Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s Blog

Sherman McCoy, the fictional 1980s “Master of the Universe” Wall Street bond trader, had his sights set on a deal that could earn him $ 1.7m in commission payments, money he needed to pay off the mortgage on a lavish Park Avenue apartment.  “The only real problem was the complexity of the whole thing,” readers [...]

Alan Greenspan, the former US Federal Reserve chairman, confessed that he had failed to anticipate the financial crisis and said “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief.” Mr.Greenspan had faith that banks were prudent enough to make [...]

“I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.” – Sir Issac Newton, 1721, after the South Sea bubble burst.  Sir Issac Newton is said to have lost his life’s savings during the South Sea bubble.  We think to ourselves, “A smart guy like that should have known better”.  It [...]