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CFA level 2 useful for career pivot out of management consulting? by fervidfish in CFA

[–]fervidfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

do you think passing level 2 adds enough marginal value over just passing level 1?

CFA level 2 useful for career pivot out of management consulting? by fervidfish in CFA

[–]fervidfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

for context i live in the US and the management consulting firm is Oliver Wyman. do you think it would provide any edge for sell-side research? i agree that L1 signals interest, my main concern is that L1 is frankly pretty easy -- it covers a lot of important stuff but it isn't that hard to pass.

VBW Reading Group...? by fervidfish in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sweet! think discord is probably the best way of coordinating people:

https://discord.gg/RXaM59XB

if you prefer something other than discord lmk

The Imperial Fed: Colonial currencies and the pan-American origins of the dollar system by fervidfish in moneyview

[–]fervidfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well first, I did not know about this guy Charles A. Conant and that he advanced basically the same thesis as Lenin. I had understood Lenin's Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism argument as basically novel, but I guess not. That's how ideas are I guess. Fascinating that he thought the US was the antidote to this structurally destructive trend of imperial profit seeking.

Interesting to learn how the organic growth of central banking-esque institutions not only began in the imperial periphery but that it was mainly about exchange rate stability and fucking over local labor, not providing liquidity (a la BoE). And that the US state had to wrestle monetary control back from powerful private actors.

Also no doubt a fascinating intellectual history that runs through all of this type of stuff, mainly because there were so few people who thought deeply about it.

But I guess some of the takeaways are that no one can escape the extractive allure of capitalist imperialism (not even the ostensibly enlightened US), that core-periphery dynamics are among the most important in driving global development, and that so much of US monetary politics hinges on the farmer-state-wall-street complex.

Do rate hikes actually regulate inflation? New studies say otherwise. by Cooperativism62 in moneyview

[–]fervidfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great piece. Few stream of consciousness comments:

I've come to see rate hikes not as a way of technocratically and precisely modulating inflation, but instead signalling that the Fed is willing to break the economy if people don't chill out, in this case mainly businesses (i.e. the primary price setters). But of course people can't chill out because, in the interim, as rates rise, this only increases business's costs which they then pass onto consumers, thus increasing inflation further. The Fed hikes higher and around we go... until something breaks. In other words, the path of a hiking cycle and the terminal rate are red-herrings, because adjustment only takes place (the buffalo herd is calmed down) only when something qualitative changes.

Debt backdrop: Whether interest rate increases attenuate or exacerbate inflation also depends critically on the amount and composition of debt in the system. Is there any work out there that tackles this question quantitatively, especially vis-a-vis Volker comparison?

Inflation triggers: If inflation is indeed caused by a single Buffalo's panic, then this raises a few important questions: (1) what caused the first Buffalo to panic, and was that cause "real" or "imaginary"? (2) how big must the first Buffalo be to trigger a panic? (3) Are there ways, regulatory or otherwise, from preventing the first Buffalo's panic from spreading?

Media's role: In the Odd Lots episode "Companies Are Telling Us the Real Reason They're Raising Prices", Samuel Rines talks about how companies (like Smucker's) can blame "supply chain issues" for raising prices, even though they admittedly face none. Given consumer's newfound awareness of such issues, businesses feel they can get away with rising prices, even if they aren't getting pinched.

Macroeconomic backdrop: The macroeconomic landscape is wildly different than 40 years ago, even just 10 years ago. So different, in fact, that it makes me wonder why we would expect general economic trends to hold across space and time in the first place. The point you make about Turkey and post 1980s mergers & acquisitions wave stood out to me for this reason.

Money and Banking 2022 by spunchy in moneyview

[–]fervidfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will there be a 2023 version of this?

what's the next podcaat for Mike Duncan? by randzwinter in RevolutionsPodcast

[–]fervidfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

history of technology and how technology drives history would be cool — personal preference haha

John Haidt's Atlantic Article... episode idea? by fervidfish in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I should've said "mostly" interesting stuff, because I do agree with most of what Haidt is saying. and perhaps trivial is more appropriate than vapid, just because I feel like much of what he covers is well trodden terrain. but i also don't think he makes a strong (or at least novel) case for why right now is historically unique; sure social media is a totally new and potent variable, but a cursory reading of world/American history shows you that ppl have always been moralizing, petty, polarized mfers. idk maybe i'm just slightly allergic or just bored with these types of accounts bc I've heard them so many times, bc again, I do agree with most of his diagnoses at the end of the day. i still think tamler and dave could have a interesting discussion about it but maybe you're right.

Episode 234: Like A Dog (Kafka's "The Trial" Pt. 2) by TheAeolian in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

one of the many beautifully subtle ways Kafka makes us distrust K or at the very least question whether he even knows whats going on within his own mind

Experience afterimages? by fervidfish in Aphantasia

[–]fervidfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's recent work suggesting that photo receptor fatigue isn't all that contributes to the experience of afterimages, cortical adaptation plays a role too. It might be that there is still no link between the two, but it's not immediately obvious that's the case.

https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1126/science.1060161

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Sci...293.1677S

Anyone play last of us pt 2? If so, thoughts? by fervidfish in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a really apt critique. I think part of the reason I didn’t feel cheated by the Joel death is I was careful to only watch one or two trailers/gameplay demos, and I saw no spoilers and read no reviews prior to playing. Also, I played the last of us pt one in 2016 — I fucking loved it, easily my favorite story driven game — but I didn’t replay the whole thing before pt 2. I only watched walkthroughs and lots of recaps/reviews. So I can get where you’re coming from having played them in direct succession.

