Cocksure

Banks, battles, and the psychology of overconfidence.

Since the beginning of the financial crisis, there have been two principal explanations for why so many banks made such disastrous decisions. The first is structural. Regulators did not regulate. Institutions failed to function as they should. Rules and guidelines were either inadequate or ignored. The second explanation is that Wall Street was incompetent, that the traders and investors didn’t know enough, that they made extravagant bets without ... Full Story »

Posted by Derek Hawkins - via Fair Spin (Right), New Yorker, Publish2 (Business)

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Review

Fabrice Florin
4.0
by Fabrice Florin - Jul. 23, 2009

Fascinating article on the psychology of overconfidence by Malcom Gladwell (author of 'Outliers,' 'Blink' and 'The Tipping Point'). The author asks why so many banks made such disastrous decisions in the recent financial crisis. He compares this phenomenon to the disaster at Gallipoli and the psychology of card games, leading him to suggest that a failure to adapt and re-consider one's biases may be at the root of this problem. Another brilliant perspective on what makes us tick.

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