Institutionalized Tail Risk and the Black Swan Superhighway

(In this premium post, I relate an experience that just happened to my very pregnant wife. If I miss a couple Friday dispatches after this, you’ll now know why. But as much as everyone’s favorite subject is their own lives, I promise this article is actually about managing risk in a rotten world, or let’s just say a world in which institutions continually entice you down paved paths that could lead to very sketchy neighborhoods. I don’t want to give too much away, but there will be talk of unreliable friends, tiger kings, black swans, and everybody’s favorite thirst mutilator.)