11Leiss 2009Leiss 2009
Black Holes of Risk:Black Holes of Risk:Systemic Risk in the Financial SectorSystemic Risk in the Financial Sector
William Leiss, O.C., Ph.D., FRSCWilliam Leiss, O.C., Ph.D., FRSCHaskayne School of BusinessHaskayne School of Business
MGST 797.89MGST 797.89September 24, 2009September 24, 2009
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William Leiss - ProfileWilliam Leiss - Profile
• http://www.leiss.ca• [email protected]• Author/collaborator for 15 books and
many essays and reports• Working in the field of risk
management & risk communication for over 20 years
• Past-president, Royal Society of Canada
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Books on Risk Issues (1)Books on Risk Issues (1)
• In 1994 I published Risk and Responsibility, with lengthy case studies in pesticides, Alar and apples and EMF (electric and magnetic fields) risk
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Books on Risk Issues (2)Books on Risk Issues (2)• William Leiss & Douglas
Powell and, Mad Cows and Mother’s Milk: The Perils of Poor Risk Communication (1997)
• mad cow disease in the UK, dioxins, “hamburger disease” (E. coli), silicon breast implants, bovine growth hormone, genetically-engineering food crops and PCBs
• Second, enlarged edition December 2004: BSE in North America, Canada and the Kyoto Protocol, genomics risks
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Books on Risk Issues (3)Books on Risk Issues (3)• Professional risk
managers in governments and industry often completely misunderstand the nature of the reactions of the public to risks. Then the chamber of risks can turn into a chamber of horrors for business and governments (published 2001)
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Future RisksFuture Risks• A Work of Utopian Fiction • Book Two of The Herasaga• Like priests, scientists are
liable to be misled by the purity of their motives into downplaying the risks inherent in their creations.
• “It is, of course, quite correct for you to allot the relevant priesthood to Niels Bohr.” (Albert Einstein to Max Born, 7 September 1944)
• Book One is Hera, or Empathy
• Both from University of Ottawa Press or Amazon
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