Dangerous Dimon (contd.)..
I wasn’t the only one to have a go at Jamie Dimon (see this post from June). Paul Krugman, a rather more distinguished blogger than me, has been trying to poke fun at him too. But Dimon’s latest outburst takes … Continued
A 50 year old film
Lots of women on Facebook and on dating websites say their favourite film is “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (don’t ask me how I know this, but trust me, it’s true). It’s such a cliché that I wonder if women select it … Continued
Power politics in finance
I’m reading an excellent new book called “Red Capitalism: the fragile foundation of China’s extraordinary rise” by Carl Walter and Fraser Howie which provides some very detailed and fascinating background to the current state of the Chinese banking system. It’s … Continued
Book recommendations (4): The Strategy of Conflict
Thomas Schelling won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005 together with Robert Aumann for work on game theory. Aumann’s work is in the traditionally mathematical area of game theory. Schelling’s is much more accessible and his main insights are … Continued
Book recommendations (3): Fiction
As I’m making personal book recommendations I’ll make a detour into my favourite fiction. At the risk of this deteriorating into a sort of sub-Facebook page, here are a few of my favourite authors: Tolstoy, Turgenev, Bulgakov, Chekhov and Bunin … Continued
Book recommendations (2): False Economy
I read very few books owing to a lack of time. I read a great many articles and blog posts, which has possibly made me impatient when I think of reading a whole book. And many books are too long, … Continued
Book recommendations (1): Liar’s Poker
I don’t advise students to do much preparation ahead of starting the MFin. It’s a very full course and it’s better to get some rest rather than try to learn early what you’ll be covering in the degree. But I … Continued
Complexity
I mentioned in a previous blog that we hosted a day of complexity experts here in Cambridge. I wasn’t at the seminar but was lucky enough to be introduced to Eric Beinhocker, the author of The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, … Continued
More summer reading, and finance
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been re-reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender is the Night. It’s good to read something that is unconnected with work but it’s pretty hard to do that when your subject is … Continued
The true importance of finance
I’ve been reading a fascinating, if rather grim, book called The Secret State, by the distinguished British historian, Peter Hennessy. Based on interviews and a range of declassified official files, it’s a detailed picture of the secret arrangements made in … Continued
The quant spectrum
Is the Cambridge Master of Finance a course for quants? In short, no, but it’s worth commenting a bit more on this. Finance has become a lot more quantitative over the years so that the entry level requirements for some … Continued