There was this statistics student who, when driving his car, would always accelerate hard before coming to any junction, whizz straight over it , then slow down again once he’d got over it. One day, he took a passenger, who was understandably unnerved by his driving style, and asked him why he went so fast over junctions. The statistics student replied, “Well, statistically speaking, you are far more likely to have an accident at a junction, so I just make sure that I spend less time there.”
Maybe this isn’t the best way to minimize your risk. Our experts bloggers offer more profound risk advice in the 52nd edition of the Cavalcade of Risk.
Introduction to Risk (Baseball player, Nobel prize winner explain risk)
- For those interested in baseball, Rich Maltzman uses a baseball analogy to explain how people view risk in the A verse on risk article posted at Scope crêpe.
- The Cognition and Language Lab summarizes Daniel Kahneman’s Nobel-prize-winning model showing that “loss aversion” can better characterize how individuals react to risk.
Hot Jobs (Chief Risk Officer, Scuba Diver, Astronaut/Exterminator)
- With the world’s banks bleeding from their over-exposure to bone-headed investments and bad loans, Leon Gettler of Sox First claims that the latest hot job is Chief Risk Officer.
- How does a Scuba Diver conduct a risk assessment for a dive plan? Diving pro Jill Heinerth explains.
- NASA is battling an infestation of electronics-eating ants. The Risk Factor blog investigates the situation.
Health and Medical (Over-medicated? Over-treated? Over-weight? etc.)
- Are we over-medicating Chronic Conditions? Bob Vineyard of InsureBlog gives us some facts and statistics supporting the claim that that cutting back on med’s reduces your health risks and decreases medical costs.
- Medical tests have risks as well. David Williams of the Health Business Blog reports on WellPoint’s web-based patient exposure tool (Aimee) that provides information for doctors and patients about the amount of radiation associated with various scans.
- Louise of Colorado Health Insurance Insider discusses a heated debate in the UK about whether patients in the National Health Service should be allowed to privately purchase treatments that are denied by the NHS.
- Does being severely overweight increase the risk of depression? Therapist Unlimited weighs in.
- Can making physicians more at risk for a lawsuit increase the quality of medical care? Jason Shafrin of the Healthcare Economist investigates in his Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes post.
Housing Risk
- Buying a house is one of the most significant risks an individual takes in their life. Ernesto TIG of InsuranceYak.com warns that a “buyer beware” mentality is likely warranted in his Costner vs Maronda Homes post.
Computer Risk
- The Security and Risk Management Strategies Blog wonders whether Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL)–the well-publicized security training every Microsoft developer went through–is actually decreasing working?
Personal Finance
- Is the average investor over- or under-estimating real estate risk in the declining market? Super Saver weighs in with Properly Assessing Risk posted at My Wealth Builder.
- Mag Herrera of ‘Life. Money. Development’ is a personal finance advisor who actually likes Credit Cards.
- What is the difference between market risk, inflation risk and management risk? The Blueprint for Financial Prosperity blog explains in their post titled Understanding Investment Risk Types.
- Investing Angel of Stock Tips explains that the “herd mentality” causes most investors to Buy High And Sell Low.
- Almost any investment you will make is risk. But in The Top 25 Low Cost US Money Market Funds, Larry Russell of the Skilled Investor Blog extols the virtues of maximizing the return on the component of an investment you can control: the fees.
Awesome job, Jason! I love that little bit at the top…never thought of it that way.
Thank you for hosting!