Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Three-Liar System
A brief look at our financial world.
Part 1: The One-liar System
Liar 1: Lend me lots of money!
Sucker: Sure!
[Later . . .]
Sucker: Pay me back!
Liar 1: Sorry, the money's gone, I gambled it all away!
Sucker: Frak!
Part 2: The Creation of the Two-Liar System
Liar 1: Lend me lots of money!
Sucker: I don't trust you.
Liar 2: No problem. I will sell you insurance that guarantees that if Liar 1 doesn't pay you, I will. See? Now you will be paid no matter what.
Sucker: OK, it's a deal.
[Later . . .]
Sucker: Pay me back!
Liar 1: Sorry, the money's gone, I gambled it all away!
Sucker: Wow, good thing I have the insurance.
Liar 2: About that . . . it seems I sold too much of that insurance and I don't have enough reserves to pay all the claims. You get nothing.
Sucker: But I thought insurance was a highly regulated industry?
Liar 2: Well, this isn't exactly insurance, it's a complex derivative that acts kind of like insurance. It's a total free-for all.
Sucker: Frak!
Part 3: The Three-Liar System
Liar 1: Lend me lots of money!
Sucker: I don't trust you.
Liar 2: No problem. I will sell you insurance regarding Liar 1 . . .
Sucker: But I don't trust you either.
Liar 3: I am a ratings agency. I will rate Liar 2 as "AAA super-sparkly investment-grade chocolate bonbon."
Sucker: Oh, well in that case, it sounds great! Let's do the deal.
[Later . . .]
Sucker: Pay me back!
Liar 1: Sorry, the money's gone, I gambled it all away!
Sucker: I'll rely on the insurance then.
Liar 2: Sorry, I'm broke too.
Sucker: But how did you get such a high rating then?
Liar 3: About that rating . . . I just "downgraded" Liar 2's debt to the new rating of "ZZZ- completely toxic rat droppings." Sorry.
Sucker: What good are the ratings then, if the original rating was a meaningless fraud?
Liar 3: They help keep money flowing through the system.
Sucker: Frak!
Conclusion
Adding more liars to a system does not make it any safer. All three systems are essentially the same. It is "turtles all the way down" as the old saying goes, or in this case, liars all the way down.
Part 1: The One-liar System
Liar 1: Lend me lots of money!
Sucker: Sure!
[Later . . .]
Sucker: Pay me back!
Liar 1: Sorry, the money's gone, I gambled it all away!
Sucker: Frak!
Part 2: The Creation of the Two-Liar System
Liar 1: Lend me lots of money!
Sucker: I don't trust you.
Liar 2: No problem. I will sell you insurance that guarantees that if Liar 1 doesn't pay you, I will. See? Now you will be paid no matter what.
Sucker: OK, it's a deal.
[Later . . .]
Sucker: Pay me back!
Liar 1: Sorry, the money's gone, I gambled it all away!
Sucker: Wow, good thing I have the insurance.
Liar 2: About that . . . it seems I sold too much of that insurance and I don't have enough reserves to pay all the claims. You get nothing.
Sucker: But I thought insurance was a highly regulated industry?
Liar 2: Well, this isn't exactly insurance, it's a complex derivative that acts kind of like insurance. It's a total free-for all.
Sucker: Frak!
Part 3: The Three-Liar System
Liar 1: Lend me lots of money!
Sucker: I don't trust you.
Liar 2: No problem. I will sell you insurance regarding Liar 1 . . .
Sucker: But I don't trust you either.
Liar 3: I am a ratings agency. I will rate Liar 2 as "AAA super-sparkly investment-grade chocolate bonbon."
Sucker: Oh, well in that case, it sounds great! Let's do the deal.
[Later . . .]
Sucker: Pay me back!
Liar 1: Sorry, the money's gone, I gambled it all away!
Sucker: I'll rely on the insurance then.
Liar 2: Sorry, I'm broke too.
Sucker: But how did you get such a high rating then?
Liar 3: About that rating . . . I just "downgraded" Liar 2's debt to the new rating of "ZZZ- completely toxic rat droppings." Sorry.
Sucker: What good are the ratings then, if the original rating was a meaningless fraud?
Liar 3: They help keep money flowing through the system.
Sucker: Frak!
Conclusion
Adding more liars to a system does not make it any safer. All three systems are essentially the same. It is "turtles all the way down" as the old saying goes, or in this case, liars all the way down.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Overheard at the coffee shop
Guy talking on cell phone: "Has he got what you need? You want it? Yeah, you want it? Take it. Yeah. Take it. Is it big? Take it. Yeah."
[Other people who overhear this start laughing.]
Guy on cell phone: "Hold on a second. People are laughing . . . What? What's so funny?"
Me: "Uh, well . . . it's just that your half of that conversation sounds really dirty. It's like you're in a porno. What are you talking about?"
Guy on cell phone: "She's buying a new stereo."
[Guy then thinks back on what his half of the conversation was, and cracks up laughing.]
[Other people who overhear this start laughing.]
Guy on cell phone: "Hold on a second. People are laughing . . . What? What's so funny?"
Me: "Uh, well . . . it's just that your half of that conversation sounds really dirty. It's like you're in a porno. What are you talking about?"
Guy on cell phone: "She's buying a new stereo."
[Guy then thinks back on what his half of the conversation was, and cracks up laughing.]
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Kumoricon 2008 Sunday Cosplay
These were some of my favorite pictures from Sunday at Kumoricon. My full article about the convention will be up at JLHLS in a few days.
More photos:
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