Forecasting

On February 24, 2002, as the scandal of the derivative-soaked Enron Corporation unfolded, Daniel Altman wrote, "The veil of complexity, whose weave is tightening as sophisticated derivatives evolve and proliferate, poses subtle risks to the financial system -- risks that are impossible to quantify, sometimes even to identify." He stood almost alone in those years in such coverage.
Todd Gitlin, April 2013

Daniel Altman also saw what was coming. In his book he described a place without taxes or a social safety net, where rich and poor live in different financial worlds. "It's coming to America," he wrote. Most likely he would not have been surprised recently when firefighters in rural Tennessee would let a home burn to the ground because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75 fee.
Bill Moyers, November 2010

Investors and entrepreneurs who have seen unlimited potential in China will be sorely disappointed. The Chinese market will be immense, but it will not eclipse the world's other major economies. Moreover, the risk to shareholders and creditors implied by corruption, lack of transparency, and the Chinese political system will no longer be offset by the reward of huge profits.
Outrageous Fortunes, 2011

Smaller financial centers will provide the backbone for an enormous, parallel financial market - a financial black market, trading mostly over the Internet but based in a constellation of would-be tax havens and other small countries. New banks will spring up, competing with their counterparts in the major economies by staying off the radar, using all the forbidden tools and operating with lower costs.
Outrageous Fortunes, 2011