Edward Thorp is an investing and mathematical legend — from spotting Bernie Madoff’s fraud as well as identifying Warren Buffett’s investing acumen early, to coming up with blackjack game theory. Of all the tales he was regaling in an hour-and-half interview, the 89-year-old was asked by Tim Ferriss, an early-stage investor and prolific author, what he was learning about now. It was a sobering if measured reply — the inductee to the Blackjack Hall of Fame said he was reading about what’s going on with American society.
“What may happen, I don’t think we can predict for sure what’s going to happen, but we can map out scenarios,” he said. “You could have an autocratic country where a minority pretty much rules everything and dictates to everybody else. You could have a turbulent country where a large part of the country, maybe a majority, is badly upset and just wants to bust everything up and start over somehow.” “You could have the choices I just described — a devolution, evolution or revolution,” Thorp said. Thorp also was measured in what can be done, saying there’s not much anyone can do on a grand scale. Essentially, there’s no hedge if the U.S. falls apart. “I think the best thing we can do is teach everybody to think for themselves, so they just don’t take what …