Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Flight of the black swan

The political philosopher Nassim Taleb has words of warning for the Prime Minister

issue 11 February 2012

Nassim Taleb is banging a glass against a table to demonstrate his notion of ‘anti-fragility’. ‘This glass is fragile,’ he says. ‘Vulnerable to nasty surprises.’ The glass survives his test. ‘Now, what’s the opposite of fragile? Not “robust”, because robust things don’t respond to any surprise, nasty or pleasant.

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