moriarty: mircea_popescu, http://www.amazon.com/The-Misbehavior-Markets-Financial-Turbulence/dp/0465043577

moriarty: mircea_popescu, an example of a less biased conversation would be one by Mandelbrot

moriarty: mircea_popescu, finance or economics, is closely linked to the political nuances of a country, so whenever one reads journals by personalities like Paul Krugman, nobelist though he may be, i always read it keeping in mind his political proclivities

moriarty: mircea_popescu, actually, the conversations in finance are not as cohesive unfortunately as in other fields, so the flipside of that is today the popular strand of conversation happens to be a fork that the more seriously inclined would not fully agree with or find it a bit juvenile

moriarty: mircea_popescu, i've read works by Lacan and such, and i feel almost as if i have to delve into some metaphysical reality, and not take them at their analogies seriously, especially when they try to use precise notions from mathematics to attempt to build some sort of bridge to their reality

moriarty: mircea_popescu, i guess i can see why from a philosophical sense, if one has inclinations towards the literal and the objective

moriarty: mircea_popescu, so i suppose we ought to thank the popularists for at least reminiscing some of the past arguments for the popular public to enjoy a flavour of, and perhaps bring some publicity to what would otherwise be dusty fields relegated to the backshelves of some university library

moriarty: mircea_popescu, well, i guess it was easier being a popular philosopher or statistician in the past, when one did not have to read countless landmark academic papers in order to keep up with the conversation, as one has to these days

moriarty: mircea_popescu, anyone gullible enough to believe the authenticity or originality of Ayn Rand deserves to live in Galt Gulch :P

moriarty: mircea_popescu, lol my fortune was in seven figures, so large enough for me :P

moriarty: mircea_popescu, BBU as in Birkbeck?

moriarty: mircea_popescu, UK, sorry to disappoint you in not being able to introduce fine latinas

moriarty: mircea_popescu, heh, well i made a fortune off bitcoin, but i never saw the point in holding a strong philosophical stance on the utility of cryptocurrencies

moriarty: mircea_popescu, out of curiosity, your background, academically/work?

moriarty: mircea_popescu, in short, first-mover advantage

moriarty: mircea_popescu, well, i'd try not to dilute his book into a one-liner, but essentially a blend of technological warfare i.e. guns, a serendipitous adaptability to germs via advances in medicine, and progress in transport hulls made out of steel, which arose incidentally from ideal farming conditions e.g. arable land which gave rise to a choice of livestock, was why the seemingly unequal

moriarty: mircea_popescu, Adam Smith is a classic if not a little dated, like most liberal arts field, perhaps it would be more helpful to consider more recent counterarguments like those by Jared Diamond