Via Niall Ferguson What are the geopolitical implications of all this(credit crunch)? One possibility is that the “great reconvergence” between East and West is speeding up. If you go back to the very first report that Goldman Sachs produced about the “BRICs economies” (Brazil, Russia, India and China), China was projected to overtake the United States in gross domestic product in 2040. But in more recent reports, that has been brought forward to 2027.

Taleb on Banks : Banks will just become utility companies http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=6253625706730831653&hl=en&fs=true

MFE is one of the wildly popular masters program. But what is behind these MFE programs ? Is it worth your time and effort ? Here’s my Prof’s take on it. I concur with him . Link

When I came across this statement ," Bootstrap method has now been hailed by an official American Statistical Association volume as the only “great breakthrough” in statistics since 1970 “ , I was humbled by the fact that I had never come across this method earlier. The only kinds of bootstrapping I am aware of is Bootstrap a venture :) Bootstrap method to build yield curve using a set of fixed income instruments.

“Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales.” —Bertrand Russell