Thursday, May 2, 2013

Satyajit Das

Satyajit Das is an internationally renowned economist.

Very seldom we come across an outstanding economist who has the special ability to connect the dots of our very complex international economic and financial system, and he can grasp many aspects of the global economic and financial system, and he can see the total picture that most economists can't see it.

And in my opinion, Satyajit Das is one of these people with one of these rare superior intellectual and analytical mind.


Bio: Satyajit Das

Satyajit Das is an internationally respected expert in finance, with over 30 years' experience. He worked for the "sell side" (banks such as Citicorp Investment Bank and Merrill Lynch), the "buy side" (Treasurer of the TNT Group) and acted as a consultant advising banks, investors, corporations and central banks throughout the world. He has been within touching distance of many of the pivotal events in finance during his long career.

Das presciently anticipated many aspects of the Global Financial Crisis in his 2006 book Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives In a speech that year - The Coming Credit Crash - he argued that: "an informed analysis of the structured credit markets shows that risk is not better spread but more leveraged and (arguably) more concentrated amongst hedge funds and a small group of dealers. This does not improve the overall stability and security of the financial system but exposes it to increased risk of a "crash" during a credit downturn." He has continued to be a respected commentator on developments in the crisis, accurately anticipating many subsequent phases.

He was featured in Charles Ferguson's 2010 Oscar winning documentary Inside Job and a 2009 BBC TV documentary - Tricks with Risk.

Das is the author of many highly regarded books on derivatives and risk management, which are regarded as standard reference works for professional traders. In 2006, he published the international best seller Traders, Guns & Money, a satirical insider's account of derivatives trading. The Financial Times described it as explaining "not only the high-minded theory behind the business and its various products but the sometimes sordid reality of the industry".

His latest book is Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk (2011) described by Nouriel Roubini as: "A true insider's devastating analysis of the financial alchemy of the last 30 years and its destructive consequences. With his intimate first-hand knowledge, Das takes a knife to global finance and financiers to reveal its inner workings without fear or favor."

He appears regularly in the media in the US, Canada, UK, Australian, New Zealand, India and South Africa. His opinion pieces appear in prestigious publications throughout the world including the Financial Times. His blogs can be found on a number of on-line financial sites, including:

www.wilmott.com
www.roubini.com
www.minyanville.com
www.eurointelligence.com
www.nakedcapitalism.com
and
www.prudentbear.com.


*****

Sydney Morning Herald - August 31, 2011 
Profile: Satyajit Das

It is apparent, when organising an interview with derivatives expert Satyajit Das, that he is not your average banker. The suggested day won't work because he is out and about and does not have a mobile phone. And one of the things he is out and about doing is tracking a pair of powerful owls roosting in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens.

''There are so many interesting things to do with your time,'' says Das, 54, who is passionate about cricket, reading, music, travel and wildlife. ''I really enjoy the richness of life.''

However, he has had less time for leisure pursuits after his prescient book, Traders, Guns & Money, was published in 2006 accompanied by a speech he delivered in the US and Australia on ''the coming credit crash''.

Das began writing the book a couple of years earlier as a loose memoir but his research caused him great anxiety about the future of the global economy.

''I realised that the way the derivatives market had developed meant it did not mitigate risk, it was a risk in itself,'' he says, adding that the debt built up in the system was unsustainable, creating a giant paper shuffle.

He has written another book that analyses what he calls ''the financial alchemy'' of the past 30 years and its destructive global consequences.

The global market upheavals of early August were, he says, an inevitable result of ''Botox economics'' where deep-seated global financial problems were temporarily covered up by government bailouts and stimulus packages.

Das says the response was the right one but it simply bought time by substituting public debt for private debt. He has been horrified by the ''mission accomplished'' attitude of some financial markets players and regulators. The analogy he uses is of a car that has crashed and been repaired, and is now hurtling back along the same highway, only with its safety features removed.

''It's very difficult to see how the real economy will recover,'' he says, noting the global economy has relied on debt and financial gimmicks for the past 30 years. ''We are entering a very protracted period of low growth.''

Das immigrated to Australia from India with his parents in 1970, aged 12.
He won a scholarship from the then government-owned Commonwealth Bank to study law-commerce at the University of NSW, which required him to work at the bank during holidays and for a few years after graduating. It was the late 1970s and the bank was looking for people to work in the newly emerging area of derivatives. ''In the most quixotic way, I went in on the ground floor,'' says Das, who later gave the derivatives lecture in his MBA course because he knew more than the lecturer.

