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World Economic Forum – Opening Plenary – Vladimir Putin | Jan 29th

Colin Henderson

Opening Plenary of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 Opening address by Vladimir Putin, Hans-Rudolf Merz, Klaus Schwab, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Michael S. Dell, Carlos Ghosn Live blogging through the Plenary session that includes Vladimir Putin Schwab is opening, speaking of the world wide imapct on the economy on people, institutions and countries Putin: speaks of the notion of a perfect storm of circumstances that have affected the entire global economy majority of countries especially the US that ignored the problem – 1 year ago representatives of the US stood at Davos and indicated the economy was strong.  Now without … Continue reading World Economic Forum – Opening Plenary – Vladimir Putin | Jan 29th

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A new economic era – WEF opening economic session | Jan 28th

Colin Henderson

Update 2009: The New Economic Era Justin Yifu Lin, Trevor Manuel, Stephen S. Roach, Ferit F. Sahenk, Heizo Takenaka with Michael Elliott As they speak about the world crisis focussing on what ought to be done, Heizo Takenaka made the smartest comment.  He says that capital injection is not enough – what is required is accurate assessment of asset values. This comment is deep and meaningful – the crisis of confidence that persists and has frozen money markets has at its core the inability to value the assets being traded, nor the institutions performing the trades, the banks.  We just … Continue reading A new economic era – WEF opening economic session | Jan 28th

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Wen Jiabo, Premier of the State Council of China is speaking right now at the WEF |live blog (via video)

Colin Henderson

Wen Jiabo, Premier of the State Council of China is speaking right now at the WEF. Wen Jiabao (simplified Chinese: 温家宝; traditional Chinese: 溫家寶; pinyin: Wēn Jiābǎo; Wade-Giles: Wen Chia-pao) (born 15 September 1942) is the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, leading the country’s cabinet. He began with a bit of a lecture on western excesses of over-consumption.  He goes on to speak of China’s approach to the crisis. need balance between consumption and saving balance between regulation and innovation challenges in China and business environment Shrinking demand overcapacity difficult business conditions unemployment rising … Continue reading Wen Jiabo, Premier of the State Council of China is speaking right now at the WEF |live blog (via video)

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Lets first understand why customers are using less online banking

Colin Henderson

Comscore report that people are using online banking less recently and marketeres ought to be worried.  Comscore have it wrong here.  (HT Finextra) Credit Crunch bites online banking | Finextra Marc Trudeau, senior director, financial services, comScore, says: “Americans have less cash, are spending less and have experienced a significant decline in the value of their assets. As a result, we’re seeing shifts in the way consumers manage their finances online, such as less frequent and shorter visits to their banking Web site, which has significant implications for marketers trying to reach new and existing customers.” Any time we see … Continue reading Lets first understand why customers are using less online banking

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Canada scorns World Economic Forum

Colin Henderson

Canada has three people attending the World Economic Forum next week in Davos. Business leaders from all sectors and from all regions will be well represented among the participants in this year’s Annual Meeting. Other participants include heads of NGOs and labour leaders, Social Entrepreneurs and Young Global Leaders. Scott Brison – M.P. Kings-Hants, Nova Scotia Richard B. Evans Chief Executive Officer Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. Laurent Beaudoin Chairman of the Board Bombardier Inc. Canada is small, granted, but three people to an annual conference of this magnitude, and at this point in history is lamentable. Continue reading Canada scorns World Economic Forum

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Fast forward to 2025 | banks as heavily regulated utilities, what of innovation?

Colin Henderson

The annual World Economic Forum kicks off next week in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 28 January – 1 February 2009 with the headline “Shaping the Post-Crisis World”. Obviously the financial world order is a topic, and this document sets out some scenario’s for disucssion at the forum. Mirror –> thefutureoftheglobalfinancialsystem1. The question posed by the 88 page document is this “How might the governance and structure of the global financial system evolve over both the near-term and long-term?” Its a fair question, and with the 2025 date its far enough out to get beyond the 2 week view that governments have adopted. … Continue reading Fast forward to 2025 | banks as heavily regulated utilities, what of innovation?

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If the problem we have is too much debt – how will more credit solve that problem?

Colin Henderson

Prescient words from the House of Lords in 1803.  Britain was at war with France, and the resulting financial system upheaval was the topic here. BANK RESTRICTION BILL | Hansard (UK Parliament – 13 December 1803) Lord Grenville said, … … The fundamental principle of all governments on this subject ought to be, that credit and circulation, if undisturbed by legislative interference, will invariably find their own level. Whenever any temporary purpose (as must sometimes happen) induces a departure from this principle, the misfortune is, that the first deviation too commonly leads to the necessity of a second, and so … Continue reading If the problem we have is too much debt – how will more credit solve that problem?

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Volker & Group of 30 report on financial reform

Colin Henderson

Paul Volker and the Group of 30 have released their report on regulation for the financial industry post crisis.  Volker is advisor to Obama.  They are careful to avoid commentary on the “fixes” but have focussed on the reforms.  Its a wide ranging and sensible report, dealing with the non bank sector, ie hedge funds, and with off balance sheet transactions and derivatives. G30 UPDATE: The Economist has a great peace here summarising the G30 report – How to Fix Finance. The most notable aspect of the report is the call for separation of invesments from banking.  They point out … Continue reading Volker & Group of 30 report on financial reform

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Wesabe introduce labs and cutback tools

Colin Henderson

Wesabe just keep the good stuff coming – ok I admit I am a fan but they are worth it.  in addition to the recent labs the latest is a tool to evaluate your monthly recurring expenses, and decide which you really require to maintain.  Its hard to imagine anyone would not benefit by locating at least one thing that is not offerring value yet they are paying it monthly. Cutback Tool |Wesabe blog several beta testers reported charges of $14.95 for freecreditreport.com, a credit monitoring service they understandably thought was actually free (let’s see…wouldn’t $15amonthcreditreport.com be a more honest … Continue reading Wesabe introduce labs and cutback tools