Geopolitical risk is essentially uncertainty to the market.
Given the nature of human fear, the psyche can add a “multiplier effect” to an
objective calculation of uncertainty. Just as we are naturally so close to
human nature that its most ubiquitous tendencies eclipse our notice, so too do
we tend to assume that the market’s assessment of a political risk is accurate,
given the efficiency and effectiveness of the stock market. The market’s
initial reaction to the political protests in Hong Kong in September 2014 may
demonstrate that the market’s participants even routinely overstate both the
probability and severity of the downside of a mass political event.
The full essay is at “Political
Protests in Hong Kong”
