STAMFORD, Conn., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- In a wide-ranging interview with ai5000, Nassim Taleb chided the U.S. government for "unfairly going after banks over small technicalities" when the nation is in dire need of "an overall reexamination of the banking function and how banks can be made more stable." He expressed disappointment that the government has not proposed more far-reaching structural change.

Taleb, author of the recently reissued and expanded The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, also addressed the following issues:

Wall Street Bonuses: Bonuses on Wall Street create a moral hazard, as they provide an incentive to hide risk.

Chief Investment Officers: Chief investment officers need to shed their herd mentality and understand that "caution is not a wimpy strategy but can be a very aggressive strategy."

Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs needs to decide "whether it wants to be in the risk business, free of any government support, or whether it should pursue a transaction business."

Investing in Cash: It's prudent to invest in cash, including, perhaps, inflation-linked securities and a combination of currencies and metals. "You don't need to make a penny from this money -- you just want protection against inflation."

Mr. Taleb made these remarks during an interview at the recent ai5000 Chief Investment Officer summit in New York.

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Asset International is a privately-held provider of information and technology to global pension funds, asset managers, financial advisers, banking service providers, and other financial institutions in the private and public sector. Its industry-leading brands include Strategic Insight, SIMFUND, PLANSPONSOR, PLANADVISER, Global Custodian, and The Trade. The company was acquired in January 2009 by Austin Ventures and has offices in New York, London and Stamford, CT.

SOURCE ai5000

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