear war exists in a state of near-permanent checkmate. Every participant (a participant being a nation who openly, opaquely, or otherwise have nuclear weapons capability) knows their weapons capability acts as the ultimate defensive…
Hypothetical News, 2013 “Deep in a London slum, 25 people were arrested by the authorities today for not paying their air-bill. A. Person, spokesman for air-aid said, ‘the government must act on this- it is ridiculous that we have a society where some people can afford air, and some people can’t. How long are we going to sit by while more people die?’. Meanwhile, traders at the Singapore Global Air Exchange [SGAx] racked up record…
