I got up super-early this morning – well, 6.30am – to attend a debate between David Cameron and Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, at the RSA.
Taleb was full of fascinating intellectual ideas but none seemed particularly relevant to UK politics or the big issues (probably) facing Cameron next year.
The result was a bit like watching a couple on an awkward first date where neither is quite following the other’s thread.
Here is my take on it for ft.com
UPDATE
I predicted yesterday – somewhat satirically – that a newspaper would probably claim that Cameron was predicting a default, despite his insistence that he did not expect it to happen.
He raised the possibility of the government not being able to meet its obligations but then said very clearly: “I have never predicted that is going to happen.”
This morning’s front page splash in the Guardian: “Cameron: UK could default on its debt”.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey