The author and professor was on Charlie Rose this week talking about debt, financial fragility, the Fed and Bernanke, why Europe is more robust than the U.S., and other topics.
Pretty interesting, though I would have liked the interview to be longer and Rose not to have interrupted quite so often. Taleb seems to 'open up' when given free-rein and not have to endure input from others (particularly when most is puerile and uninformed - Taleb's face tells it all!) Taleb's concerns re continuing systemic fragility are echoed to a degree by Doug Noland in his recent market commentary where he expresses his concern that aggressive monetization by the US is threatening its very creditworthiness. http://prudentbear.com/index.php/creditbubblebulletinview?art_id=10511 If the stats are not of interest scroll down to Favorable or Unfavorable.
Charlie's body language also seems to say quite a bit during the interview. I believe he's close with a number of Wall St. figures (i.e., Felix Rohatyn, Steve Rattner) and he seemed to grimace when Nassim criticised Bernanke and the Obama administration (i.e., Summers, Geithner). To be blunt, I think a lot of what Nassim is talking about is over Charlie's head.
Quickly I return. A thought just popped into my head re Charlie Rose. It may not have been that he didn't understand - more that he did, and didn't want to hear?
Pretty interesting, though I would have liked the interview to be longer and Rose not to have interrupted quite so often. Taleb seems to 'open up' when given free-rein and not have to endure input from others (particularly when most is puerile and uninformed - Taleb's face tells it all!) Taleb's concerns re continuing systemic fragility are echoed to a degree by Doug Noland in his recent market commentary where he expresses his concern that aggressive monetization by the US is threatening its very creditworthiness.
ReplyDeletehttp://prudentbear.com/index.php/creditbubblebulletinview?art_id=10511
If the stats are not of interest scroll down to Favorable or Unfavorable.
Agreed.
ReplyDeleteCharlie's body language also seems to say quite a bit during the interview. I believe he's close with a number of Wall St. figures (i.e., Felix Rohatyn, Steve Rattner) and he seemed to grimace when Nassim criticised Bernanke and the Obama administration (i.e., Summers, Geithner). To be blunt, I think a lot of what Nassim is talking about is over Charlie's head.
Agreed!
ReplyDeleteHe is indeed friends with Wall St elite and he did appear almost physically, simultaneously, defensive...and in pain.
Quickly I return. A thought just popped into my head re Charlie Rose. It may not have been that he didn't understand - more that he did, and didn't want to hear?
ReplyDeleteThat could be true. I may be equating this instance with other times I've noticed Rose straining to understand economics (e.g., Rogoff).
ReplyDeleteWe all have our strengths and weaknesses, and like David Brooks of the NY Times Rose appears to struggle a bit more with economics.