Anyone with school-aged children knows what September brings each year: colds.  The common cold runs rampant through most schools beginning from the first days of the year.  Seems the little whippersnappers regularly share toys, crayons, calculators and even their lunches with the sickest kid in the class.

The trouble is, we never know exactly who brought the cold to school in the first place.  And as a result, we don’t know who to blame.  Sure, we have our hunches.  That little Evan Davies never washes his hands.  Molly Abramsky is always dropping her lunch on the floor.  Davie Schneider – that little wiener - spends most of the day with his finger planted firmly up his nose!

Caught off guard by the onslaught of foreign germs in September, our kids’ immune systems capitulate.  But as the year wears on, they seem better able to resist the frequent cases of sniffles brought into class.  Still, when someone comes into class with a violent hacking cough – no matter what time of year - that’s a whole other story.

As this New York Times piece on the weekend illustrates, hedge fund managers may not be that different from pre-schoolers.  The Times cites a study (available here) showing that hedge funds ”contagion” makes kindergarten look like child’s play.

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