So what went wrong? Liquidity. Why? Exposure to sub-prime assets through complex financial instruments designed to reduce risk made banks chary of lending to each other. The knock-on effect of this was a collapse in confidence, as signalled through stock market indices. Self-righteous hindsight bemoans capital adequacy – which might have increased liquidity – and the hubris that led to over confidence in secularisation. But schadenfreude won’t restore confidence. Read More
I am watching the remake of Battlestar Galactica, which I love. For me it has something important to say to Dawkins. In the series, man has created a race called the Cylons, who have now evolved from a ‘robot’ model to one that looks human. Indeed, they appear human, feeling pain, having children, dreaming and believing in Gods. That they can reincarnate and that they conform to a set of identical types is a peculiarity that marks them out, as does their biological signature. However, their genesis makes the question of what defines a human rather interesting. Read More
