Slate Money

On this episode of Slate Money, Felix Salmon of Fusion, Cathy O'Neil of mathbabe.org, and Slate's Moneybox columnist Jordan Weissmann discuss: • The economics of partying on New Years Eve in Times Square • The risky side of derivatives trading  • Warren Buffett and predatory lending Read about the Gaussian copula function in Felix's piece for Wired. Check out other Panoply podcasts at itunes.com/panoply. Email: slatemoney@slate.com Twitter: @Felix salmon, @mathbabedotorg, @JHWeissmann Podcast production by Zachary Dinerstein Slate Money is brought to you by TaxAct. File simple federal and state returns for free by visiting TaxAct.com/slate. TaxAct will guide you through every step of the process—using your computer, tablet or phone—and get you the maximum refund, guaranteed.   And by Texture, the mobile app that lets you tap directly into the world's most popular magazines, anywhere, using your phone or tablet. Dive deeper into Vogue, People, Esquire, Time — and hundreds more — with interactive content for a