I’ve just got back to my desk after watching David Cameron in conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb – the author of The Black Swan, and one of those folk hailed as a “prophet” of the Crash – over at the RSA. Although, to be honest, “conversation” might be stretching it. Until it came to questions from the floor, Cameron largely left Taleb to it; letting him riff on everything from the national debt to biodiversity in Europe. No bad thing, I assure you.
As for the details of Taleb’s address, there were plenty of decent quotes and observations. He warned of the “high risk” of hyperinflation, for instance, and laid into debt as a sign of systemic “overconfidence”. He even came up with this neat aphorism on the financial crisis: “How can you have evolution when those who did the right thing have to finance those who did the wrong thing?” But if you’ve read The Black Swan – along with, perhaps, his
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in