Michael Thompson
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198295099
- eISBN:
- 9780191599262
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829509X.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Argues that excessive concern with environmental security at the national level obfuscates necessary attention to the plurality of environmental security concerns at the micro‐level at which ...
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Argues that excessive concern with environmental security at the national level obfuscates necessary attention to the plurality of environmental security concerns at the micro‐level at which Hobbesian competition is actually conducted. An environmental policy framework that reduces plurality will merely serve to destroy the network of trust and cooperation that needs to operate at the micro‐level, and upon which macro‐level security architectures are ultimately based. To avoid this, it is necessary to devise an anti‐reductionist approach based on two objectives: first, to dismantle the ‘realist’ model of international relations (and of security generally) that focuses on states as unitary actors in sole occupation of the policy stage; second, to introduce a more comprehensive concept of security as a spectrum of interlocking entities, from the macro‐ to the micro‐level, each requiring the development and consolidation of trust relationships. Taken together, these objectives imply that environmental security be considered as a mainstream component of a stable international order and not as a mere sideshow. The chapter concludes with an analysis of four behavioural styles, which form a key cultural aspect of the micro‐level dimension of anti‐reductionism–hierarchist, individualist, egalitarian, and fatalist. Each of these implies a different approach to self‐organization, a different sort of social solidarity, and a different set of expectations from environmental security.Less
Argues that excessive concern with environmental security at the national level obfuscates necessary attention to the plurality of environmental security concerns at the micro‐level at which Hobbesian competition is actually conducted. An environmental policy framework that reduces plurality will merely serve to destroy the network of trust and cooperation that needs to operate at the micro‐level, and upon which macro‐level security architectures are ultimately based. To avoid this, it is necessary to devise an anti‐reductionist approach based on two objectives: first, to dismantle the ‘realist’ model of international relations (and of security generally) that focuses on states as unitary actors in sole occupation of the policy stage; second, to introduce a more comprehensive concept of security as a spectrum of interlocking entities, from the macro‐ to the micro‐level, each requiring the development and consolidation of trust relationships. Taken together, these objectives imply that environmental security be considered as a mainstream component of a stable international order and not as a mere sideshow. The chapter concludes with an analysis of four behavioural styles, which form a key cultural aspect of the micro‐level dimension of anti‐reductionism–hierarchist, individualist, egalitarian, and fatalist. Each of these implies a different approach to self‐organization, a different sort of social solidarity, and a different set of expectations from environmental security.
Hendrik S. Houthakker and Peter J. Williamson
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195044072
- eISBN:
- 9780199832958
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019504407X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
In Ch. 5, it was stated that security analysis is consistent with market efficiency because it interprets the news that reaches the market from firms and other sources. This chapter discusses in more ...
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In Ch. 5, it was stated that security analysis is consistent with market efficiency because it interprets the news that reaches the market from firms and other sources. This chapter discusses in more detail how this interpretation is accomplished, drawing mostly on three sources: the economics of industrial organization, data on industry growth, and accounting; most of the examples are from the USA. It begins by examining the implications of market efficiency for the possible returns to be gained from security analysis, and explaining how to analyze the intrinsic value of a corporate equity by taking into account the responsiveness of the company's performance to economic growth, the structure of its industry, and its sources of competitive advantage. It also explains the insights to be gained by proper analysis of a company's financial statements. Finally, it assesses the uses and pitfalls of various shortcuts to security valuation, including the uses of price earnings ratios and Tobin's q ratio.Less
In Ch. 5, it was stated that security analysis is consistent with market efficiency because it interprets the news that reaches the market from firms and other sources. This chapter discusses in more detail how this interpretation is accomplished, drawing mostly on three sources: the economics of industrial organization, data on industry growth, and accounting; most of the examples are from the USA. It begins by examining the implications of market efficiency for the possible returns to be gained from security analysis, and explaining how to analyze the intrinsic value of a corporate equity by taking into account the responsiveness of the company's performance to economic growth, the structure of its industry, and its sources of competitive advantage. It also explains the insights to be gained by proper analysis of a company's financial statements. Finally, it assesses the uses and pitfalls of various shortcuts to security valuation, including the uses of price earnings ratios and Tobin's q ratio.
Hendrik S. Houthakker and Peter J. Williamson
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195044072
- eISBN:
- 9780199832958
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019504407X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This book puts economics to work on the daily problems faced by investors, traders, speculators, and brokers as they wrestle with increasingly diverse and complex financial markets. Drawing mainly on ...
