Things from my Google Reader (or is it Old Reader, Feedly, Instapaper…): Mar-12 Edition

With Google announcing its closing down Google Reader, Our Man is amongst many on the hunt for a new RSS feed aggregator but more importantly the title of these posts is going to have to change soon!  Until then, here are some things I’ve been reading over recent months that might keep you entertained…

- A Pickpocket’s Tale 

The first 200-250 words of this article boggled Our Man’s mind; read them, then take 30 seconds to think about what just transpired…it’ll likely blow your mind too!  As regular readers have likely gathered, Our Man is fascinated by human behaviour (and especially its impact in economics and on stock market moves) and this article illustrates that in pickpocketing, psychology and persuasion of the mind play as large a role as any physical skills.  (Adam Green, The New Yorker)

- Watching Behaviour Before Writing the Rules 

Prof Thaler is known as one of the father’s of behavioural economics/finance, and for his collaboration with Daniel Kahneman and others in further defining the field.  Given his (and other behavioural finance experts) work with governments (especially in the US and UK), it will be interesting to see if the hoped for positive impacts on policy will flow through over the coming years.  (Prof Richard Thaler, New York Times)

- Up All Night 

With a new baby in the Our Man household, this March title and article on the science of sleeplessness seemed awfully well-timed! (Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker)

- The Vine Nerds 

The 21^st century has already been described as the era of “Big Data” and recently we looked at how data-driven electoral sites (whether it was 538, RCP, Pollster, or my personal favourite Votamatic) were far more successful than professionals at predicting the recent US election.  Unsurprisingly, with data far more prevalent, accessible and storable than ever before, its usage and analysis is being used in other fields to challenge long-held assumptions and beliefs.  Over time, it’ll be interesting to see if any of the vintners will produce ‘better’ wine as a result, or merely just more of it.  (Jeffrey M O’Brien, Wired)

- Cheap LED Light May Light Up the Market 

Way back, in Mar-10, Our Man mentioned his interest in the LED theme (as part of the Energy Efficiency book) – sadly, he never ended up doing much with it as it appeared that while the long-term cost advantage of LED bulbs seemed clear the tipping point when the initial cost was palatable to consumers seemed a little too far away.  With Cree just announcing a bulb that retails at a more than affordable $10, perhaps it’s time to dust off those files. (Nayantara NAraryanan & ClimateWire, Scientific American).

- The Paper World of Brookfield Asset Management 

The great, and almost always false, promise in finance is something that offers high returns (or yield) while being very safe.  A large number of the frauds and collapses have been based around this implicit (or explicit) promise – think Madoff, LTCM or even the likes of Enron.  One of the typical models of offering this promise is to take a low risk asset and create a structure around it that creates higher returns through levering it up (or by ‘ponzi finance’ through continually raising capital) .  Roddy Boyd takes a deep investigative look at Brookfield Asset Management, a high flying Toronto-based company, which has an exceptionally complex structure and is viewed by skeptics as another of those false promises that are all too common in finance.  (Roddy Boyd, Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation)