Nassim Taleb Identifies Real Villain Of The Financial Crisis
Over the last several years, people have been obsessed with determining who truly caused the financial crisis. Was it Alan Greenspan? Was it the banks? Was it the mortgage lenders? Evil short sellers? People who bought homes they couldn't actually afford? Jimmy Cayne drug dealer? It's up for debate and no one has yet to be unanimously, definitively blamed. Today in London, Nassim Taleb revealed the true villain, who's been hiding in plain sight.
Taleb said that the Nobel Prize for Economics has conferred legitimacy on risk models that caused investors’ losses and taxpayer-funded bailouts. Sweden’s central bank will announce the winner of this year’s award on Oct. 11. Taleb singled out the Nobel award to Harry Markowitz, Merton Miller and William Sharpe in 1990 for their work on portfolio theory and asset-pricing models. “People are using Sharpe theory that vastly underestimates the risks they’re taking and overexposes them to equities,” Taleb said. “I’m not blaming them for coming up with the idea, but I’m blaming the Nobel for giving them legitimacy. No one would have taken Markowitz seriously without the Nobel stamp.”
And he's not just throwing this out there for his health-- he wants you to hold these fucks accountable.
“I want to make the Nobel accountable,” Taleb said today in an interview in London. “Citizens should sue if they lost their job or business owing to the breakdown in the financial system.”
What, too much of a pussy to go after the rat bastards? Fine, he'll do it himself.
“If no one else sues them, I will,” said Taleb, who declined to say where or on what basis a lawsuit could be brought.
Yeah, never you mind that. Just lawyer up, 'cause you'll be seeing his ass in court.
