If being a hedge-fund manager means you are responsible for the market crash, does being a computer programmer mean you are responsible for DDoS attacks by Anonymous?
Programmers in general, no; programmers who spend some of their time working on DDoS tools, so if Anonymous wins they'll have power? Come on.
The idea of a hedge fund, by which I'm meaning an investment portfolio which consistently outperforms the market, is intrinsically insane. It's like a VC trying to diversify their portfolio so that even if Silicon Valley as a whole tumbles into the sea, they'll still make money.
I don't have any philosophical problem with investment, and I think SV venture capital is a great model: You buy a piece of something because you think it will do well. If it doesn't do well, you lose your money. That's what encourages you to only give money to things you think are good ideas.
The entire discipline of investment banking stems from "managing risk"-- the ludicrous idea of "Man, losing money sometimes sucks. Maybe there's a way to stop that from happening." My contention is that the present economic collapse is evidence that, in fact, there is not.
If the "market" -- the whole value of human endeavor -- sucks, your life will suck. This is a consequence of the fact that you are a human. Trying to walk away from that with more of the value than anyone else is insane. And sure, with the right financial tricks you can pull it off, for a while; many people have died rich from doing it. But it's gonna come to a head.
Comments
And whose fault is that, Mr. Hedge Fund Manager?
If being a hedge-fund manager means you are responsible for the market crash, does being a computer programmer mean you are responsible for DDoS attacks by Anonymous?
Programmers in general, no; programmers who spend some of their time working on DDoS tools, so if Anonymous wins they'll have power? Come on.
The idea of a hedge fund, by which I'm meaning an investment portfolio which consistently outperforms the market, is intrinsically insane. It's like a VC trying to diversify their portfolio so that even if Silicon Valley as a whole tumbles into the sea, they'll still make money.
I don't have any philosophical problem with investment, and I think SV venture capital is a great model: You buy a piece of something because you think it will do well. If it doesn't do well, you lose your money. That's what encourages you to only give money to things you think are good ideas.
The entire discipline of investment banking stems from "managing risk"-- the ludicrous idea of "Man, losing money sometimes sucks. Maybe there's a way to stop that from happening." My contention is that the present economic collapse is evidence that, in fact, there is not.
If the "market" -- the whole value of human endeavor -- sucks, your life will suck. This is a consequence of the fact that you are a human. Trying to walk away from that with more of the value than anyone else is insane. And sure, with the right financial tricks you can pull it off, for a while; many people have died rich from doing it. But it's gonna come to a head.