Shall we all pretend to be shocked by a new study that shows that the venture-capital industry is overwhelmingly — no, disgustingly white and male? A National Venture Capital Association survey found that 88 percent of general partners — the people who can actually greenlight an investment at a firm — are white, and 86 percent are male. On the VC blog Private Equity Hub, Alex Haislip takes hope, noting that the junior ranks of VC firms are more diverse — and that some less lily-white firms have delivered good returns lately. Greed and the relentless herd-following instinct should take care of the industry's inequities, he seems to argue. Good luck with that!

In the first quarter of 2007, 83 venture capital firms raised about $6.3 billion. During this year's first quarter, that number dropped to 57 firms, a 32 percent plunge. The actual amount of capital invested remained flat year-over-year, reports Bits. A National Venture Capital Association flack insists the news doesn't mean venture capital is suffering from an economic downturn.