The Stock-Market Meltdown That Everyone Saw Coming
At least they saw it coming with the benefit of hindsight. The reality is, the explanations can’t account for what is probably a random event.
Easy to spot in advance.
Photographer: Portland Press Herald/Getty ImagesNow seems like the right time to offer an after-the-fact explanation in great detail and with complete and utter certainty of what just occurred in the markets, and why.
Hindsight bias permitting, the factors that led to this sudden and unexpected decrease in share prices are just so obvious. Simple, compelling language describing cause and effect is both comforting and reassuring. The alternative to this soothing narrative is an unimaginable world of random disconcerting events. This stands in stark contrast to how we prefer to see the world around us: orderly, predictable, subject to expert management and prediction.