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I have to say, the first time I read about Renaissance I felt sadness at the thought that this much ability and such resources were put into essentially making
by leto_ii 7y ago
I have to say, the first time I read about Renaissance I felt sadness at the thought that this much ability and such resources were put into essentially making money out of thin air, with very limited (if any) social benefits.
I can't escape the feeling that the world would be a better place if maths and physics phd's would get to live a good life doing maths and physics, rather than being lured into quant finance.
- kasey_junk 7y agoHow do you feel about them working on nuclear bombs & working for the NSA? Cause for many years that was the standard way to live tr good life.
- dredmorbius 7y agoThat is not the only possible alternative employment, though many would sugest it's both an accurate statement regards the past, and an undesirable alternative. False dichotomy, regardless.
- Barrin92 7y agoworking on nuclear or military technology is double-edged as it is serves both national security interests and advances technological knowledge. Rentech is an absolute technology black box that will both take its money and knowledge into its grave with virtually no productive outcome for society at large. The NSA and US nuclear science at least drives innovation.
- ipsa 7y agoThe US economy (to which RenTech contributes with profits made on foreign markets) is a national security interest. Working to be very rich and then donating a large chunk of money to promote science - and maths education, also advances technological knowledge. Those depricated CRUD apps I wrote a few years back served neither. We'd all like our opponent Poker players to play with their cards open, but if they did, they'd never win. Have to accept that you don't get to see the cards of winning players (which includes military technology until declassified). I find this "Financial trading does not do any good for society" to be rather simplistic, romantic, and envious. The carpenter who turns wood into a chair is said to be producing value, but the investor who turned uncertainty into a profitable hardwood trade is not.
- Barrin92 7y agotrading is largely a zero sum game. Companies like rentech earn money through speculation. If a craftsman makes a chair you have a char in the economy. If renetch extracts a few billion by betting on the stock market someone else has lost a few billion. The only hypothetical benefit is some liquidity but that is pretty meaningless in today's economy and there's even some evidence that high-frequency trading has negative net effects on volatility. So no this has nothing to do with envy or romanticism. It's just a bad idea to have people with PhDs who could be changing the world play zero-sum gambling games on the stock market. These guys could be reinventing physics or bring us to mars. That's what makes people criticize these activities. And as far as charity is concerned. Yes, Simon has done a lot of good. However, the other famous rentech guy is Robert mercer, and he is in the business of funding climate denialism. So whether you get a good philanthropist or a bad one is pure luck and has nothing to with the discussion on financial speculation.
- strangedynamics 7y agoPretty sure the zero sum game trope is overplayed/inaccurate.
- leto_ii 7y agoAbout as bad. Although, as has been pointed out, military research can have benign applications as well.