I’m currently reading “Fictitious Capital” by Cedric Durand. I’ve completed the first three chapters and am wondering if he is going to provide any type of answer about what he thinks we should do about his concerns over how “finance is appropriating our future.” Looking through the table of contents it doesn’t appear that he plans to offer any answers.

Within the first three chapters he has made mention of LTCM, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bernie Madoff, Myron Scholes, Robert Merton, Alan Greenspan (and the FED), Milton Friedman, as well as a number of financial crises. He has expressed concerns over the “too big to fail” attitude and how the financial industry benefits from government intervention designed to ensure against their losses while doing nothing to put a cap on their profits. He seems to be hitting on a number (if not all) of the targets chosen by Nassim Taleb.

I’d like to know if Nassim Taleb has read this book and how he would respond to the theory of financialisation that Cedric Durand is developing in the book. Perhaps Cedric has taken inspiration from Nassim?

Mostly, I’m wondering what I can or should do with this information I’m ingesting. At the moment, I think I’d have to admit that it’s generating concern and stress without providing any avenue for doing anything about that concern and stress. Am I doing myself more good or more harm reading these ideas?

I’ve also got a question about whether there is anything one individual can do. (I hope there is! I’m not looking to become a nihilist.) Let’s say that the stock market is a fool’s game. What’s a different option? What if the game plays out just fine during my whole lifetime? Should I or should I not play the game? Should I spend my life sitting on the border of the Tartar Desert looking for the Black Swan? Should I just buy a ticket and enjoy the ride? Do I have a moral responsibility aside from my own selfish interest?

Perhaps Taleb and Durand have got it all wrong and there is nothing for me to worry about?

I guess I’ll have to continue to mix up my reading choices. I definitely won’t stick strictly to this type of finance subject matter and I can choose to find authors with a more optimistic outlook. (Side note: prior to this book I had read “Trading Options for dummies” by Joe Duarte, along with some other money-related titles, and I’m reading “Smart Money Smart Kids” by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze with Eli. So, I’ve had quite the dose of finance medicine recently.)

I give thanks to the Universe for the abundance it provides me. I surrender and am open and ready to receive.

Bhavatu sabba mangalam - May all beings be happy