the zero hedge manifesto
Submitted by zero on 05/17/2009 20:03 -0500
our mission:
- to widen the scope of financial, economic and political information available to the professional investing public.
- to skeptically examine and, where necessary, attack the flaccid institution that financial journalism has become.
- to liberate oppressed knowledge.
- to provide analysis uninhibited by political constraint.
- to facilitate information's unending quest for freedom.
our method: pseudonymous speech...
anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. it thus exemplifies the purpose behind the bill of rights, and of the first amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation-- and their ideas from suppression-- at the hand of an intolerant society.
...responsibly used.
the right to remain anonymous may be abused when it shields fraudulent conduct. but political speech by its nature will sometimes have unpalatable consequences, and, in general, our society accords greater weight to the value of free speech than to the dangers of its misuse.
- mcintyre v. ohio elections commission 514 u.s. 334 (1995) justice stevens writing for the majority
though often maligned (typically by those frustrated by an inability to engage in ad hominem attacks) anonymous speech has a long and storied history in the united states. used by the likes of mark twain (aka samuel langhorne clemens) to criticize common ignorance, and perhaps most famously by alexander hamilton, james madison and john jay (aka publius) to write the federalist papers, we think ourselves in good company in using one or another nom de plume. particularly in light of an emerging trend against vocalizing public dissent in the united states, we believe in the critical importance of anonymity and its role in dissident speech. like the economist magazine, we also believe that keeping authorship anonymous moves the focus of discussion to the content of speech and away from the speaker- as it should be. we believe not only that you should be comfortable with anonymous speech in such an environment, but that you should be suspicious of any speech that isn't.
zero hedge is:
tyler durden (founder): possessed of the belief that a return to (more) efficient markets is a possibility and a necessity. refugee of various asset managers and advisers, as his namesake, tyler remains convinced the current model is flawed and a deleveraging at every level of modern society is needed to reignite the fundamental entrepreneurial spirit.
marla singer (foil): a predator posing as a house pet. at the same time alarmed by and inexorably drawn to the fire of capitalism and the creative destruction wrought by capitalists (like tyler durden). compelled first to "big law" and then to finance, marla now sates her thirst for the efficient allocation of capital via the efficient distribution of information about capital via zero hedge. (beware her poison pen).
cornelius (author): cornelius crafts market perspectives from the universal truths that everyone knows but most ignore. after spending time at a large global macro fund, cornelius can't drink coffee anymore, is constantly surprised by the groupthink in media and financial research and believes the current structure continues to provide a comfortable blanket for those without original thought or compelling analyses. he keeps telling people that when the fear of publicly being wrong is greater than the fear of generating poor returns, change is due. so far, no one has answered for fear of being subjected to public ridicule.
travis (author): travis is rarely impressed with making money. it is almost mechanical to him, cold in nature, and un-fun. people earn it because they have to- plain and simple. attracted to shine and sizzle, spending is far better; and what one can do with money says a lot about the person, beyond the mere incomes or circumstances. travis is intrigued by want and passion, not need or greed. money is just a medium, a means to an end. while nothing really impresses or surprises travis, one thing is for sure- all you need is money and you’ll see your end.
