Gladwell Outdoes Himself, Proves That Bankers Are Cocky

by Zeke Turner | 11:34 am, July 20th, 2009

cayne Perennially insightful Malcolm Gladwell outdoes himself in this week’s New Yorker, positing that overconfidence might have played a role in the collapse of Bear Stearns and, on a larger scale, the Wall Street meltdown. I repeat: Malcolm says the bankers were too cocky.

No really.

“[O]ne of the things that happen to us when we become overconfident is that we start to blur the line between the kinds of things that we can control and the kinds of things that we can’t.”

And if you won’t take Malcolm’s word on this whole overconfidence bit, he’s got a whole load of well-told examples — from Gallipoli to bridge to … On second thought, forget the examples; these things aren’t so fun when you think too hard about them.

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Bear Stearns, Cocksure, Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker

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The Comically Poor Taste Of Rielle Hunter’s Racy Pictures

by Tommy Christopher | 3:44 pm, Tuesday

The pictures are, in fact, kind of sexy. There, I said it. Rielle Hunter, the woman behind the man who might give the National Enquirer its first Pulitzer, has finally come out of her shell. In a big way. Her interview with GQ is all over the place (in more ways than one), but it's the accompanying photo spread that's getting all the attention. The revealing shots have drawn near-universal condemnation (even from Hunter) for their odd mixture of stuffed animals and a seemingly fresh-from-sexytime Hunter. I'm here to tell Rielle not to be so hard on herself.

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2010 ASME Nominations Sport A New Category: Magazine Of The Year

by Colby Hall | 10:45 am, Tuesday

The American Society of Magazine Editors announced nominations for their annual National Magazine Awards last week, and for the first time included a brand new category: Magazine of the year. The official press release from the Magazine Publishers of America, defines the new award as, "honor(ing) publications that successfully use both print and digital media in fulfilling the editorial mission of the magazine." Let's take a look at the first time honorees: The Atlantic; Fast Company; Glamour; Men’s Health; and New York.

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