Author: Ron Dembo The Toronto Star recently reported that “The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which insures high-ratio residential mortgages, said Thursday that Canadian housing prices could plunge by almost 50 per cent if we have a double-dip ‘W-shaped’ COVID-19 recession and governments don’t provide enough financial support to…

Author: Ron Dembo The big freeze now sweeping through Texas and the Southern states betrays a fundamental inability to manage the growing uncertainties of climate change. The Fundamental Flaw with Forecasting Using statistical modelling to forecast future events works well over short time periods. The science of meteorology, for example…

Author: Ron Dembo In 1979, American IT company Electronic Data Systems were worth about $1 billion. Their head, Ross Perot, wanted to invest in a small computer company to supply software. After searching around, they discovered the young Bellevue software company Microsoft, but when Bill Gates asked for $40–60 million…

Author: Ron Dembo Canadian real estate developer Paul Reichmann saw billions of dollars flow through his hands while transforming the city skylines of Toronto, New York and London. …

I am sitting in the middle of Bismark sea off the coast of Papua New Guinea eating my breakfast. To my left at the breakfast table is Charlie Veron, one of the world’s most preeminent scientists on extinction. We are on our way to see some ocean vents where pure…

Author: Ron Dembo Eggs in the basket; cash in hand; rainy day funds — whatever you like to call it, having liquidity is an easy hedge against the unknowable risks of a radically uncertain world. When I started my former company, Algorithmic's, I remember people introducing me as a serious risk taker. I…

Author: Ron Dembo A year after the devastating Tubbs Fire in Northern California, in October 2018, I was driving through an area of burned forest the fire had raged. I had been invited to give a keynote speech at the conference of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to…

Author: Ron Dembo Throughout California in the United States, wildfires frequently devastate large swaths of forest and encroach on residential areas, forcing evacuations and even costing lives. …

Author: Ron Dembo Like many in the entertainment industry, The Shaw Festival in Ontario faced a bleak outlook for 2020. Over a typical year the theatre company generated $220 million in economic activity. But as Covid-19 swept across Canada and the rest of the world at the opening of the year and millions…