The Business Pursuit

Introverts, in contrast, may have strong social skills and enjoy parties and business meetings, but after a while wish they were home in their pajamas. They prefer to devote their social energies to close friends, colleagues, and family. They listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation. They tend to dislike conflict. Many have a horror of small talk, but enjoy deep discussions.

—Susan Cain, “Quiet” (via ikenbot)

(Source: accountedfor, via marvinthemindreader)

Banks, by the magic of derivatives, transform a thing that doesn’t work under the law — “betting” — into something that does work — “hedging” or “speculating” or whatever.

Derivatives let you shift economic outcomes, yes, but they’re equally important for shifting outcomes of legal and regulatory regimes – like, just to start with, the gambling laws. Derivatives are tools for hacking the tax code, or the securities laws, or U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. This is called “regulatory arbitrage.”

Economically, buying a swap is about the same as buying a stock, but formally they are different, and those formalities matter to some people. For instance: tax lawyers.