Millions, Billions, Trillions
Author: Norman Gall | Published in 2009
From ancient times, even before formal mathematics arose in Egypt and Mesopotamia to regulate plantings, water resources, grain stocks and taxes in the development of civilizations, mankind has been engaged in a quest for regularity. In the glories of modern economics, this quest culminated in theories and practices that few of us understand: "rational expectations," "efficient markets," "risk management," "portfolio theory." The emphasis in financial markets was on prediction, using exotic mathematical tools in programming powerful computers to detect opportunities for profit in tiny variations in long-term patterns of regularity, without regard for possible disturbances of these patterns caused by collective recklessness and folly.