Readit News logoReadit News
fddhjjj commented on Theory X and Theory Y management   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The... · Posted by u/bdg
fddhjjj · 2 years ago
Douglas McGregor, the creator of these theories, had an interesting biography.

> He chose instead to pursue a psychology degree at what is now Wayne State University in Detroit. After two years, he married, dropped out of college, and worked as a gas station attendant in Buffalo, New York. By 1930 he had risen to the rank of regional gas station manager.

> McGregor decided to resume his studies while also working part-time. He completed a B.A. in 1932 from Wayne State University.

> Soon after graduation, he entered Harvard University where he studied for three years, earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology.

fddhjjj commented on Crypto trading firm Alameda Research might be insolvent   dirtybubblemedia.substack... · Posted by u/janmo
deetsb · 3 years ago
I'd argue balance sheet insolvency is really the most colloquial definition insolvency. You can always sell assets (at a haircut of course) to evade cash flow insolvency (arguably that's closer to illiquidity really), but you can't do anything to get out of balance sheet insolvency except restructure your liabilities.

Alameda being in balance sheet insolvency would depend on their assets taking enough of a hit to wipe out the equity buffer.

To Doug's point the junk tokens are likely at book value on their balance sheet

fddhjjj · 3 years ago
> To Doug's point the junk tokens are likely at book value on their balance sheet

The linked article in turn links to coin desk which writes

>> Also, token values may be low. In a footnote, Alameda says “locked tokens conservatively treated at 50% of fair value marked to FTX/USD order book.”

That suggests to me the unlocked coins are on the balance sheet at market value and the locked at a 50% haircut.

fddhjjj commented on California man fined for selling maps of property boundaries without a license   vice.com/en/article/v7vyj... · Posted by u/hampelm
tacostakohashi · 3 years ago
> they aren't accepting legal liability and are just a convenience over doing it yourself

This is not a thing when it comes to regulated professional services. A provider doesn't get to choose whether they "accept" liability, or be "just a convenience".

fddhjjj · 3 years ago
Why not?

Deleted Comment

fddhjjj commented on Temporary pause of Bitcoin withdrawals on Binance   twitter.com/cz_binance/st... · Posted by u/tosh
RC_ITR · 3 years ago
My definition: Financial engineering is the quantitative isolation and amplification of financial risk/reward, usually through leveraged/synthetic derivative products. There's no perfect source, but you can see similar definitions here [0] [1] [2]

To give you a crypto example of this, Aave is financial engineering, because it allows users to make a bet that they can execute high-volume short-duration trades that yield more than Aave lending fees.

In terms of what is financial services, my definition is: Any action taken that allows capital holders to better deploy their capital into the real (read: goods and services) economy. Again, no prefect source, but [3] [4] [5]

Again the key nuance here is financial services primarily focus on supporting the real economy, while financial engineering is primarily focused on risk/reward

And to be frank, I would absolutely love it if cryptocurrencies supported the real economy in literally any way shape or form. I would get "BTC4Life" tattooed on my forehead, I would dedicate my life to working for the innovators in the space, but unless you've got some secret, I don't think you can give me an example of literally anything cryptocurrency does to support the real economy that a centralized solution couldn't also do.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_engineering

[1] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financialengineering.as....

[2] https://www.iaqf.org/what-is-financial-engineering

[3] https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2011/03/basics.ht...

[4] https://www.cisa.gov/financial-services-sector

[5] https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/uscode.php?width=840...

fddhjjj · 3 years ago
Strong parallels between your definition with “isolation” and that offered by freemint in terms of decomposition into elements.

The nuance makes sense on its face. Although I don’t trust my own judgement of what impacts the real economy and what is just shuffling of decomposed elements of risk and reward.

fddhjjj commented on Temporary pause of Bitcoin withdrawals on Binance   twitter.com/cz_binance/st... · Posted by u/tosh
freemint · 3 years ago
The first Master of Financial Engineering degree programs were set up in the early 1990s. The earliest financial engineers (under a different name) might have started around in the late 1970s. [Wikipedia - Financial engineering]

Mortgages were invented way earlier. ATMs are an earlier invention. If you use todays categories they would have been invented by automation engineers.

