I graduated from Harvard College in 1950, and can probably say that if it weren’t for the buildings, an old grad of my vintage would not recognize the place today.

When large matters go awry, they often follow standard patterns—groupthink, hubris-nemesis, the Ponzi scheme, speculative manias, the “distance lends enchantment” mirage, and other raptures—alone or in combination.

China has her own interests, and unlike Americans, who like to bash ahead, the Chinese follow the maxim of their favorite strategist Sun Tze: “Be subtle, be subtle.”

In the old days in the investment business when you were studying a company you would sometimes send a young fellow out back of the factory with a clicker to count the widgets emerging to be shipped. Easy enough to check production. Quite different now!

The great venture capital investors have a number of common traits. J.P. Morgan, of whom my grandfather was a partner, had a cardinal rule: look first at the character of the people involved.