Quote of the Day (Gillian Tett, on Investors and ‘Once-Unimaginable Disasters’)

“Investors need to get better at imagining — and pricing — once-unimaginable disasters. This is hard. No business school teaches students how to model something like a presidential threat to wipe out a civilisation. And the success of the recent TACO trade will undoubtedly make many even more reluctant to do this. But the grim reality is that even if a ceasefire holds in Iran—a big ‘if’—peace looks elusive.”—British columnist and editor Gillian Tett, “Finance: Six Lessons for Investors on Pricing Disaster,” The Financial Times, Apr. 11-12, 2025

Quote of the Day (Gillian Tett, on Quantum Computing and Looming ‘Encryptogeddon’)

“Quantum computing [the use of quantum mechanics to run multi-processing calculations] is still nascent to be sure. But one message from the WEF [World Economic Forum] discussion was crystal clear: when quantum computing takes off, it will be able to break current encryption systems. Yes, you read that right. Our bank accounts, emails and other transactions will be vulnerable to hackers. So will digital assets, such as bitcoin, since most blockchains rely on similar encryption techniques.”—British columnist and editor Gillian Tett, “Notebook: Encryptogeddon Is Coming for Us All,” The Financial Times, June 4-5, 2022

Hmmm…hacks…you mean it can get worse than it is already?

Great. Just what we need…