Consulting arrangements with financial firms highlight a growing recognition of political risk and pricing efficiency in prediction markets. The presence of liquidity and volume is essential for effective pricing, indicating a potential recent threshold achievement. However, certain long-term geopolitical questions, like China's potential invasion of Taiwan, may not yield actionable insights as they do not substantially revise estimates. In contrast, shorter-term betting in sports allows for more immediate financial opportunities, but involves risks such as capital tying and site reliability.
In his second appearance, Nate Silver joins the show to cover the intersections of predictions, politics, and poker with Tyler. They tackle how coin flips solve status quo bias, gambling’s origins in divination, what kinds of betting Nate would ban, why he’s been limited on several of the New York sports betting sites, how game theory changed poker tournaments, whether poker players make for good employees, running and leaving FiveThirtyEight, why funky batting stances have disappeared, AI’s impact on sports analytics, the most underrated NBA statistic, Sam Bankman-Fried’s place in “the River,” the trait effective altruists need to develop, the stupidest risks Tyler and Nate would take, prediction markets, how many monumental political decisions have been done under the influence of drugs, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded July 22nd, 2024.
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