Authored by Robert Shiller, originally posted op-ed at The Guardian,
Speculative markets have always been vulnerable to illusion. But seeing the folly in markets provides no clear advantage in forecasting outcomes, because changes in the force of the illusion are difficult to predict.
In the US, two illusions have been important recently in financial markets.
While US stocks closed near session, and all time highs on Friday, the first green close on inauguration day in over 50 years, Monday has seen a modest case of buyer's remorse, with European stocks sliding, Asian shares mixed and U.S.
After the drama of the past few months, Julian Assange could be forgiven for wishing that the world still communicated via passenger pigeon.
Seattle-based email provider Riseup's "canary" expiration baffled the public for months and led to emotional, nonfactual accusations that Wikileaks had been "compromised" by state actors. But what is Riseup's canary and how did an anomaly related to it cause so much concern? To explain that, it is necessary to outline the legal processes that made canaries necessary, how they work in relation to the law and what a canary is exactly.
Submitted by Wayne Madsen via The Strategic Culture Foundation,
Gambian President and dictator Yahya Jammeh, facing a combined military force composed of Senegalese army troops, the Nigerian air force, and troops from Mali, Ghana, and Togo, has agreed to relinquish the presidency of Gambia. On December 1, 2016, Jammeh was defeated for re-election in a surprise upset by his little-known rival Adama Barrow. Jammeh received only 45 percent of the vote.