Absolute Uncertainties

This term just won’t let me leave without a hassle.

Woke up today feeling terrible, then promptly realized I’ve caught the bug going around campus after being sickness free for 5 months. Now hopped up on headaches, coughs, and ibuprofen.

Should be a fun finals period.

And this is why I hate studying in advance: demotivational and inefficient.

Prom pictures look good this year, congrats guys.

A little bit of regret though maybe? Just a little bit…nolstagia’s been hitting pretty hard the last few weeks with senior banquet, convention, scholars banquet, prom, etc.

I need to focus on finals, dammit…

The quality gap of music between Eminem and Nicki Minaj is just….staggering. Same genre, 2 completely different results.

Nicki really hits a trashy mood spot though at times, not gonna lie.

Lots of sweatervests at the scholars’ banquet this year.

Whatever happened to the suit and tie combo, people? It’s not too classy for the occasion.

Book: Financial Institutions and Markets, 2nd Edition, by Meir Kohn

Yeah, it’s my finance textbook, but hear me out.

It’s probably the first textbook that I’ve read cover to cover in my entire high school and brief college career, so it counts for something. The author is actually a professor here at Dartmouth who teaches this very class (though I had another professor) and very qualified in his writing.

As for the book itself, it does a very good job explaining the workings of the financial system and the various players in it, as well as how they interact on a micro, macro, national, and global scale. There is a LOT of information to be absorbed, and there is definitely reread value.

Some bad points: the book is almost made to be reread, as there are many footnotes referring to earlier chapters, as well as references to previous chapters when it comes to more advanced explanations that make you flip back and forth. Also, it is (relatively) outdated, considerinig “current” events about up to 2003 or so. Thus, some of the facts in the book are ironic considering all of the economic happenings that have happened in the world since.

This definitely should not be your first introduction to economics, but rather a cursory understanding is required to even dabble in this book. Concepts such as supply and demand, price discrimination/discovery, competitive models, the rational economic man, externalities, etc. are needed to 1. understand the ideas put forth and 2. digest them into further elaborations.

Overall rating: 8.5/10, certainly a recommended read if you want a more detailed understanding of how the financial system works.

What if….you introduced to fantasy sports games elements of derivatives?

Better yet, what if you introduced derivative instruments based on pro sports players’ performances? Imagine the possibilities if the CFTC/SEC approved of such a thing…