At Sgi Board Meetings... Jim Clark's Face

Yet Another Hedge Fund Manager Explained Icelandic Banking To Me This Way: You Have A Dog, And I Have A Cat. We Agree That Each Is Worth A Billion Dollars. You Sell Me The Dog For A Billion, And I Sell You The Cat For A Billion. Now We Are No Longer Pet Owners But Icelandic Banks, With A Billion Dollars In New Assets.

One Absolutely Cannot Tell, By Watching, The Difference Between A .300 Hitter And A .275 Hitter. The Difference Is One Hit Every Two Weeks.

People Really Don't Like To Hear Success Explained Away As Luck — Especially Successful People. As They Age, And Succeed, People Feel Their Success Was Somehow Inevitable. They Don't Want To Acknowledge The Role Played By Accident In Their Lives. There Is A Reason For This: The World Does Not Want To Acknowledge It Either. If You Use Better Data, You Can Find Better Values; There Are Always Market Inefficiencies To Exploit, And So On. But It Has A Broader And Less Practical Message: Don't Be Deceived By Life's Outcomes. Life's Outcomes, While Not Entirely Random, Have A Huge Amount Of Luck Baked Into Them. Above All, Recognize That If You Have Had Success, You Have Also Had Luck — And With Luck Comes Obligation.

The Institutions At The Centre Of Capitalism Are Bigger Than They've Ever Been, The Pay Is Much Greater, The Ability Of Society To Get Its Arms Around It Is Much Less. The Political Clout Of The Financial Class Is Unbelievable. I'd Say The Story Is Darker Than When I Was There. When I Was There It Felt Like A Comedy - And Now It Feels More Like A Tragedy.

Don't Be Deceived By Life's Outcomes. Life's Outcomes, While Not Entirely Random, Have A Huge Amount Of Luck Baked Into Them.