of markets and men

As some readers of this weblog are aware, I believe that one of the ways that we can understand the prevailing social and economic system under which we live is to consistently read the voice of the social and economic system under which we live. Which is why I have read London's Financial Times for more than 25 years. To read it is to educate yourself, day in and day out, about the realities of our planet.

Yet despite reading the paper for such a long time, it is only in the past 3 months that I have started reading the columns of the FT's investments editor, John Authers. I am very sorry that it took me so long--for Authers' columns are an exemplary explanation of the intracies of contemporary global capitalism. Today's paper in this regard does not disappoint. In talking about the impact of bad weather on investing, this is what Authers has to say:

'The world's markets are driven by a few small tribes of investors working for large institutions, who tend to live close to each other in a few well-defined population centers. This propogates groupthink'.

If only all analysis of contemporary global capitalism was so lucid!