US Still in Worse Shape than Europe - Taleb
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Nassim Taleb, the author of the popular investment book, "The Black Swan", isn’t afraid of Europe, he is afraid of the US and the unchecked level of government debt.
"Of course Europe has its problems, but it's in much better shape than the United States," said Taleb, speaking at the Alternative Investment Management Association event in Montreal yesterday.
"We have zero interest rates," Taleb said. "If interest rates go up in the United States, you can imagine what the deficit would be. Europe is like someone who is ill but is conscious of it. In the United States we are ill but we don't know it - we don’t talk about it."
Taleb's statements come as yields on the 10-year US treasure bond hit record lows today, breaking below 1.7 percent intra-day. Today's fresh low is tied to new headlines coming from Europe, as the crisis in Greece appears to be spreading.
Taleb isn't concerned. He thinks a breakup of the Euro isn't a big deal. "When they break it up, there will be a lot of fun currencies," he said.
"The best thing Europe ever did is managing to have members bickering with each other, so you don't have the big government. Centralized government doesn't work. In Europe they tried to have a powerful Brussels, but what happens when you have a powerful Brussels? You have lobbies hijacking Brussels."
(NYSE: VGK), Vanguard European ETF, which invests in Equities in Europe, is down over 2 percent today. SPY, an S&P 500 ETF, tracks equities in the US. It is also lower today.
"Of course Europe has its problems, but it's in much better shape than the United States," said Taleb, speaking at the Alternative Investment Management Association event in Montreal yesterday.
"We have zero interest rates," Taleb said. "If interest rates go up in the United States, you can imagine what the deficit would be. Europe is like someone who is ill but is conscious of it. In the United States we are ill but we don't know it - we don’t talk about it."
Taleb's statements come as yields on the 10-year US treasure bond hit record lows today, breaking below 1.7 percent intra-day. Today's fresh low is tied to new headlines coming from Europe, as the crisis in Greece appears to be spreading.
Taleb isn't concerned. He thinks a breakup of the Euro isn't a big deal. "When they break it up, there will be a lot of fun currencies," he said.
"The best thing Europe ever did is managing to have members bickering with each other, so you don't have the big government. Centralized government doesn't work. In Europe they tried to have a powerful Brussels, but what happens when you have a powerful Brussels? You have lobbies hijacking Brussels."
(NYSE: VGK), Vanguard European ETF, which invests in Equities in Europe, is down over 2 percent today. SPY, an S&P 500 ETF, tracks equities in the US. It is also lower today.
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