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He's hilarious and has a column in the same style every day! Subscribe and enjoy life a little more every morning: http://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/join

by nlh 7y ago

He's hilarious and has a column in the same style every day! Subscribe and enjoy life a little more every morning: http://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/join/4wm/moneystuff-signup&hash=54223001ca3ffcf40f2629c25acea67a http://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/join/4wm/moneystuff-s... (no affiliation, just a Matt Levine fan)

Bartweiss 7y ago
Levine's article "Arbitrage Discovered" might be my all-time favorite econ essay. It's about an investment product that let you trade on past stock prices in the present. Levine is usually pretty calm and wonkish, but this arrangement was so breathtakingly self-destructive that he spends the piece writing things like "It's not actually an arbitrage. EXCEPT NO HOLY GOD IT IS THIS IS AMAZING." https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-02-27/arbitrage-discovered https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-02-27/arbitr...
- santoshalper 7y ago
  Great article. Thank you!
- StavrosK 7y ago
  That is quite entertaining and borderline incredible, thank you.
- IgorPartola 7y ago
  Did this ever get resolved? Does George own the company already?
  - kwelstr 7y ago
    According to the Wikipedia entry he won in court but they are still in court to collect money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max-Herv%C3%A9_George https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max-Herv%C3%A9_George >>By 2015, up to 50 court decisions had been rendered against Aviva France. In September 2014, the French Supreme court, the Cour de Cassation, ruled in favor of the George family, determining that the life insurance contracts, as drafted with the "known price" clause, are legally binding under French law.[18] Nevertheless, George is still in court against Aviva, having won on the principle of the legality of the contracts, he now needs to have his prejudice recognized and valued in a second ongoing battle.<<
  - zifnab06 7y ago
    It appears he won the court case stating the contract is legal under French last, and now has to fight another one to make them honor it. Courts aren't fast.
mbesto 7y ago
Hear hear! If you're a techie and want to understand the financial world (particularly big VC and public equities), I highly recommend reading him daily. He breaks super complex things and makes them very easy to read...and SUPER entertaining.
- Bartweiss 7y ago
  Levine is fantastic. It feels like finance writing is usually split between content for the general public (understandable, but often vitriolic and devoid of context) and writing for finance types (jargon-filled and usually devoid of ethical considerations). Levine straddles the line beautifully; he uses lay terms to explain the realities of financial instruments, not just silly metaphors, and looks at what should exist in the context of modern finance rather than gut instinct.

by nlh 7y ago

Bartweiss 7y ago

Levine's article "Arbitrage Discovered" might be my all-time favorite econ essay. It's about an investment product that let you trade on past stock prices in the present. Levine is usually pretty calm and wonkish, but this arrangement was so breathtakingly self-destructive that he spends the piece writing things like "It's not actually an arbitrage. EXCEPT NO HOLY GOD IT IS THIS IS AMAZING." https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-02-27/arbitrage-discovered https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-02-27/arbitr...

santoshalper 7y ago
Great article. Thank you!
StavrosK 7y ago
That is quite entertaining and borderline incredible, thank you.
IgorPartola 7y ago
Did this ever get resolved? Does George own the company already?
- kwelstr 7y ago
  According to the Wikipedia entry he won in court but they are still in court to collect money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max-Herv%C3%A9_George https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max-Herv%C3%A9_George >>By 2015, up to 50 court decisions had been rendered against Aviva France. In September 2014, the French Supreme court, the Cour de Cassation, ruled in favor of the George family, determining that the life insurance contracts, as drafted with the "known price" clause, are legally binding under French law.[18] Nevertheless, George is still in court against Aviva, having won on the principle of the legality of the contracts, he now needs to have his prejudice recognized and valued in a second ongoing battle.<<
- zifnab06 7y ago
  It appears he won the court case stating the contract is legal under French last, and now has to fight another one to make them honor it. Courts aren't fast.

mbesto 7y ago

Hear hear! If you're a techie and want to understand the financial world (particularly big VC and public equities), I highly recommend reading him daily. He breaks super complex things and makes them very easy to read...and SUPER entertaining.

Bartweiss 7y ago
Levine is fantastic. It feels like finance writing is usually split between content for the general public (understandable, but often vitriolic and devoid of context) and writing for finance types (jargon-filled and usually devoid of ethical considerations). Levine straddles the line beautifully; he uses lay terms to explain the realities of financial instruments, not just silly metaphors, and looks at what should exist in the context of modern finance rather than gut instinct.