Strategic Risk Taking

The world of business, politics, and international affairs exposes us to a number of risks. Following the financial crisis it became apparent the risks we cannot see are the ones we should fear most. Protecting yourself, or profiting, from risk requires being able to see what no one else does. This class will teach you how to do this. Financial science is the study of how to price and measure risk using statistics. But its most salient lessons and methods apply to other industries from the military to crime. This class will teach the most important lessons from finance and the techniques financial scientists use to measure and then hedge risk. Then we will apply these methods to other areas from crime to cyber to climate change. There has never been a better time to study risk management. The big data revolution means we can measure risk more accurately than ever before. This approach will only offer a creative, rigorous and innovative way to approach risk. Students will gain a deeper understanding about politics, policy, and a new way to view every day problems and gain the skills to develop innovative risk management.