Each Sunday I compose a list containing the most thought-provoking and interesting content I’ve consumed during the past week. Primarily as a way to keep inventory of material that influenced me and my way of thinking.
Writings/Essays
12 Things I Learned from René Girard by Ted Gioia.
By desiring the same thing as our neighbor, we are drawn into inevitable conflict. Mimetic desire turns into mimetic rivalry—in everything from love to war. That’s the reason for the injunction against “coveting your neighbor’s wife.” Girard claims this is emblematic of how mimetic impulses destroy a community. You try to seize what your neighbor desires most. But this happens on a much larger scale in sociopolitical and economic conflicts. The truthteller has a special responsibility to expose imitative passion—because it is the force behind so much violence, persecution, and scapegoating.
A Tidal Wave – Beginners Guide to FX Volatility Cycles I by Harel Jacobson.
The spectrum of end users in the FX derivatives market spans from hedgers to speculators with different utility functions and trade horizons, and different forces govern the shape of the implied volatility surface. In the absence of external factors (strong macro narrative/view, spillover from cross-market hedging), the short-dated implied volatility will be controlled mostly by systematic/RV players who “supply” dealers with gamma as they try to “collect” theta. On the other hand, the back end of the implied volatility curve is naturally governed by supply/demand forces, resulting in the hedging needs of corporate users and long-term investors like pension funds. In between the front end and the back end of the implied volatility curve, the nature of the flow driving the middle of the volatility curve varies from systematic/RV managers who take a view on the shape of the volatility surface to macro investors trying to express their view on the currency pair direction (trajectory).
Be Better by Michael Green.
My concern has always been about the impact that passive would have on underlying market volatility and the potential for an XIV-like event at the SPX level. As I developed my thesis, I traveled around the world (literally) meeting with the smartest investors I knew to share my thoughts. When I presented my analysis to the IMF’s Financial Stability Group, I was briefly heartened by their response — “We agree with your analysis.” And then crestfallen… “There is nothing we can do. Vanguard and Blackrock OWN the regulatory apparatus. If we raised the alarm, all we’d do is get fired. We have to wait for the event” And so I went out on my own to make certain that when the event occurred, this would not be a repeat of 2008 with the familiar refrain, “How could we have known?”
Bad Is Good by Erik Renander.
In the beginning there is resistance to large issuances of debt. It is seen as being financial imprudent. But, gradually the politicians and the people learn to crave it, and the debt increases exponentially. There is no more resistance.
Where Have All the Virtuous Role Models Gone? by Jemima Kelly.
But another part of what’s going on here lies in our shifting moral philosophies. As the west has moved away from ethical outlooks that focus on virtue and towards a utilitarianism that emphasises the outcomes of our actions rather than the content of our characters, we are less inclined to look for exemplars of virtuousness to emulate. In a world in which you can maximise your positive impact simply by making a ton of money and distributing it effectively, being an admirable person seems less relevant.
Smart Words From Smart People by Morgan Housel.
“We are built with an almost infinite capacity to believe things because the beliefs are advantageous for us to hold, rather than because they are even remotely related to the truth.” – Dee Hock
Podcasts/Conversations
The Truth Is In the Process – Zizek – Pt. 3 (Ideology, Dialectics), Philosophize This!
Long vol, short prediction models 