We humans, as author, mathematician and former options trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb observes, “lack imagination to the point of not even knowing what tomorrow’s important things will look like.”
That is unless we’re talking about Asia’s view of the battle underway on Capitol Hill over the US deficit.
Taleb, famous for his 2007 bestseller “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable”, argues this threat is hiding in plain sight. The “white swan” about which Taleb warns is a “spiral” as the US debt tops US$34 trillion and lawmakers gamble with Washington’s last AAA credit rating.
In November, Moody’s Investors Service warned it might yank away America’s only remaining top rating. That followed three months after Fitch Ratings downgraded the US to AA+ as Republicans and Democrats brawled over funding the government.
“The risk is right in front of us,” Taleb told an investment…
