Apropos this is a Time article I just read about risk. An excerpt:

‘On the other hand, says Peter Morici, a professor of international business at the University of Maryland, finance concentrators — that is, the students who are specially trained to grasp the models — are so steeped in the particulars that they don’t always see the forest for the trees. They get the math, but they don’t pay attention to systemic issues within the broader economy; it’s a by-product of degree programs that encourage students to take a narrow focus too early on in their studies. “In medicine you become a doctor first, and then you become a specialist,” Morici says. “In finance, you just become a specialist.” ‘
and
‘Morici says that Wall Street’s compensation structure rewards risky business, and that’s at the heart of the problem. “Until the banks are compelled to reform their business practices, training and risk management and ethics at the business-school level isn’t going to make a difference,” he says. “The business schools train what the banks want.” ‘

I guess this fits the ‘there are the ethically challenged everywhere’ truism.

Compelled is not what some want….

You know after Merck business types blew the chance to release the Vioxx heart data on their terms, confine use to those at low risk and make only couple hundred million yearly on it vs billion or so they paid extra to those buffoons to keep them around during the crisis to have ’seasoned’ people to manage the business in crisis. And at the board’s request. (Not so much to bring up the medical controversy on Vioxx and its competitors but it is no more dangerous than some NSAIDS yet out there including toradol,indomethacin and likely ibuprofen) I can provide data.

It is no wonder that we are in this mess…
NL