Yep: I worked in finance for years, have degrees in economics...and their coverage is useful.
To name one example of many, they were saying that JP Morgan was rigging commodities markets for years. I know people not in finance who heard that ZH story (years ago now, when ZH was in their pomp): lololol, tinfoil hat...that JPM were rigging commodities markets was known in finance for literally decades, it was common knowledge (I didn't work in commodities and heard about it, JPM were just fined $1bn for it).
I think people get confused because they have trouble signal from noise, particularly from people who are obviously biased (this is a key ability in finance, almost all the information you receive is conflicted, and you have to understand human nature at a deep level i.e. understand what people lie to each other about, what they lie to themselves about, etc.). I am totally fine with biased coverage (everyone is prone to biases, it is just some people deny that to themselves/others). I don't have to believe everything they say and, compared to every other finance publication, they really do cover stuff that no-one else is covering. Yes, it is sensational and their political coverage is usually insane (tbh, it is quite funny)...but, again, that doesn't mean they are wrong about everything or add no value (btw, almost every economist I have ever met has had bizarre political views...people who work in finance usually do because being an expert in one thing does not make you an expert in all things).
In my experience, people who talk about news not being reliable also believe all kinds of insane shit that appears in the mainstream media. Believing that you are hyper rational is, in itself, not rational.
There's a problem in wireless communications called multipath. When a signal is transmitted over the air, the receiver will often not receive the original signal. Instead, it will receive a lot of reflected, refracted and distorted versions of it.
So the question is: what's the best way we can combine those signals to recreate the original?
Not going into the specifics, but it turns out that to maximize information it's often necessary to listen to trash signals (one that has a lot of noise) because those might have information that good signals do not have (as many times they will be redundant).
Totally. Curious, do you have any other news/blogs you recommend? I'm always looking for new ones. Epsilon Theory has been a new one for me, although its "pomp" as you put it didn't last long and seems to be on a politically motivated decline, as happened to Venkatesh Rao's blog
FT Alphaville. I don't keep up with this stuff as much anymore but there is a lot out there if you are willing to invest the time (just follow the right people on Twitter, read good books, etc.).
To name one example of many, they were saying that JP Morgan was rigging commodities markets for years. I know people not in finance who heard that ZH story (years ago now, when ZH was in their pomp): lololol, tinfoil hat...that JPM were rigging commodities markets was known in finance for literally decades, it was common knowledge (I didn't work in commodities and heard about it, JPM were just fined $1bn for it).
I think people get confused because they have trouble signal from noise, particularly from people who are obviously biased (this is a key ability in finance, almost all the information you receive is conflicted, and you have to understand human nature at a deep level i.e. understand what people lie to each other about, what they lie to themselves about, etc.). I am totally fine with biased coverage (everyone is prone to biases, it is just some people deny that to themselves/others). I don't have to believe everything they say and, compared to every other finance publication, they really do cover stuff that no-one else is covering. Yes, it is sensational and their political coverage is usually insane (tbh, it is quite funny)...but, again, that doesn't mean they are wrong about everything or add no value (btw, almost every economist I have ever met has had bizarre political views...people who work in finance usually do because being an expert in one thing does not make you an expert in all things).
In my experience, people who talk about news not being reliable also believe all kinds of insane shit that appears in the mainstream media. Believing that you are hyper rational is, in itself, not rational.