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« The Bear Stearns Stock Price Mystery | Main | Interpreting a Volatile Week »

March 23, 2008

Comments

Greg Feirman

Academics are for the most part conformists who think within the prevailing zeitgeist of their field. Those who don't don't get published, promoted, etc... Academic success is more about politics then truth and that's the problem.

That's why academia is such a huge a groupthink and most of the truly good ideas come from outside of it.

Mark Gordon

When the Dot com bubble started to deflate, an investor would have profited by avoiding the technology stocks that were the subject of most investors’ attention. Asset classes such as value stocks and real estate investment trusts were largely ignored by the financial press at the time, despite their historically low valuations, and many mutual funds in those categories lost assets. These investments experienced strong gains amidst the large drops in the overall US stock market when the bubble unwound.

http://contrarianinvest.com

Richard's Hedge Funds Blog

I agree with most of this. In my experience though even the most well grounded ivy tower experts usually just aren't ever on the front lines. Their ideas could be brilliant and could probably work with some tweaks but in themselves are not marketable or cost effective.

- Richard
Richard Wilson
http://richard-wilson.blogspot.com

VennData

Everyone should read this blog, particularly this piece. American anti-intellectualism is a sad fact of life. The term 'Academic,' like the term 'Liberal' has been spun into a negative.

From the the constant portrayal of "geeky" scientists in Saturday morning cartoons to the "whatever" argument from the ignorant yet "cool." From astrology to supply-side economics, the American experiment in free expression has created some real frauds that are drags on our culture.

Your point, profit from the anti-academic strain of thought, is a wonderful riposte, like "living well is the best revenge." So be it.

RB

In my opinion, using the term "academic" is often a form of anti-elitism or intellectual class warfare.

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