31 March 2006

A Mean-Variance Society?

A Mean-Variance Society?: "Over the past decade, my forays into finance have brought me into contact with a lot of fascinating folks, most of whom are generally pretty pleasant, quantitatively gifted, and often possessed of unique insights into human nature and the world around them. All of which has made for stimulating emails and enjoyable restaurant dining.
One other thing. They are, almost to a man and to a woman, politically conservative: card-carrying Democrats are as rare on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange or the meeting rooms of a CFA Institute convention as infidels in Mecca.
It is interesting, then, that one of the most basic tools of finance offers unique insights into what makes the different species of homo politicus tick. I’m talking, of course, about mean-variance analysis—the 'shot heard round the world,' fired by Harry Markowitz in the Journal of Finance 1952."

No comments: