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While I think you're probably right, a blanket assumption that "they're smarter therefore they know best" is why everyone was so surprised by what happened to E

While I think you're probably right, a blanket assumption that "they're smarter therefore they know best" is why everyone was so surprised by what happened to Enron. I do not think this is the case with Alphabet, just saying you shouldn't blindly trust experts. There's also the subprime mortgages issue from just over 10 years ago which is much better understood now, but at the time people didn't understand them and just assumed the experts were right.

nostromo 7y ago
And Bear Stearns, and Washington Mutual, and Deutsche Bank, and AIG, etc., etc. "It is safe to assume they know what they are doing" because they're managing a ton of money has been proven wrong over and over again.
- dahfizz 7y ago
  Nobody is claiming that money managers have omniscience. What they do certainly have is more information and expertise than a random internet commenter. They don't know everything, but it's safe to assume they know more than you.
  - TheGRS 7y ago
    Well the actual decision-making tends to be more important than just what one knows. A pile of cash seems more indicative of investment paralysis than some grander strategy. Like, "we can't figure out the best investment to make with this money, so the safest thing we can do is hoard it until we come up with a better idea".
    - dahfizz 7y ago
      Again, this is pure speculation. You have approximately 0% of the information available to the people who make these decisions, so why bother guessing? It's boring and pointless.
      - TheGRS 7y ago
        I would argue its actually kind of fun to speculate, but fair enough.
i_cant_speel 7y ago
At the end of the day look where the major banks ended up after the crisis. Mostly unchanged. They knew what they were doing. It's just that what they were doing wasn't in the public's interest.
- awad 7y ago
  Better than unchanged, even. Sure, some lost and were scooped up, but by and large the financial sector is even stronger than before with all of the consolidation that's happened.

nostromo 7y ago

And Bear Stearns, and Washington Mutual, and Deutsche Bank, and AIG, etc., etc. "It is safe to assume they know what they are doing" because they're managing a ton of money has been proven wrong over and over again.

dahfizz 7y ago
Nobody is claiming that money managers have omniscience. What they do certainly have is more information and expertise than a random internet commenter. They don't know everything, but it's safe to assume they know more than you.
- TheGRS 7y ago
  Well the actual decision-making tends to be more important than just what one knows. A pile of cash seems more indicative of investment paralysis than some grander strategy. Like, "we can't figure out the best investment to make with this money, so the safest thing we can do is hoard it until we come up with a better idea".
  - dahfizz 7y ago
    Again, this is pure speculation. You have approximately 0% of the information available to the people who make these decisions, so why bother guessing? It's boring and pointless.
    - TheGRS 7y ago
      I would argue its actually kind of fun to speculate, but fair enough.

i_cant_speel 7y ago

At the end of the day look where the major banks ended up after the crisis. Mostly unchanged. They knew what they were doing. It's just that what they were doing wasn't in the public's interest.

awad 7y ago
Better than unchanged, even. Sure, some lost and were scooped up, but by and large the financial sector is even stronger than before with all of the consolidation that's happened.