Nouriel Roubini (Dr. Doom) and our favorite skeptical empiricist Nassim Taleb (The Black Swan) appeared on CNBC to discuss the current financial crisis.
Taleb makes a bold declaration: much of the causes of the crisis are still present: the same people who did not see the crisis coming are still in office. Roubini criticizes the actions taken to solve the problem–bailing out the bad institutions are not going to solve the problem.
Taleb also makes a crucial point about asymmetric payoffs: how bankers are compensated by taking unreasonable risks, which the journalists completely miss–and instead harp hopelessly on investment tips rather than absorb the deeper implication of what is being presented to them.
The reporters end by pinning the two down as “bears” in the face of the recently rising markets. If you can get past the interruptions of the journalists, the two pessimists actually have crucial insights to share. However, this clip is an example of how soundbite journalism takes the place of expert advice (watch how the CNBC anchors talk about Roubini and Taleb as “rockstars”).
For me, give this CNBC clip a capital “F” for frustrating.
so-called “broadcast journalists (another brand of experts)” are the broadest category of unnecessary and overpaid idiots that US has produced so far, and all the major news media outlets, including this one proves that. isn’t the point of journalism to listen and ask relevant question accordingly, instead of jockeying to mass(individually needed) soundbites? it’s horrible that along with ideological brainwashing by the nation-state, we have these quasi-ideological apparatuses pacifying our active and critical thinking skills. someone needs to actively critique this degenerative medium of instant soundbites (chomsky is not enough), sort of a systemic critique that proposes new active medium of communications. for now, i have to rely on the fake news of daily show and colbert report for better coverage in lesser time. unfortunate.
^^ Very well put imtiaz. This kind of journalism is the scourge of the investment world, it is the fascade behind which the actions of Wall St are legitimised. After everything that has happened, they are still asking for freaking stock picks with a long term view, I suppose because, well, markets always go up. . .except when they don’t. I would love to see these fools off the air & was very surprised to see Taleb putting himself through that at all. He simply hasn’t got the harshness of personality to get them to stand up and listen.
Thanks for thhis blog post