<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>the rational post &#187; crisis</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/tag/crisis/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost</link>
	<description>a collection of essays and articles on the science of everyday life</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:19:04 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>in like a lion, out like a lamb?</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/09/07/in-like-a-lion-out-like-a-lamb/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/09/07/in-like-a-lion-out-like-a-lamb/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:51:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history & society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capital markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[risk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speculation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[statistics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stimulus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=2350</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Students of behavioral finance must have had a field day this past week. In the wake of a month of dismal economic reports, Wall Street got its risk on with a few better than expected reports on manufacturing sentiment, home sales, and employment. Hopium, it appears, is a powerful drug.
Economists spent August cautiously lowering their outlook for the second half of the year as Obama&#8217;s &#8220;recovery summer&#8221; failed to bear fruit, the Federal Reserve failed at both of its twin mandates (stable prices and full employment), and bullish analysts failed to convince investors that the market was ready to climb to fresh highs. As a result, stocks ended the worst August in nine years with rising calls for stimulus and ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/09/07/in-like-a-lion-out-like-a-lamb/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>the great recession: act ii</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/08/11/the-great-recession-act-ii/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/08/11/the-great-recession-act-ii/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:55:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[world affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[austerity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bailout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[banking system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capitalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[geopolitics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stimulus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=2315</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As Canadians sparred over fake lakes, budget-busting security, and the global capitalist conspiracy, the world’s twenty most influential leaders convened in Toronto this past June to negotiate a response to the worst financial crisis in generations. At issue was an age old debate between two economic philosophies: stimulus as a life vest versus stimulus as a straitjacket. The pro-life camp was championed by consumerist America and its global supply chain. The pro-restraint camp was led by conservative Germany and its regional demand chain. At risk were millions of jobs, trillions in debt, and quite possibly the fate of our modern political economy.
With so much on the line, the G20’s vague and non-committal communique was particularly troublesome, since a crisis this big requires a coordinated and comprehensive response. Instead, the world’s two largest economies spent ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/08/11/the-great-recession-act-ii/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>oil slick = euro trick</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/05/14/oil-slick-euro-trick/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/05/14/oil-slick-euro-trick/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 May 2010 01:15:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history & society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bailout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contagion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crash]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speculation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=2262</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Stopping the spread of financial contagion is deceptively similar to plugging a ruptured deep-sea oil well: the cost is epic, the risk of failure is catastrophic, and expectations of success may be more hopeful than realistic. Recent efforts to address both crises share so many elements that a few tweaks to the following report on the Gulf catastrophe also freakishly describes efforts by the Eurozone to head off the risk of cascading sovereign defaults&#8230;
[European Central Bank] to [inject $1 trillion] to stop flow from [Club Med economies]
Adapted from an article on guardian.co.uk Friday 7 May 2010
The [$1 trillion facility] that remains [Europe's] best hope of containing the disaster in [Greece, Spain and Portugal] was [introduced] today amid acrid fumes from thick layers of [political rhetoric]. [Bond vigilantes] ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/05/14/oil-slick-euro-trick/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>turning a new leaf?</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/04/07/turning-a-new-leaf/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/04/07/turning-a-new-leaf/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:56:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[banking system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bubble]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[greenspan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=2068</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mr. Dollar testified before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today about the challenges of a self-regulating market and the dangers that lie ahead. While his belief in free market capitalism remains unshaken, Greenspan&#8217;s warnings about the key attributes that should underpin a stable banking system &#8212; adequate capitalization, liquidity, and regulatory oversight &#8212; cast a surprising shot across the bow of modern banking giants who have grown a little too comfortable with their bailout blanket and artificially low interest rates. 
Whether the economy tips back into chaos or not remains to be seen, but the rare regulatory prudence recommended in the Maestro&#8217;s testimony is a welcome conservative voice in the growing chorus to reign in banking titans who seem unwilling ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/04/07/turning-a-new-leaf/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>complexity and collapse</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/03/31/complexity-and-collapse/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/03/31/complexity-and-collapse/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:29:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history & society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complexity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[empire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sustainability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=2066</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From daily solar cycles to quarterly seasonal changes to the 130,000-year lapse between Ice Ages, our world is filled with natural ebbs and flows. Those that try to forecast the future by studying these longer sweeping patterns are often accused of being out of touch, relying on the distant past for established wisdom rather than embracing contemporary optimism that &#8220;this time is different&#8220;. In this essay in Foreign Affairs, Niall Ferguson reminds us that America is just as vulnerable to collapse as the many great civilizations that preceded it &#8212; maybe even more so given the increasing complexity of our modern global economy&#8230;

