Herng Yi Cheng
  • Home
  • Publications
  • CV
  • Outreach
  • Art
    • Origami >
      • Origami Design Gallery
      • Origami Publications
      • Origami Research and Applications
      • Modular Polyhedra from Waterbomb Base Units
    • Performance
  • Software
    • Featured Project
  • Blog
    • Featured Post
  • Links

Correlation and Corruption on Wall Street

12/16/2020

0 Comments

 
Is mathematics a force for accountability? Or is it a shield against accountability?
Our lives are increasingly governed by algorithms that influence what to buy, where to go, who to date, and sometimes even how we vote. Corporations and governments collect data about us and use it to analyze our personalities, our social ties, and our beliefs. Are the decisions made by these analyses fair? How much control do we have over the assumptions that algorithms make about us? Who creates and controls these algorithms, and how accountable are they to those of us on the receiving end?

I recently gave a talk to the Undergraduate Math Union at the University of Toronto to explore one instance of a mathematical algorithm used in Wall Street that enabled the 2008 Financial Crisis. It was manipulated by the "auditors of the financial system" to make over-optimistic predictions about the economy, helping large investment banks sell toxic investment products all over the world. The implosion of those toxic products sparked the Financial Crisis.

Read More
0 Comments

    Archives

    December 2020
    February 2020
    January 2019
    December 2018
    May 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2016
    October 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    September 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Advocacy
    Art
    Design
    Elementary
    Exhibition
    Mathematics
    MIT
    Musing
    Origami
    Programming
    Puzzle
    Research
    Science
    Teaching
    Theater
    Writing

  • Home
  • Publications
  • CV
  • Outreach
  • Art
    • Origami >
      • Origami Design Gallery
      • Origami Publications
      • Origami Research and Applications
      • Modular Polyhedra from Waterbomb Base Units
    • Performance
  • Software
    • Featured Project
  • Blog
    • Featured Post
  • Links