After 10 years with CBA, Citicorp and Merrill Lynch, Das joined transport giant TNT in 1988 and spent six years as its treasurer during its debt-driven expansion, near collapse and restructure.

Since he left TNT in 1994, Das has worked as a derivatives and risk-management consultant to governments, companies and regulators around the world, as well as writing textbooks.

The global financial crisis stymied his plans to wind down in 2007 and focus on eco-travel and birds, especially birds of prey. Instead, he has helped banks fix their portfolios and change their business models. He did, however, travel to Finland and Iceland earlier this year to go owl spotting. ''My partner says the only time I'm really relaxed is when I'm knee-deep in mud in some forest, asking, 'Is that a greater or lesser version of a particular bird?'''

*****

Keiser Report: No Illuminati, just those who swap, rig & fix – April 30, 2013


In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert are off to see the price fixers, who rig and rig and rig and rig and rig - but only for Jamie, Lloyd and Blythe! They look at how amateur the Illuminati and Bilderbergers are compared to the modern day Fixers of Oz who control all prices from behind their golden kimono.

In the second half of the show Max talks to Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money, about Japan's extreme monetary policy and about extreme price fixing at the heart of the global economy.


*****

Satyajit Das on the European economic crisis – May 3, 2012


May 3, 2012 - Finance expert and author Satyajit Das speaks to reporter Martin Cash about the state of Europe's economy during an interview at the Free Press News Café.


*****

Excellent lecture and presentation by Satyajit Das:


I recommend that you take the time to watch the entire lecture with Satyajit Das, since you will not be able to get anywhere a better presentation regarding what is happening today in the world economy and financial markets.

The End of Growth? - A CIS Talk by the Author of "Extreme Money" – May 28, 2012


Time: 1 hr 30 min.

Join risk analyst and "not your average banker" Satyajit Das for an indepth and highly troubling look into the toxic state of global financial markets. Das is the best-selling author of Traders, Guns and Money, and will discuss his recent book, Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk.


*****


I like to suggest that you guys take the time and watch this seminar by Satyajit Das.

In my opinion, he is one of the smartest economists that we have today from any place around the world. All I can say is that his seminar was excellent, and worth the time of watching the entire presentation.

Satyakit Das gave a similar seminar to 2 separate groups of people over a period of 2 days, and it seems to me that both seminars were video-taped a little different, and for some reason they did not show the entire seminar on the first video. The first video goes only up to minute 1 hr 18mins.

Watch the first video up to the point 1hr and 18min. - then switch to the second video and start watching from the 1 hr and 19min point, and watch the remaining of the seminar and the Q & A on the second video up to 1 hr and 51min.

All I can say is that his seminar was excellent, and worth the time of watching the entire presentation.


Satyajit Das - The end of Ponzi prosperity – Wellington – August 16, 2012

Time: 1 hr and 51min.

Have we spent too much for too long? Are the clever financial instruments that were supposed to prop up the system starting to buckle? Guest speaker Satyajit Das suggests we're in a botox economy where things have been desperately covered up to conceal the truth. Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy, he says, are just the front carriages in an impending financial train wreck. In his talk, Satyajit Das will explore how the global economy and financial engine is resetting and the challenges ahead.

Satyajit Das is an international specialist in the area of financial derivatives, risk management, and capital markets. He acts as a consultant to banks, investors, corporations and regulators in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.


*****


As usual, another excellent discussion by Satyajit Das.

The Fifth Estate: End of Growth? - August 28, 2012
http://youtu.be/0272BTXef9I

Time: 1 hr and 4 min.

In this panel discussion - part of our current affairs series, The Fifth Estate - host Sally Warhaft is joined by former senior economic adviser to Kevin Rudd and writer Andrew Charlton, and author/economist Satyajit Das. The panel's two guests, we find, have very different opinions about the benefits that economic growth can deliver to the world's poorest (and wealthiest) in a time when more are beginning to question its longevity.


*****

Satyajit Das on the European economic crisis – May 3, 2012


May 3, 2012 - Finance expert and author Satyajit Das speaks to reporter Martin Cash about the state of Europe's economy during an interview at the Free Press News Café.


*****

Satyajit Das's positive outlook – May 3, 2012


May 3, 2012 - While talking with Free Press reporter Martin Cash, world finance expert Satyajit Das gives his thoughts on the state of the world economy.


*****

IN BUSINESS: Satyajit Das on the Indian Economy – October 8, 2012



*****


Ricardo C. Amaral - Author and economist
He can be reached at:
brazilamaral@yahoo.com

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