Nor does the second hypothesis advanced in the commentary blind faith in mathematical models explain the crisis. Models were much less critical to LTCM's trading than commonly thought. Many of the pricing anomalies it sought to exploit (such as the premium of shares in Royal Dutch over those in Shell, or the swap-spread example discussed in appendix G) could be identified without sophisticated modeling. Although models were important to how LTCM's trades were implemented and to assessing the risks involved, all those involved knew that models were approximations to reality and a guide to strategy rather than a determinant of it.

Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 1017