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#1
06-17-2007, 11:34 AM
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what NOT to read (demon of our own design)
i have never put a book down within the first 10 pages...
...until now. In the book "A Demon of Our Own Design" the author starts out by intimating that he helped cause the crash of '87, & the blow-up of LTCM!!! he then opens with a chapter called "the market paradox" where he asserts that financial engineering & the dizzying increase in derivative securities have done nothing to decrease volatility in the markets while economic production (GDP) & personal income have decreased in volatility from 50 years prior. he basically asserts that since economic cycles have damped, markets should become less volatile. he compares markets to bridges by saying "this is not the way it is supposed to work, consider the progress of other products & services over the past century. from structural design of buildings & bridges...we learned our lessons. in contrast financial markets have seen a tremendous amount of engineering in the past 30 years but the result has been more frequent and severe breakdowns." i fear i will become more stupid by reading this book. he writes sentances like: "in spite of 40 years of progress & a drop in real economic risk by 50% or more, the average annual standard deviation in the S&P500 index was higher during the past 20 years than it was 50 years earlier." aside from poor writing & not being clear as to which st.devs he's comparing (1987-2007 vs. 1937-1957 or 1987 to 1937 or 1957 to 2007), the logic behind his point is poor. how can you compare bridges to financial markets. anways, i highly suggest not reading this book. the author may have been great at his jobs (and his resume is impressive), but the takeaways & linkages he asserts are attrocious. he has committed literary homicide imo. oh yea, and his name is Richard Bookstaber!!! (LOL IRONY) Barron 
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#3
06-17-2007, 12:51 PM
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Re: what NOT to read (demon of our own design)
[ QUOTE ]
hahaha [/ QUOTE ] [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] i was also very put off by the audacity the killer, er, author, comes out with. just not a good look. Barron
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#4
06-17-2007, 03:08 PM
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Re: what NOT to read (demon of our own design)
A few weeks back the author was a guest on Bob Brinker's radio program. It was a good interview and he sounded like an expert on the subject. I wasn't planning on reading his book in the first place, but now I definitely won't, haha.
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#5
06-17-2007, 08:28 PM
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Re: what NOT to read (demon of our own design)
"LOL IRONY" at you saying someone is a bad writer.
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#6
06-17-2007, 10:51 PM
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Re: what NOT to read (demon of our own design)
[ QUOTE ]
"LOL IRONY" at you saying someone is a bad writer. [/ QUOTE ] 1) i never said i right good 2) i never said he was a bad writer! i said his logic was bad & i think i'd be dumber for having read the book. good try though [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Barron
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#7
06-17-2007, 11:30 PM
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Re: what NOT to read (demon of our own design)
[ QUOTE ]
...aside from poor writing... [/ QUOTE ]
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#9
06-18-2007, 11:16 AM
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Re: what NOT to read (demon of our own design)
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] ...aside from poor writing... [/ QUOTE ] [/ QUOTE ] i was referring to this sentance...way to take stuff out of context: [ QUOTE ] aside from poor writing & not being clear as to which st.devs he's comparing (1987-2007 vs. 1937-1957 or 1987 to 1937 or 1957 to 2007), the logic behind his point is poor. [/ QUOTE ] obviously referring to the first sentence i quoted. Barron
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