After using the so-called “Vista Ultimate” operating system for the past couple of months, I have finally seen the light and “downgraded” my notebook computer to Windows XP. Although I didn’t buy a Mac, the “Vista Blues” video hits the nail on the head!
Monthly Archives: June 2008
Knowledge@Wharton's take on the subprime crisis
I highly recommend Knowledge@Wharton’s new subprime crisis website,” entitled “Inside the Subprime Crisis: How Wall Street Alchemists, Ambitious Lenders, Overreaching Consumers and Enabling Lawmakers Pushed the Economy to the Brink of Recession, and How to Avoid a Repeat.”
Knowledge@Wharton’s take on the subprime crisis
I highly recommend Knowledge@Wharton’s new subprime crisis website,” entitled “Inside the Subprime Crisis: How Wall Street Alchemists, Ambitious Lenders, Overreaching Consumers and Enabling Lawmakers Pushed the Economy to the Brink of Recession, and How to Avoid a Repeat.”
Drill! Drill! Drill!
I would like to nominate Daniel Henninger, editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, for president. His article in today’s WSJ, entitled “Drill! Drill! Drill!” provides a very clear analysis of the predicament that the U.S. faces as a result of its longstanding (30 years plus) policy of not developing domestic energy sources. Click on the video play button below to see an interview with Mr. Henninger about today’s column.
Important books and readings
I was recently asked by some of my students to provide a list of books and readings which I think that they ought to consider reading outside of class. I highly recommend the following set of books in particular:
1. Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, by Peter L. Bernstein.
2. A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition, by Burton G. Malkiel.
3. Stocks for the Long Run : The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies, by Jeremy J. Siegel.
Philosophically, these books present what I would consider to be an “orthodox” view of finance, risk management, and economics; i.e., they fit well with the so-called rational choice, efficient markets view of the world.
For some heterodox alternatives, I like both of Nassim Taleb’s books:
4. Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (read this first).
5. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (the sequel to “Fooled by Randomness”).
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend any books on the topics of behavioral economics or behavioral finance; the books I know of tend to be either too advanced or too superficial for most readers. However, I do recommend the article entitled “Aspects of Investor Psychology” by Daniel Kahneman and Mark Riepe which appeared several years ago in the Journal of Portfolio Management.
Finally, I would be remiss to not also include two other favorites which are not books on finance or economics; rather they deal with the history and philosophy of applied mathematics. These books include:
6. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, by John Allen Paulos.
7. A Brief History of Infinity, by Brian Clegg.