Red-Blooded Risk: The Secret History of Wall Street

A Short Digression into Politics and Religion

I don't think my political or religious beliefs have anything to do with this book. I also don't think they are profound or interesting to other people. I claim no expertise in either. My life has been comfortable enough that both politics and religion are abstract speculations for me. I have never been called upon to risk anything for either one. As you have probably gathered, I have little respect for opinions that the holder has not bet on.

Nevertheless, I am including this short section. It's purely defensive. I have written mostly negative things about governments, and it's going to get worse. I do not want to give the impression that I am antigovernment. Also, I've spoken in terms some people might consider disrespectful about religion. I'm also not antireligion. It was Blaise Pascal, a deeply—even fanatically—religious man who threw a religious challenge into the study of risk. Ever since, it has been an issue you cannot avoid if you want to write seriously on the topic.

You are free to skip this section. Of course, you're free to skip any section, or not to read the book in the first place. But for all the other sections, I take responsibility for including useful and interesting material. This section is different. The material here is only for people who might otherwise dismiss my arguments as disguised political or religious rantings. There's no disguise—my interest and expertise start and end with risk. To the extent risk ...