Michael Lewis is such an engaging writer that it’s been said he could tell a gripping story about a piece of dirt in the road – beginning with the geological origins, several billion years ago, of the dirt’s mineral components. Lewis can write conservative (The Blind Side) and he can write liberal (“Obama’s Way”). He can turn nerdy statistical analysis …
Conference Roundup: Sam Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations 20 Years Later
In 2003 I attended a talk by Samuel Huntington, the late Harvard historian who made a big splash with his 1997 bestseller, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. It was an “answer song” to The End of History and the Last Man, written by Francis Fukuyama, one of Huntington’s former students and protégés. Fukuyama’s book proposed …
What Investment Risk Means to You, Illustrated: Strategic Asset Allocation, the Budget Constraint, and the Volatility of Spending During Retirement
Investment advisors, managers, and their clients talk about balancing risk and return when advising clients on their strategic asset allocation (SAA) policy for the overall portfolio. This is true whether the client is an individual, a pension plan, a foundation or endowment, or a sovereign wealth fund. SAA investment policy or strategy is typically set by choosing from among a …