Re: Quants vs Congress

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

John Krexnar writes:

(Duncan Frissell's section elided)

> Aw c'mon Duncan.  Derivative of what?  What's a quant?  Where was the
> term ``intermediation of political risk'' used?
> 
> I love your postings when I can make sense of them.  This one is so well
> encrypted I can't.

"Derivatives" mean secondary financial instruments, based on ("derived
from") things like stocks, bonds, and real estate. Things like futures
markets, "baskets" of other instruments, etc. These started, it may be
argued, in the trading pits of Chicago, but have now spread around the
world. I think I recall reading (in "Time"'s cover story last week on
derivatives and quants, ironically enough--the Wall Street nerd with
the "messy room" has replaced the hacker as the Number One Threat to
Civilization) that $ 4 Trillion in derivatives trades _daily_.

"Quants," closely related to "rocket scientists," are those who use
math and statistics for investment purposes. Short for "quantitative."

I urge all Cypherpunks who can afford to do so to subscribe to "The
Economist." It's filled with good, incisive articles, including the
best treatments of breaking science and technology stories in any
general magazine. Shoot your t.v., maybe, but don't let your
subsription lapse. Available also on newstands, whence information on
subscribing may be found (read the mag long enough, and you too will
speak in terms of "whence").

--Tim May


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