Book news: We told you this guy was smart
By Dave
February 2nd, 2009 | Leave a comment
About a year and a half ago, DelMio featured The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, which explained Taleb’s theory on the influence of unexpected events and how we can learn to better anticipate such things. If we ever wise up.
He might describe the economic meltdown of 2007-2008 (and still counting) as a Black Swan of sorts. Most “experts” didn’t expect it (although you could see signs of trouble back in ’07 as real estate started to crater at the same time fuel prices were soaring), which is a hallmark trait of a “black swan.”
At the Davos, Switzerland, World Economic Forum last week, there was Taleb, and he could have just as well handed out little placards that said, “I told you so.” He was a trader in 1987 when the stock market crashed. He said the crash made him feel vindicated. Last year he was more of an amused observer.
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius described Taleb as being regarded as a “rock star” at Davos, and Taleb said, “It’s easier to say ‘God knows’ than to say ‘I don’t know.”
To read the David Ignatius column, CLICK HERE.
To revisit, or see it for the first time, see The Black Swan.
