Steve McIntyre on Consensus and financial market problems
Climateaudit’s Steve McIntyre has built a solid reputation for accuracy and honesty in his analysis of the science underpinning climate change. He is probably the world’s leading expert on the unscientific methods employed by Mann et al in the creation of one of the IPCC’s and the Climate Faithfuls’ most treasured weapons - the Hokey Stick.
He is someone who is very wary of claims of consensus.
But that would be because he’s a real scientist that holds true to the belief that all scientists should be skeptics.
He is also someone who corrects errors - on the record - when they are pointed out to him, which makes him the polar opposite to those who work in the field of climate science.
But that’s because he’s a real scientist.
In this post he highlights the fact that consensus hasn’t served the shareholders of Bre-X, Enron or Lehmann Bros very well at all.
—————————————————————-
The next morning just after ten, Skilling stood beside Lay as a photographer snapped their pictures for an article in Fortune. They were more than happy to participate; already that year, in its annual rankings, Fortune had hailed Enron as America’s best-managed company, knocking General Electric from the number-one perch. (p.227)
…
After months of effort, Karen Denne from Enron’s public relations office landed the big fish: CFO magazine had selected Fastow as one of the year’s best chief financial officers. (p. 260)”
…
2006 - Ranks #1 in the Barron’s 500 annual survey of corporate performance for the largest companies in the U.S. and Canada.
2007 - Lehman Brothers ranks #1 “Most Admired Securities Firm” by Fortune.
—————————————————
One more example of “consensus”.