Is the World Flat? No? It's Curved????

In reading Thomas Friedman's Op-Ed piece today, I was struck when he referenced David Smick's The World is Curved. How could I not be curious about a book whose author clearly and forcefully sought to challenge the central thesis of Friedman's book. What would Friedman think of it? Fortunately, Smick's got a website and he makes the preface and first chapter of his book available to all and sundry. He essentially argues that the financial "system, because of its size and complexity, is unbelievably fragile." Why? Because in the global financial system "there is a continual series of unforseen discontinuities--twists and turns of uncertainty that often require millions of market participants to stand conventional wisdom on its head." For these markets, "the world is curved. We can’t see over the horizon. As a result, our sight lines are limited. It is as if we are forced to travel down an endless, dangerously twisting and turning road with abrupt steep valleys and risky mountainous climbs. We can’t see ahead. We are always being surprised, and that is why the world has become such a dangerous place.”

Read his preface, it's awfully prescient.

the Too-Free Free Market

Obama on the Financial Meltdown. Globalization as a source of crisis?

Save the Economy!

Play the Bailout Game. Har Har Har!

Worst Case Scenario: Iceland

If you've been keeping up with the global credit crisis, you may already know that most of Iceland's national economy was tied-up in financials. When the American housing market tanked, so did the entire country of Iceland. Here's the latest at Slate.

Kredit Krisis impacts German Health-Care

Turns out that Germans are going to begin paying more for their health-care. In Germany, there's actually a Bundesversicherungsamtes (Collective-insurance bureau), and all German citizens must own insurance. The great advantage of the system is that a huge pool of members makes it easier to provide coverage for everyone. Why will members of approximately 20 Krankenkassen see additional fees? The global credit crisis, naturally!