Risk and Volatility: Econometric Models and Financial Practice

The advantage of knowing about risks is that we can change our behavior to avoid them. Of course, it is easily observed that to avoid all risks would be impossible; it might entail no flying, no driving, no walking, eating and drinking only healthy foods and never being touched by sunshine. Even a bath could be dangerous. I could not receive this prize if I sought to avoid all risks. There are some risks we choose to take because the benefits from taking them exceed the possible costs. Optimal behavior takes risks that are worthwhile. This is the central paradigm of finance; we must take risks to achieve rewards but not all risks are equally rewarded. Both the risks and the rewards are in the future, so it is the expectation of loss that is balanced against the expectation of reward. Thus we optimize our behavior, and in particular our portfolio, to maximize rewards and minimize risks.time series;

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Autobiography

"Wake up, Robin", a gentle hand shook my shoulder. "Let's go." It was so very early but I loved those mornings when my father would wake me and take me on an adventure. When I was a boy and we were camping, we would leave in the quiet morning hours to enjoy the lake together, and attempt to catch some fish. He was an experienced fisherman and a kindly teacher. While he was in graduate school at Cornell and the nation was still in the aftermath of the Great Depression, he traded fish and hunted meat for room and board. I did love those mornings and their crisp dawns.time series;

Interview with the 2003 Economics Laureates, Clive W.J. Granger and Robert F. Engle III

Interview with the 2003 Economics Laureates, Clive W.J. Granger and Robert F. Engle III, December 11, 2003. Interviewers are Professor Karl-Gustaf Loefgren, Umea University, and Assistant Professor Anne-Sophie Crepin, Stockholm University.time series;