On Thursday October 24, 2008, Congress grilled Alan Greenspan about the latest financial meltdown. Here are some quotes from the Wall Street Journal, Friday October 25, 2008.
On the front page, "Greenspan Admits Errors to Hostile House Panel," by Kara Scannell and Sudeep Reddy.
"Mr. Greenspan maintained that no regulator was smart enough to foresee the 'once in a life-time credit tsunami.'"
and
"Anticipating such a crisis 'is more than anybody is capable of judging."
Yet the same issue of the WSJ ran an article on page C1, "Paulson & Co. Scores Again This Year," by Gregory Zuckerman, describing how Paul Johnson was able to foresee the tsunami, anticipate the crisis, and profit from it. Last year Mr. Johnson made $3 Billion personally from the meltdown. His hedge fund, Paulson & Co., made $15 Billion last year.
Clearly, Greenspan is lying to us again.
Robert Canright
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Malcolm Gladwell Insults Asians
The New York Times, in "Sociology of Success" by Stephen Kotkin, November 2, 2008, reviews the latest book by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell's previous two books became best sellers by taking ideas were already well known and established, repackaging them as though he had discovered something new, and writing in a light, breezy style meant to be skimmed quickly rather than read carefully.
Now Gladwell, in his latest book, "Outliers: the Story of Success", ventures into a topic broader and more complex than his previous work. Now he fails. He also insults all Asians, as the following quote from this article about his book (paragraph 9): The Sociology of Success by Stephen Kotkin, NYT, Nov. 1, 2008.
"If some points border on the obvious, others seem a stretch. Asian children’s high scores at math, Mr. Gladwell would have us believe, derive from work in rice paddies. Never mind that few of the test takers or their urban parents in Hong Kong, Singapore or Tokyo have ever practiced wet-rice agriculture. Noting that math test scores correlate with how long students will sit for any kind of exam, Mr. Gladwell points to an Asian culture of doggedness, which he attributes to cultural legacies of rice cultivation. (Paddies require constant effort.)"
Asians owe their success to rice paddies?
It would seem Malcolm Gladwell has no understanding of the Confucian influence on Asian cultures, where studying has been highly regarded for thousands of years.
CONFUCIAN ANALECTS.
BOOK I. HSIO R.
CHAPTER I
1. The Master said, 'Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?'
2. 'Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?'
3. 'Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?'
Let's look at this again:
Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?
This attitude, coupled with the financial rewards and public honors bestowed by Chinese Emperors upon the winners of their national examinations, has over the ages developed the "culture of doggedness" puzzling Gladwell.
The belief that only students who are quick studies can succeed in school is the lazy person's excuse.
Ascribing the academic success of Asians to rice paddies is lazy thinking at best, and racism at worst.
Robert Canrigh
Now Gladwell, in his latest book, "Outliers: the Story of Success", ventures into a topic broader and more complex than his previous work. Now he fails. He also insults all Asians, as the following quote from this article about his book (paragraph 9): The Sociology of Success by Stephen Kotkin, NYT, Nov. 1, 2008.
"If some points border on the obvious, others seem a stretch. Asian children’s high scores at math, Mr. Gladwell would have us believe, derive from work in rice paddies. Never mind that few of the test takers or their urban parents in Hong Kong, Singapore or Tokyo have ever practiced wet-rice agriculture. Noting that math test scores correlate with how long students will sit for any kind of exam, Mr. Gladwell points to an Asian culture of doggedness, which he attributes to cultural legacies of rice cultivation. (Paddies require constant effort.)"
Asians owe their success to rice paddies?
It would seem Malcolm Gladwell has no understanding of the Confucian influence on Asian cultures, where studying has been highly regarded for thousands of years.
CONFUCIAN ANALECTS.
BOOK I. HSIO R.
CHAPTER I
1. The Master said, 'Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?'
2. 'Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?'
3. 'Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?'
Let's look at this again:
Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?
This attitude, coupled with the financial rewards and public honors bestowed by Chinese Emperors upon the winners of their national examinations, has over the ages developed the "culture of doggedness" puzzling Gladwell.
The belief that only students who are quick studies can succeed in school is the lazy person's excuse.
Ascribing the academic success of Asians to rice paddies is lazy thinking at best, and racism at worst.
Robert Canrigh
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