Matt Levine began his newsletter yesterday by discussing investment banks' tradition of publishing research notes that predict the World Cup winner. Before summarizing the various statistical methods that Nomura, ING, and Goldman Sachs used to predict their results ("three portfolios of teams to watch"!), Levine observes that "the analysts are not really in the business of predicting investment returns. They are in the business of producing content that will improve their banks’ relationship with their customers."—the World Cup being a perfect opportunity to produce such content. That's kind of obvious, but the word "content" has become so loaded and so central to culture that its usage is often a thread worth following. In the example above, content is a form of oil that reduces the scraping metallic friction between big, sinister banks and the guarded outside world.
#56: Content Dreams of Itself
#56: Content Dreams of Itself
#56: Content Dreams of Itself
Matt Levine began his newsletter yesterday by discussing investment banks' tradition of publishing research notes that predict the World Cup winner. Before summarizing the various statistical methods that Nomura, ING, and Goldman Sachs used to predict their results ("three portfolios of teams to watch"!), Levine observes that "the analysts are not really in the business of predicting investment returns. They are in the business of producing content that will improve their banks’ relationship with their customers."—the World Cup being a perfect opportunity to produce such content. That's kind of obvious, but the word "content" has become so loaded and so central to culture that its usage is often a thread worth following. In the example above, content is a form of oil that reduces the scraping metallic friction between big, sinister banks and the guarded outside world.