Forget Cyprus: Focus on the Big and Slow

by Alex Friedman | March 26, 2013

Originally published at CNBC | March 26, 2013

In nature, some animals have very poor eyesight, such that they can hardly see anything that isn’t moving. In the film Jurassic Park, as Sam O’Neill strategized how to avoid becoming lunch for a T-Rex, he aptly remarked, “stay still, he can’t see us if we don’t move.” A similar dynamic can be observed in the investing world, afflicting both bulls and bears alike.

Investors are prone to add unnecessary significance to the latest piece of fast-moving market noise, while underestimating or missing large and slow-moving shifts that have huge impact.

The past week has been a good example. Cyprus, an economy with a GDP around half the size of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s, is dominating the headlines and the minds of traders and retail investors. But, it would make a lot more sense to be talking about the recent and hugely important signals that the $20 trillion U.S. housing market has entered a sustainable upswing. Continue Reading.

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Filed Under: Economics

About the Author

Alex Friedman

Alex is the co-founder of Jackson Hole Economics, a non-profit research organization which provides analysis of key topics in the political economy, and develops actionable ideas for how sustainable growth can be achieved

Alex is also the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Novata, a mission-driven and technology-powered public benefit corporation designed to improve the process of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) diligence in the private markets. Backed by a unique consortium, which includes the Ford Foundation, S&P Global, Hamilton Lane and Omidyar Network, Novata has created an independent, unbiased and flexible platform for the private markets to more consistently measure, analyze and report on relevant ESG data.

With two decades of experience in the financial and non-profit spaces, Alex has led a number of sustainable growth and transformation efforts. He is a former CEO of GAM Holdings and Chief Investment Officer of UBS, and also served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he created the foundation's strategic investment fund.

Alex was a White House Fellow and an assistant to the Secretary of Defense. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Franklin Resources, Inc. (Franklin Templeton), a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Chair of the Advisory Board of Project Syndicate and a board member of the American Alpine Club. Alex also writes regularly for various news outlets and is the author of Babu's Bindi and The Big Thing: Brave Bea, both children's books.

Alex holds a JD from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, an MBA from Columbia Business School, and a BA from Princeton University.

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