tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post3400233592063933491..comments2023-12-20T04:18:41.617-06:00Comments on The Hunting of the Snark: The Rich Are Better RicherSusan of Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-81345013810223708482010-09-24T10:44:58.246-05:002010-09-24T10:44:58.246-05:00Yes, McArdle takes something that's true and a...Yes, McArdle takes something that's true and applies to to irrelevant or partially relevant points she's trying to make. There's no mention of the fact that these geniuses made decisions and took risks that blew up the market that had nothing to do with technological advances and everything to do with the unregulated shadow banking industry.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-14469540470054416152010-09-24T10:29:13.394-05:002010-09-24T10:29:13.394-05:00Wall St has been hiring out-of-work physicists to ...Wall St has been hiring <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/science/10quant.html" rel="nofollow">out-of-work physicists to do high-end computing for them</a>. So there is a real computer-savvy element to the finance sector's profits. Turns out (as one who isn't willfully ignorant could fully predict), it just became another way to <a href="http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/computerized_front_running.php" rel="nofollow">game the system</a>.fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01522672049371678717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-49981942610721641842010-09-24T07:49:57.581-05:002010-09-24T07:49:57.581-05:00Ugh, anyone want to try to parse Megan posting abo...Ugh, anyone want to try to parse Megan posting about Dan Savage's project? Because Savage was ripping into her the other week. This seems a concern troll job on her part.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-35594027630115599332010-09-24T00:56:45.798-05:002010-09-24T00:56:45.798-05:00Oh, also, Susan, thanks for passing on that fantas...Oh, also, Susan, thanks for passing on that fantastic Slacktivist post.Batocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193752396025012825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-65534858331231683062010-09-24T00:51:43.512-05:002010-09-24T00:51:43.512-05:00I left my detailed comment in the other thread alr...I left my detailed comment in the other thread already, haha.<br /><br />Minor point - McBargle's saying her private high school prep tuition was $38,000 in 2008. It would have been cheaper when she attended, and school tuitions have shot up ridiculously in the past 25 years - but nevertheless, it would still be extremely pricy. The main point stands - she's absurdly privileged and always has been, and at rare moments she <i>sorta</i> acknowledges it, but still thinks she's Teh Awesome.Batocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193752396025012825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-6212956090224824942010-09-23T18:41:06.693-05:002010-09-23T18:41:06.693-05:00ArgleBargle is a nauseating, sophomoric, ignorant ...ArgleBargle is a nauseating, sophomoric, ignorant Propagandist. Paid to spout lies, she does so gladly and with vim and vigor, and lots of big words.<br /><br />She's paid good money to do exactly what Sarah Palin does: babble. Only Megan babbles with an "intellectual accent".Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03176801494652946278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-30474590187958461962010-09-23T17:27:03.813-05:002010-09-23T17:27:03.813-05:00Slacktivist had an interesting post discussing why...Slacktivist had an interesting <a href="http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2010/09/jackie-at-the-crossroads.html" rel="nofollow">post</a> discussing why we make the choices we make. His example was about admitting error.<br /><br /><i>Bad Jackie cannot tolerate embarrassment, which means it is very important to her that she is never wrong -- almost as important to her as pointing out when others are. Bad Jackie has got it in her head that this is where her value comes from. If she is right and others are wrong, then they are bad and she is good. So if she were to accept being wrong -- even due to having been innocently deceived -- then she would be bad. And she knows that deep down she has a good heart and so that can't be true and she must be right after all. She must be.<br /><br />Her identity is at stake, you see. Her self-concept and with it her self-worth. This doesn't excuse what she does next, but it can help to understand, and to understand is always a step closer toward forgiving.</i><br /><br />Protecting our image of ourselves makes us do crazy things.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-89119166656411322392010-09-23T17:20:37.612-05:002010-09-23T17:20:37.612-05:00I have to laugh at the "university-based meri...I have to laugh at the "university-based meritocratic elite" remark, because you know she's including herself among this "meritocracy." She only got where she is because of daddy's money and connections and some dumb luck. I don't have anything against people in her position, until they start trying to pretend like they bootstrapped their way to the top.Clever Pseudonymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00782313892753904678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-29671279627847573402010-09-23T16:30:50.419-05:002010-09-23T16:30:50.419-05:00"Markets are governed by rules..."
Act..."Markets are governed by rules..."<br /><br /><br />Actually, markets are governed by the government. The same institution that McMegan has devoted her life's work to undermining.Syznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-65052717696325474732010-09-23T16:19:46.820-05:002010-09-23T16:19:46.820-05:00central texas,
ça ira, oui, ça ira...central texas,<br /><br />ça ira, oui, ça ira...bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-19840110780279946292010-09-23T16:19:41.579-05:002010-09-23T16:19:41.579-05:00Does the girl live in a bubble? Doesn't she ge...Does the girl live in a bubble? Doesn't she get that the rich are able to buy the politicians, who write the rules that skew the deck in favor of the plutonomy? Didn't she ever read about the Gilded Age?<br /><br />I think the reason Ms. McArdle uses so much polysyllabic verbiage is to cover up her lack of intellectual horsepower.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-4262703650893902682010-09-23T16:15:30.252-05:002010-09-23T16:15:30.252-05:00"Call me an optimist, but I see an opportunit..."Call me an optimist, but I see an opportunity here. They understand the general principle, now all we need to do is to get them to see how it applies in other situations. Any thoughts as to how we can do that? "<br /><br />Not sure but that "guillotine" thing that keeps coming up sure sounds promising. Sort of a practical Occam's Razor and great for clarifying the mind.central texasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-89162472259626119902010-09-23T15:31:07.411-05:002010-09-23T15:31:07.411-05:00Arguably, computers are especially useful in analy...<i>Arguably, computers are especially useful in analyzing financial markets... <br />Also, arguably, from taking on an unwarranted amount of tail risk-</i><br /><br />Am I wrong to speculate that MM prefers the word "arguably" over actual arguments?Smut Clydehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09409476490132867809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-65591464630824707972010-09-23T15:20:32.403-05:002010-09-23T15:20:32.403-05:00You're an optomist!
