Guest
Risk-taking is vital to the American economy and to our personal development. And yet, there is evidence that Americans are taking fewer risks. But it’s not that we’ve become more risk-averse; we often think we’re taking risks when we really aren’t. It’s become increasingly common to confuse risk management with risk avoidance, when in fact there’s a big difference between the two. Risk management reduces the chance of failure, but the possibility of failing is still there nonetheless; that’s the critical difference. Even more surprising: risk avoidance is often riskier than risk management. Allison Schrager is an economist, journalist at Quartz, and co-founder of LifeCycle Finance Partners, LLC, a risk advisory firm. Allison diversified her career by working in finance, policy, and media. She led retirement product innovation at Dimensional Fund Advisors and consulted to international organizations, including the OECD and IMF. She has been a regular contributor to the Economist, Reuters, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Her writing has also appeared in Playboy, Wired, National Review and Foreign Affairs. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in economics from Columbia University. She teaches at New York University and lives in New York City. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
