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I am fascinated by the number of layers of abstractions built on top of each other in these financial products... Bankers seem to rival programmers in their abi
by oliwary 4y ago
I am fascinated by the number of layers of abstractions built on top of each other in these financial products... Bankers seem to rival programmers in their ability to stack abstractions on top of each other until it is impossible to understand how the underlying system relates to the top layer.
- pseudosavant 4y agoYou could say that MBS/CDOs were 'leaky abstractions', and that there were equivalents to 'code smells' to suggest they weren't the golden debt they masqueraded as. I can't think of other professions that develop the same level of abstractions that programmers and bankers create. Layers and layers of inputs and outputs.
- TheOtherHobbes 4y agoYou could also say they were deliberate fraud. The number of big-name banks whose actions are questionable [1] - if not actually criminal - is astonishing. [1] As reported by insider papers like the Financial Times.
- htrp 4y agoA structured products desk is basically a microservices team