I'm not sure how to t...You're an optomist!<br /><br />I'm not sure how to teach someone to question himself and his pre-conceptions. People will not give up their group identity; it means too much to them.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-50825735526672362512010-09-23T15:04:40.016-05:002010-09-23T15:04:40.016-05:00Susan,
oh right, sorry. But then again, what I sai...Susan,<br />oh right, sorry. But then again, what I said applies to McSuderman, perhaps even doubly so.<br /><br />cynic,<br /><i>Guy figures out how to save keyclicks in excel as a macro</i><br />Macro, I wish :) Guy figures out a keyboard shortcut and thinks his Torvalds.<br /><br /><i>not angry at the senior law firm partners who extract surplus value from their associates and their clients, or angry at the financiers, but angry at... Barack Obama</i><br />Oh my Lord, I know people like that. Those guys instinctively or subconsciously know that they're being fucked by someone who has power over them, but due to years of indoctrination, they believe there's only one type of power that fucks people over on a daily basis: the one that the government wields. Hence blame it on Obama. Also, the skin color and nominal political affiliation help.<br />Call me an optimist, but I see an opportunity here. They understand the general principle, now all we need to do is to get them to see how it applies in other situations. Any thoughts as to how we can do that?bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-50322946296742902942010-09-23T14:51:07.001-05:002010-09-23T14:51:07.001-05:00boils down to knowing when to click what which to ...<i>boils down to knowing when to click what which to my mind has nothing to do with skill and everything to do with experience</i><br /><br />Amen to that.<br /><br />Guy figures out how to save keyclicks in excel as a macro and all of a sudden he is Kernighan.<br /><br />See Megan has to come up with these cockamamie theories of why the rich are rich because she has to avoid the obvious. The rich (mostly) got rich by stealing it fair and square from the willing dupes. They did this by selling the dream of 'you can be like me some day if you only let me make outsize profits'. <br /><br />Now they employ shills like Megan to make sure the rubes don't figure it out.<br /><br />As <a href="http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/in-which-mr-deling-responds-to-someone-who-might-be-professor-todd-henderson.html" rel="nofollow">'Mr Deling' says</a><br /><br /><i>But, curiously enough, not angry at the senior law firm partners who extract surplus value from their associates and their clients, or angry at the financiers, but angry at... Barack Obama, </i>cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02438583188725326668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-82631193553499188022010-09-23T14:26:48.842-05:002010-09-23T14:26:48.842-05:00Thanks, Lurking Canadian. Tired blogging mean I ma...Thanks, Lurking Canadian. Tired blogging mean I make even more mistakes than usual.<br /><br />Bulbul, that's P. Suderman talking about games. I can't see McArdle playing those games either.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-56210329358637037642010-09-23T13:57:51.913-05:002010-09-23T13:57:51.913-05:00The bit about how it's "politically unthi...The bit about how it's "politically unthinkable" to pay regulators what they're worth is the best, I think. The way to get really top people into the SEC is to make them all wear scratchy polyester uniforms and eat day-old bologna sandwiches for lunch. Otherwise, it's just wasteful government spending.<br /><br />BTW, reading through the link, it looks like the 2.93 GPA was what she earned while staring out the windows of Penn and that got her into MBA school, not what she earned at Privileged Prep to get into Penn in the first place.Lurking Canadiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-59211836608721311312010-09-23T13:49:52.742-05:002010-09-23T13:49:52.742-05:00which has vastly increased the ability of those wi...<i>which has vastly increased the ability of those with the best computers, and computer skills</i><br />I got 9 years in IT, so no one can tell me shit. Every time someone talks about computer skills in a non-programmer non-admin context, it boils down to one thing: mastering a particular application or rather a small part thereof (think SAP). This, in turn, boils down to knowing when to click what which to my mind has nothing to do with skill and everything to do with experience. Skills my fat Perl-writing my-own-Linux-distro-compiling ass...<br /><br /><i>Let's go home. I want to see if my copies of Bioshock and KillZone 3</i><br />Killzone 3 yes, but only because it's a Playstation-only game and knowing one's way around Playstation probably counts as having computer skills to our Megan. But Bioshock? No fucking way, sorry Susan. First, the whole plasmid and weapon thing is too complicated for Our Lady of Teh 2x4. Second, the story is a parody on the Randian utopia, no way she'd be able to handle it.bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-11895331223864920362010-09-23T13:15:26.750-05:002010-09-23T13:15:26.750-05:00Better than your usually excellent.Better than your usually excellent.Jack Crowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499087036876745723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-26068681222675589642010-09-23T13:14:25.133-05:002010-09-23T13:14:25.133-05:00"In the real world, it's more complicated..."In the real world, it's more complicated than that--there are hedonic benefits (and drawbacks) to going to college, which will shift the actual price people are willing to pay; there is the opportunity cost of foregone salary; there is risk; and there is the fact that college freshmen usually <b> aren't so good at calculating the <i>present value</i> of future cash flows.</b>"<br /><br />Yes, she wrote that last part in her college education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-9947467942039275422010-09-23T12:55:26.686-05:002010-09-23T12:55:26.686-05:00Because MBAs are stupid
http://www.theatlantic.co...Because MBAs are stupid<br /><br />http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/worried-about-chinas-monopoly-on-rare-elements-restart-american-production/63444/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com