Barbara Ehrenreich is right on point in discussing the irrational optimism that has dragged us off the cliff. She opines in NY Times (link & excerpts below) about the absolute failure of our so-called-leaders to understand & account for risk, as long as they can collect deal bonuses.
More inside.
Barbara Ehrenreich is right on point in discussing the irrational optimism that has dragged us off the cliff. She opines in NY Times (link & excerpts below) about the absolute failure of our so-called-leaders to understand & account for risk, as long as they can collect deal bonuses.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
"GREED — and its crafty sibling, speculation — are the designated culprits for the financial crisis. But another, much admired, habit of mind should get its share of the blame: the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-American, positive thinking."
Ehrenreich says further down:
"The once-sober finance industry was not immune...What’s more, for those at the very top of the corporate hierarchy, all this positive thinking must not have seemed delusional at all. With the rise in executive compensation, bosses could have almost anything they wanted, just by expressing the desire. No one was psychologically prepared for hard times when they hit, because, according to the tenets of positive thinking, even to think of trouble is to bring it on."
Ehrenreich's blog is here.
http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/...
Disclosure: I worked in deal analysis for 3 of the financial services players, & Barbara is dead-on about the crap deals that got pushed through the systems, & are now bobbing up like icebergs. For anyone interested in another soon-to-surface risk - what about the systems & data? - an earlier post may be interesting. (As finance roils, don't neglect informatio security at http://www.dailykos.com/...