Word: thingness
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...wiped out. In its CDS contracts, though, AIG wrote multiple insurance policies covering the same underlying package of increasingly toxic assets. In essence, it was underwriting systemic risk. This is the opposite of what insurance companies are supposed to do: diversify risk across the universe of policyholders. "One thing about the insurance model: it relies on diversification as its means to exist," says a top exec at an AIG competitor. "If an insurance company plays in a field where they underwrite systemic risk, that's a totally different experience." Is it ever. Insurance companies can handle catastrophic risk...
...Obama Administration will need perhaps $750 billion in new funding merely to stabilize U.S. banks, which it hopes will be enough to ease the credit markets, stimulate lending and get the economy moving again. There's no telling what kind of political wrangling will happen over that, but one thing seems certain: if you are an executive of a bank that gets federal money, it wouldn't be a smart idea to count on a bonus...
...Gilbert suggests his research could have some revolutionary implications for the way people behave. For one thing, the next time you sit down at a new restaurant, you might be better off abandoning the menu and instead asking a fellow diner, "What's good here?" Or you might even consider asking friends, family or the village elders whether your partner is marriage material or not. "Most Westeners would reject the notion outright that someone else would pick your marital partner more accurately than you can. It's not clear to me that's true," Gilbert says, conceding that...
...least aren't perceived to be wasting money. During the recession, "a lot of activities will be linked to how companies can do business differently rather than just philanthropic giving," says Penny Fowler, who heads Oxfam's private-sector-advocacy team. "And that could be a good thing...
...from reels of film to data feeds. Theaters have been slow to do it, citing the expense and security. Disney chairman Dick Cook is credited with breaking the initial logjam with Chicken Little in 2005. About 75 theaters converted to digital to show the film, and a surprising thing happened: 3-D theaters reported three to four times the box-office gross as those that showed the 2-D version. (All 3-D movies can easily be stepped down to 2-D and are typically shown in both forms.) That was the jump start digital 3-D needed. Katzenberg predicts...