While index funds are a financial product they were invented before financial engineering became a thing. Financial engineers are not needed to run index funds. They are employed to out perform them.

"Financial engineering plays a key role in the customer-driven derivatives business — delivering bespoke OTC-contracts and "exotics", and implementing various structured products — which encompasses quantitative modelling, quantitative programming and risk managing financial products in compliance with the regulations and Basel capital/liquidity requirements."

And i am not alone with my distain.

"The financial innovation often associated with financial engineers was mocked by former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker in 2009 when he said it was a code word for risky securities, that brought no benefits to society. For most people, he said, the advent of the ATM was more crucial than any asset-backed bond."

As for definition of financial engineering, i takes those from http://www.wirtschaftslexikon24.com/d/financial-engineering-...

The term financial engineering is also used insofar as it is about the use of innovative financing and risk hedging instruments. In this sense, financial securities are first broken down into their basic elements, e.g. interest, repayment, currency, maturity, security, additional rights (»stripping«) in order to be able to evaluate them (individually) better. Based on this, new, optimal financial titles are created during »Replicating«, in which the modules are optimally combined according to the respective financing case.

The concept of financial engineering can be seen in summary as the design, development and implementation of innovative financial instruments and processes as well as the realization of creative, tailor-made solutions for investors and buyers

fddhjjj · 3 years ago
Super interesting and over my head but to oversimplif: automation and old financial “tools” (mortgages, index funds) good but (excessively?) “innovative financial instruments” is a bridge too far.

Still hard for people not deep in it — me — to see clearly that crypto doesn’t contain the seeds of a better index fund or a cheaper mortgage.

fddhjjj commented on Temporary pause of Bitcoin withdrawals on Binance   twitter.com/cz_binance/st... · Posted by u/tosh
RC_ITR · 3 years ago
You did not cite 3 examples of "financial engineering," you cited examples of "financial services."

If crypto made it meaningfully easier to borrow capital to invest in utility assets, then I'd :heart: it too. (Mortgages)

If crypto made it meaningfully easier to own equity capital in assets priced by utility, then I'd :heart: it too. (ETFS)

If crypto made it meaningfully easier to transact for utility goods/services with my capital, then I'd :heart: it too (ATMS)

Crypto dos none of these things.

What it does do, is it allows me to arb trade against misinformed retail liquidity providers who foolishly put their capital into DEX's.

fddhjjj · 3 years ago
Can you provide a decision rule that distinguishes financial services from financial engineering?

I do not feel as confident as you seem that the group of things called “crypto” will not be useful for financial services.

fddhjjj commented on Temporary pause of Bitcoin withdrawals on Binance   twitter.com/cz_binance/st... · Posted by u/tosh
freemint · 3 years ago
> Why is financial engineering inherently universally without qualification bad?

Yeah because it takes up engineering time and produces no tangible good but to widen inequality.

fddhjjj · 3 years ago
I cited three examples of financial engineering. Just to be clear you oppose mortgages, index funds, and ATM machines?

I agree all of these or at least mortgages and index funds probably increase inequality especially given uneven access. As far as tangible goods — home ownership, retirement savings, and less time spent waiting at the bank.

fddhjjj commented on Temporary pause of Bitcoin withdrawals on Binance   twitter.com/cz_binance/st... · Posted by u/tosh
RC_ITR · 3 years ago
To do what? (Other than enable financial engineering)
fddhjjj · 3 years ago
Why would programmable money be useful for anything beyond financial engineering. It’s literally engineering + finance.

Why is financial engineering inherently universally without qualification bad? I have a mortgage, an index fund, and an ATM card. I :heart: financial engineering.

fddhjjj commented on How This Ends   avc.com/2022/05/how-this-... · Posted by u/imartin2k
jqgatsby · 3 years ago
your point cannot be overstated. my biggest fears around the pandemic shutdowns came from my own experience managing production systems, and I think our policymakers were frighteningly naive as to what it meant to shut down the economy. and here we are.
fddhjjj · 3 years ago
Is your sense that the pandemic shutdowns have left us with supply issues?

It seems to me the economy is delivering all it ever did and more.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCES

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCEDG

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCEC96

u/fddhjjj

KarmaCake day45March 13, 2021View Original