The Wednesday Briefs 173 - 21 June 2023

THIS WEEK: So-Called Experts and π; Intel; Submarine Diplomacy; S&P Sectors Update.

SO-CALLED EXPERTS AND π

It is rare for a week to go by without our reading or hearing the phrases "self-anointed experts" or "so-called experts". On social media, the word experts is often written in quote marks ("experts"). Expertise no longer commands the respect that it did in the past. There are now so many experts, real or self-anointed, that expert opinion is increasingly met with skepticism, if not outright derision.

Part of the reason is familiarity. Social media has made experts more familiar. They used to be distant untouchable thinkers imparting their wisdom from ivory towers. And now they are mere mortals tweeting just like anyone else. The old adage that "an expert is a man with a briefcase fifty miles from home" explains the hollowing out of the expert's mystique because "home" today is Twitter, and everyone is right there at our fin…