Complexity and Collapse
Empires on the Edge of Chaos
by Niall Ferguson in the March/April 2010 Issue of Foreign Affairs ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/03/31/complexity-and-collapse/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>the spanish prisoner</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/02/11/the-spanish-prisoner/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/02/11/the-spanish-prisoner/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:03:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[world affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capitalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leverage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speculation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unemployment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=2018</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Zapatero is not a good driver. It&#8217;s like a boat, which in calm waters steers fine, but when it gets bumpy, they are not prepared.&#8221; The same could be said for many of the world&#8217;s C-level leaders, so it&#8217;s perhaps not surprising that both companies and countries are finding out the hard way that credit can dry up when the sea gets choppy&#8230;
Not a bull in sight as the bears go after Spain
From the nosebleed seats of the E.U., government cries out &#8216;We are not Greece&#8217;
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) &#8212; Eduardo Fernandez Agudo is old enough to have lived through other economic crisis in Spain, but the current one has him worried enough.
&#8220;We are in a very difficult time. For ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2010/02/11/the-spanish-prisoner/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>bunning ♥ bernanke</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/12/17/bunning-%e2%99%a5-bernanke/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/12/17/bunning-%e2%99%a5-bernanke/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:52:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bernanke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monetary policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[policy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=1776</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For all its flaws, one of the great strengths of the American political system is the degree to which competing perspectives fight to the death in Washington&#8217;s marketplace of ideas. A perfect example is the recent exchange between Senate Banking Committee member (and Baseball Hall of Famer) Jim Bunning and his monetary nemesis Fed Chairman Bernanke on the eve of a controversial re-nomination&#8230;

Bunning Statement On The Re-Nomination Of Ben Bernanke To Be Chairman Of The Federal Reserve
Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, December 3, 2009
Four years ago when you came before the Senate for confirmation to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve, I was the only Senator to vote against you.  In fact, I was the only Senator to even raise serious ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/12/17/bunning-%e2%99%a5-bernanke/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>reflections on a year of crisis</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/08/22/reflections-on-a-year-of-crisis/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/08/22/reflections-on-a-year-of-crisis/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:56:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history & society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[banking system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bernanke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[federal reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monetary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=867</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A comprehensive if somewhat subjective view of the two years since the credit crisis first broke, direct from the horse&#8217;s mouth. Perhaps more interesting than any insider account of the Fed&#8217;s frantic response to the meltdown of the banking system is the degree to which the Chairman was concerned with the human impact of his macroeconomic policy-making&#8230;

 Reflections on a Year of Crisis
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
Speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City&#8217;s Annual Economic Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, August 21, 2009
By the standards of recent decades, the economic environment at the time of this symposium one year ago was quite challenging. A year after the onset of the current crisis in August 2007, financial markets remained stressed, the ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/08/22/reflections-on-a-year-of-crisis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>dead parrot of finance</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/08/09/dead-parrot-finance-efficient-market-hypothesis/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/08/09/dead-parrot-finance-efficient-market-hypothesis/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:47:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[finance & economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[efficient markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothesis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[theory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=813</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As capital markets continue to increase in scale and scope, there is a natural tendency to believe that they have also become more accurate at valuation. Scores of &#8220;rational&#8221; investors acting in their own self-interest, based on their own proprietary information along with anything publicly available, make their best guess about the value of a particular security – from a simple common share of IBM to a bet on the amount of rainfall next April. Those who believe the future looks bright will buy, and those who think better days are behind will sell. 
Millions of these independent agents tug back and forth on the price of everything everyday, pledging or withdrawing their capital until a harmonious equilibrium is reached ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/08/09/dead-parrot-finance-efficient-market-hypothesis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ascending and descending</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/07/29/ascending-and-descending/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/07/29/ascending-and-descending/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:47:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[theory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=789</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As speculative euphoria once again grips financial markets and investors emerge from their fallout shelters in search of higher yield, it is entirely possible that we failed to learn anything from the last 12-18 months of market volatility. After the markets bottomed out on March 9, our valuation anchors were rebased. Could our economic prospects really be that grim? Could all that leverage &#8211; all that cash &#8211; simply vanish from the financial system overnight? Of course not, went the refrain, and the markets have since pared back almost half of their 2008 losses during one of the largest bear market rallies since the 1930s. 