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This book puts economics to work on the daily problems faced by investors, traders, speculators, and brokers as they wrestle with increasingly diverse and complex financial markets. Drawing mainly on data direct from the financial behavior of households, corporations, and governments in the USA, the authors show how accessible but rigorous economics can help in making sense of the financial markets (including those in equities, bonds, mutual funds, options, and futures) and of the ways in which these markets are organized. The authors contend that many of the approaches that might seem random or counter‐intuitive at first sight are in fact rational and often predictable responses to events – but they also find that real markets stray from the rational economic path – financial markets make mistakes, and inefficiencies do exist. When they do, unique profit opportunities arise that the authors demonstrate throughout the book. The book differs from many works on financial markets in that it provides a systematic framework for analyzing the impact of events on security prices and trading volumes; explains how the value of a firm's assets and dividend flow will influence the prices of its securities; provides the tools to identify and manage different types of risk; discusses what protection investors can expect from financial market regulators and what happens when a clique tries to squeeze or corner a market; includes a detailed treatment of futures and their role at the core of today's financial markets, and explains why they should be of concern to more and more investors and traders; shows how to use modern corporate strategy tools in security analysis; and shows how to discover inefficiencies in financial markets and profit from them. By bringing together information on the institutional details of financial markets with the concepts and tools of economic theory, the book will be of value to practitioners and students of financial markets alike.Less
This book puts economics to work on the daily problems faced by investors, traders, speculators, and brokers as they wrestle with increasingly diverse and complex financial markets. Drawing mainly on data direct from the financial behavior of households, corporations, and governments in the USA, the authors show how accessible but rigorous economics can help in making sense of the financial markets (including those in equities, bonds, mutual funds, options, and futures) and of the ways in which these markets are organized. The authors contend that many of the approaches that might seem random or counter‐intuitive at first sight are in fact rational and often predictable responses to events – but they also find that real markets stray from the rational economic path – financial markets make mistakes, and inefficiencies do exist. When they do, unique profit opportunities arise that the authors demonstrate throughout the book. The book differs from many works on financial markets in that it provides a systematic framework for analyzing the impact of events on security prices and trading volumes; explains how the value of a firm's assets and dividend flow will influence the prices of its securities; provides the tools to identify and manage different types of risk; discusses what protection investors can expect from financial market regulators and what happens when a clique tries to squeeze or corner a market; includes a detailed treatment of futures and their role at the core of today's financial markets, and explains why they should be of concern to more and more investors and traders; shows how to use modern corporate strategy tools in security analysis; and shows how to discover inefficiencies in financial markets and profit from them. By bringing together information on the institutional details of financial markets with the concepts and tools of economic theory, the book will be of value to practitioners and students of financial markets alike.
Raphael Sagarin and Jennifer Hyndman (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520253476
- eISBN:
- 9780520934313
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520253476.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Arms races among invertebrates, intelligence gathering by the immune system, and alarm calls by marmots are but a few of nature's security strategies that have been tested and modified over billions ...
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Arms races among invertebrates, intelligence gathering by the immune system, and alarm calls by marmots are but a few of nature's security strategies that have been tested and modified over billions of years. This book applies lessons from nature to our own toughest security problems—from global terrorism to the rise of infectious disease to natural disasters. The text considers how models and ideas from evolutionary biology can improve national security strategies ranging from risk assessment, security analysis, and public policy to long-term strategic goals.Less
Arms races among invertebrates, intelligence gathering by the immune system, and alarm calls by marmots are but a few of nature's security strategies that have been tested and modified over billions of years. This book applies lessons from nature to our own toughest security problems—from global terrorism to the rise of infectious disease to natural disasters. The text considers how models and ideas from evolutionary biology can improve national security strategies ranging from risk assessment, security analysis, and public policy to long-term strategic goals.
John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- February 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199795758
- eISBN:
- 9780190252571
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199795758.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
A major problem in homeland security analysis is the tendency to take a selective approach to risk assessment, focusing almost exclusively on imagining hazard scenarios (often rather extreme ones) ...
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A major problem in homeland security analysis is the tendency to take a selective approach to risk assessment, focusing almost exclusively on imagining hazard scenarios (often rather extreme ones) and then analyzing the prospective consequences. Several of the steps that are crucial for risk assessment to have any real credibility are often neglected. There is also a tendency to neglect costs and to engage in conceptual clutter. This chapter sets out a basic approach to risk analysis, one that seeks to apply processes and procedures that have been standard for decades. In the process, it assesses the phenomena of probability neglect and cost neglect, of obsessive worst-case thinking, and of extreme risk aversion so often found in public and official discussions of the terrorism issue.Less
A major problem in homeland security analysis is the tendency to take a selective approach to risk assessment, focusing almost exclusively on imagining hazard scenarios (often rather extreme ones) and then analyzing the prospective consequences. Several of the steps that are crucial for risk assessment to have any real credibility are often neglected. There is also a tendency to neglect costs and to engage in conceptual clutter. This chapter sets out a basic approach to risk analysis, one that seeks to apply processes and procedures that have been standard for decades. In the process, it assesses the phenomena of probability neglect and cost neglect, of obsessive worst-case thinking, and of extreme risk aversion so often found in public and official discussions of the terrorism issue.
Stefan Leins
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226523392
- eISBN:
- 9780226523569
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226523569.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter deals with the financial analysts’ assumption that companies have a so-called intrinsic value that can be identified and is partly reflected in the stock price. It highlights the role ...
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This chapter deals with the financial analysts’ assumption that companies have a so-called intrinsic value that can be identified and is partly reflected in the stock price. It highlights the role the search for new information plays in the endeavor to define such intrinsic value. In explaining how analysts frame, select, and weight information, it shows that, rather than being a straightforward activity, financial analysis is heavily influenced by what analysts perceive to be valuable information.Less
This chapter deals with the financial analysts’ assumption that companies have a so-called intrinsic value that can be identified and is partly reflected in the stock price. It highlights the role the search for new information plays in the endeavor to define such intrinsic value. In explaining how analysts frame, select, and weight information, it shows that, rather than being a straightforward activity, financial analysis is heavily influenced by what analysts perceive to be valuable information.