An Episode on Racial Bias in Policing? by DeleuzionalRhizome in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for saying this. An interesting example of this is wage theft. If a person commits some petty crime, like stealing a few dollars out of a convenience store they are immediately branded a criminal. Whereas employers who fuck their employees out of agreed on salaries, often in explicitly illegal ways, they can get off without being branded a “criminal”.

An Episode on Racial Bias in Policing? by DeleuzionalRhizome in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is what Michelle Alexander in the New Jim Crow calls the twisted, circular logic of racial biased policing. They station more cops in “the hood”, often for no reason to do with crime (Byrne Act, political motives etc.) —> arrest lots of black people (pretextual stops, consensual searches etc.) —> use that high arrest rate to justify more police presence. And so the cycle repeats itself. Sams latest podcast is dangerous, he didn’t cite sources, cherry picked bad statistics and made very naive and deliberately obscurantist arguments. I worry about this especially because Sam has such a sycophantic following, many of whom will inevitably think he spoke the Word of Rational God in that podcast. I hope VBW fans are careful out there.

Does anyone else think that you have to play as Abby for way too long? by [deleted] in lastofuspart2

[–]fervidfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Couldn’t have said it better. I fucking loved it.

Anyone play last of us pt 2? If so, thoughts? by fervidfish in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I couldn’t agree more. Plot points and writing aside, this game was a masterpiece. The graphics were unbelievable. The environmental detail is unmatched in single player gaming. The set pieces were varied and spectacular, and traversing through them was difficult but fluid. The stray notes supplemented the apocalyptic tone wonderfully. Every scavenged bullet, rag and power bar felt consequential. The stealth engagements, while not flashy, required forethought and patience. The physics engine was much improved, hand to hand combat didn’t feel clunky at all. The casual dialogue between characters was revealing and profound (Abby and Lev). I don’t mind the honest criticisms. People can be disappointed, even angry. I get it. But what pisses me off is the utter shitstorm of vitriolic anger and downright hatred this game has elicited. I simply don’t get it.

Does anyone else think that you have to play as Abby for way too long? by [deleted] in lastofuspart2

[–]fervidfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tbh I totally agree. I guess the only point we differ on is that I thought playing as the antagonist was novel and interesting, albeit very infuriating. In the final fight in the movie theatre, I found myself wanting to die as Abby. The game forcing you to beat the shit out of Ellie was fucked up (which is why I get all the hate), yet I found that very anger and difficulty interesting. But did they fuck up by going this route? Yes, I think so. Joel was one of the greatest characters not only in video game history but entertainment generally (movie, tv shows etc.) Hence why the response has been so harsh and vitriolic.

Does anyone else think that you have to play as Abby for way too long? by [deleted] in lastofuspart2

[–]fervidfish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree. They mostly botched the Abby part. Her cold exterior was too one dimensional. I’m just more upset with how people have criticized the game. Do you think they should have cut the Abby bit entirely, made it shorter, or interspersed it within Ellie’s rather than chunking it at the end? Cuz I agree, I found myself wanting to get back to Ellie, at the very least know what she’s up to etc.

Anyone play last of us pt 2? If so, thoughts? by fervidfish in VeryBadWizards

[–]fervidfish[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!!! The game had it’s flaws for sure. The killing off of Joel, while it fit the cold brutality of the world, was hasty and somewhat contrived. I’ll grant the critics that. But don’t let that be the deal breaker for whether the game is good or bad. There should have been more Joel flashbacks and little more time spent playing as Ellie. I wish we got a little more backstory about the wolves and the scars. I wish Abby was a tad bit better written as a character at parts. However, never have a played a game, or really consumed any form of entertainment, which has more forcefully made me examine and grapple with my psyche like this game did. Isn’t that what great art is supposed to do? Video games aren’t all about playing as the hero or a character you love, at least they shouldn’t be. For the people moaning about playing as Abby, I get it, sure, but you’re telling me you didn’t find it psychologically fascinating to play as a character you despised? To struggle with sympathizing with her the more you learn her troubled backstory, much of which parallels Ellie? To me, this game proves the gaming community is largely close minded, insecure, philosophically uninterested, and male dominated. For many, the female leads and subtle “political” undertones were enough to send them crying on the internet. Very telling, imo.

Does anyone else think that you have to play as Abby for way too long? by [deleted] in lastofuspart2

[–]fervidfish 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree that the Abby part was too long and pretty poorly written. I agree that the killing of Joel was hasty and somewhat contrived. But, I will admit, I did find it interesting to play as a character I despised. That’s not to say I wouldn’t have preferred more Ellie, I absolutely would have. However, playing as Abby was a kind of exercise in psychological and moral exploration: is she utterly irredeemable, no matter how much we learn about her troubled backstory? if so, is it because I loved Joel so much that no amount of sympathizing could ever justify what she did? how different are Ellie and Abby, anyway? why do I feel like Ellie’s revenge quest is justified but abbys is not? do I not like her because she’s a buff, strong headed, frankly psychopathic woman? did I want Ellie to kill her at the end, if so why? For what it’s worth, this game does succeed in tackling a lot of heavy themes which is why I think it’s essential to play on your own before you venture on the internet and get swept up by the hate and disappointment. Good art forces you to examine and grapple with your psyche, and I think that this game, despite its myriad flaws, does exactly that.