As the &#8220;wealth effect&#8221; continues to prime the consumerist pump and risk aversion retreats, some ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/07/29/ascending-and-descending/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>macrofinancial stability</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/07/04/macrofinancial-stability/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/07/04/macrofinancial-stability/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:46:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[finance & economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[banking system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contagion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macroeconomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[systemic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[theory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=872</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Armchair financial quarterbacks would do well to tune out the mass media every so often and tune into the real global dialogue on the nature of the recent crisis and our prospects for a sustainable recovery. It is no coincidence that those whose perspective is truly global consider the fundamental nature of our modern political economy in terms of decades not days, systems not statistics, and welfare not wealth.
In this speech, given just weeks before the March 2008 arranged marriage of Bear Stearns and JPMorgan, this banker to central bankers dissects the credit crisis of 2007 and calls attention to dangerous fault-lines that presaged the apocalyptic deleveraging of the next 18 months&#8230;

Past financial crises, the current financial turmoil, and the ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/07/04/macrofinancial-stability/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>fuel tax</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/06/12/fuel-tax/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/06/12/fuel-tax/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:57:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[finance & economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=751</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An interesting piece of analysis via TBP about rising gas prices crowding out retail and industrial consumption. The premise is sound but fails to acknowledge the already stimulative effect of a $2.50 decline in prices from their 2008 peak&#8230;
As if the US consumer didn’t have enough to worry about, following the DOE data, the front gasoline contract is rallying to the highest level since Oct 15th ‘08. This morning, AAA said the national average for unleaded gasoline rose to $2.63, the most since Oct 28th ‘08, up from the recent low of $1.62 at the end of Dec. To quantify, the US uses about 9mm barrels of gasoline per day with 42 gallons in each barrel, thus 378mm gallons per ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/06/12/fuel-tax/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>black (scholes) hole</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/01/22/wall-street-black-hole-option-pricing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/01/22/wall-street-black-hole-option-pricing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:36:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[finance & economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[black scholes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bubble]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capital markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[derivatives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[models]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[risk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speculation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[theory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[valuation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=583</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Scientists and market commentators have long been aware of the susceptibility of the markets to any single investment philosophy. The rise of early program trading contributed to the historic one-day loss of nearly 23% on Black Monday in 1987. Recent experiments with risk securitization may cost trillions of borrowed dollars to unwind and decades to fully digest. In this piece by veteran commentator Michael Lewis, the blame is placed squarely on the flawed assumptions of the Black-Scholes model, and the degree to which its methodology spread from the arcane trading desks of the world&#8217;s biggest investment banks to the private retirement savings of the beleaguered middle class&#8230;
Inside Wall Street&#8217;s Black Hole
by Michael Lewis
For years, investors have relied on a complex ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/01/22/wall-street-black-hole-option-pricing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>size doesn&#8217;t matter</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/01/10/regulation-size-doesnt-matter/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/01/10/regulation-size-doesnt-matter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:42:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[finance & economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history & society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capitalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stimulus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wealth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=533</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Assuming that our lot in life is simply a function of hard work, acquired skills, and a bit of good luck, the only real difference between liberals and conservatives is the degree to which we believe that those who fall on hard times – for whatever reason beyond their control – deserve a helping hand. How we publicly spend on that assistance is not only a question of socio-political philosophy, but also a matter of practical statecraft. Whether &#8220;leveling the playing field&#8221; or simply &#8220;setting the rules of the game&#8221;, pharohs, kings, and presidents have all made use of their regulatory oversight with varying degrees of success. This piece in the Boston Review by noted macroeconomist Dean Baker explores the ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2009/01/10/regulation-size-doesnt-matter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>a great depression</title>
		<link>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2008/11/16/a-great-depression/</link>
		<comments>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2008/11/16/a-great-depression/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:49:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The Editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history & society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in other words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[society]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/?p=393</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Despite its severity, we believe that the slump in stock prices will prove an intermediate movement and not the precursor of a business depression&#8230;&#8221; This advice from the Harvard Economic Society on November 2, 1929 illustrates that unbridled optimism in the capital markets was just as dangerous 80 years ago as it is today. Modern financial crises aren&#8217;t simply failures of regulatory oversight or inherent structural weakness. They&#8217;re a combination of the cyclicality of human behavior, the dangers of unbridled leverage, increased speculation by unsophisticated investors, and our complete lack of financial memory beyond 20 or 30 years.

The following compilation from The Atlantic&#8216;s impressive archives serves as a painful reminder that, much like the &#8220;Great War&#8221; that preceded it, The Great ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.freedom24.org/rationalpost/2008/11/16/a-great-depression/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

