The Big Picture

5 Charts That Explain 2014′s Record-Smashing Heat
“I come not to praise forecasters but to bury them.”
10 Sunday Reads

5 Charts That Explain 2014′s Record-Smashing Heat

Posted: 18 Jan 2015 03:00 PM PST

“I come not to praise forecasters but to bury them.”

Posted: 18 Jan 2015 07:30 AM PST

My Sunday Washington Post Business Section column is out. This morning, we look at why It's time to market forecasters to admit the errors of their ways.

It is yet another look at the parade of really bad forecasts we get treated to constantly in the world of investing and finance.

Here’s an excerpt from the column:

“What say we finally put a fork in Prediction, Inc.?

There is a forecasting-industrial complex, and it is a blight on all that is good and true. The symbiotic relationship between the media and Wall Street drives a relentless parade of money-losing tomfoolery: Television and radio have 24 hours a day they must fill, and they do so mostly with empty-headed nonsense. Print has column inches to put out. Online media may be the worst of all, with an infinite maw that needs to be constantly filled with new and often meaningless content.

Just because the beast must be fed does not mean you must be dragon fodder. (More on this later.)”

The entire piece is worth your time to read in full, including some advice on the best way for you the home viewer to deal with this.

Source:
It's time to market forecasters to admit the errors of their ways
Barry Ritholtz
Washington Post, January 18, 2015
http://wapo.st/1yybs8z

10 Sunday Reads

Posted: 18 Jan 2015 04:00 AM PST

My Easy like Sunday morning reads:

• Shitcoin: a Modest Proposal. (Loper OS)
• I Was an Amazon Chew Toy: "The dog-friendly offices always had their doors closed, lest the dogs escape." (The Awl)
• Shiller: What Good Are Economists? (Project Syndicate)
• What's So Bad About Cheap Oil? (NYT)
• Attorney General Holder limits civil seizure process that split billions of dollars with local and state police (Washington Post)
• “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven” Recants Story, Rebukes Christian Retailers (Pulpit and Pen)
• Eaten up with guilt: Roll on February and an end to New Year's nutritional self-flagellation (FT)
• Supreme Court to Decide Marriage Rights for Gay Couples Nationwide (NY Times)
• Jolly New Jersey Governor Doesn’t Give a Shit About New Jersey (Rude Pundit) see also State Contends in Court That Christie’s 2011 Pension Reform Is Unconstitutional (NJ Spotlight)
• 5 charts that explain 2014′s record-smashing heat (Mother Jones)