Surveillance Nation

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Surveillance Nation

Book Review: Surveillance Nation by David Merkel, CFA of The Aleph Blog

After I married my wife, I met her cousin and his wife, who was a Marxist.  Oddly, I found we had a lot of areas of agreement, because we both distrusted the powers that be.  In the same manner, what does a libertarian like me have to do with liberals like those who write for “The Nation?”

The answer is a lot.  There is a tendency for the political middle of the US to simply trust the politicians, assuming they are doing good. It is more accurate to assume that they are pursuing the goals of the ek=lite in the US.   The Wealthy will do well; the rest of us, meh.

We need to be concerned about what data the government gathers on us, because it may infringe upon our constitutional rights.  Personally, I would end the CIA, NSA, and FBI.  Let chaos pursue us, and after that, let’s figure out what security we need.

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I do not trust our government.  There is too much power, and too little transparency.

As for Surveillance Nation, it was prescient with respect to the US government collecting data on average citizens.  We live in an era when our actions are no longer private, unless we are rich enough and clever enough to conceal it.

I highly recommend Surveillance Nation.  It points out the errors of the US government as it aims toward secrecy, when it should disclose the information.

Quibbles

As time goes on the arguments verge from arguing for the common man, to arguing for the different man.

Summary

Many people would benefit from this book.  It will teach you about how we are all losing our freedom of speech bit-by-bit.  If you want to, you can buy it here: Surveillance Nation.

Full disclosure: The PR flack asked me if I would like a copy and I said “yes.”

If you enter Amazon through my site, and you buy anything, I get a small commission.  This is my main source of blog revenue.  I prefer this to a “tip jar” because I want you to get something you want, rather than merely giving me a tip.  Book reviews take time, particularly with the reading, which most book reviewers don’t do in full, and I typically do. (When I don’t, I mention that I scanned the book.  Also, I never use the data that the PR flacks send out.)

Most people buying at Amazon do not enter via a referring website.  Thus Amazon builds an extra 1-3% into the prices to all buyers to compensate for the commissions given to the minority that come through referring sites.  Whether you buy at Amazon directly or enter via my site, your prices don’t change.

David J. Merkel, CFA, FSA — 2010-present, I am working on setting up my own equity asset management shop, tentatively called Aleph Investments. It is possible that I might do a joint venture with someone else if we can do more together than separately. From 2008-2010, I was the Chief Economist and Director of Research of Finacorp Securities. I did a many things for Finacorp, mainly research and analysis on a wide variety of fixed income and equity securities, and trading strategies. Until 2007, I was a senior investment analyst at Hovde Capital, responsible for analysis and valuation of investment opportunities for the FIP funds, particularly of companies in the insurance industry. I also managed the internal profit sharing and charitable endowment monies of the firm. From 2003-2007, I was a leading commentator at the investment website RealMoney.com. Back in 2003, after several years of correspondence, James Cramer invited me to write for the site, and I wrote for RealMoney on equity and bond portfolio management, macroeconomics, derivatives, quantitative strategies, insurance issues, corporate governance, etc. My specialty is looking at the interlinkages in the markets in order to understand individual markets better. I no longer contribute to RealMoney; I scaled it back because my work duties have gotten larger, and I began this blog to develop a distinct voice with a wider distribution. After three-plus year of operation, I believe I have achieved that. Prior to joining Hovde in 2003, I managed corporate bonds for Dwight Asset Management. In 1998, I joined the Mount Washington Investment Group as the Mortgage Bond and Asset Liability manager after working with Provident Mutual, AIG and Pacific Standard Life. My background as a life actuary has given me a different perspective on investing. How do you earn money without taking undue risk? How do you convey ideas about investing while showing a proper level of uncertainty on the likelihood of success? How do the various markets fit together, telling us us a broader story than any single piece? These are the themes that I will deal with in this blog. I hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University. In my spare time, I take care of our eight children with my wonderful wife Ruth.
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