This piece from Douglas J. Elliott, Fellow, Economic Studies, Initiative on Business and Public Policy at Brookings does an excellent job at highlighting what it is that investment bankers just do not get about life in the real (banking) world. The Volcker Rule and its Impact on the U.S. Economy First off I like the Glass Steagall/ Volker Rule approach to banking.  I believe it provides clarity and lucidity to people and allows them to frame their lending and investment approaches within their own personal context.  It also allows governments to quantify their contingent liability associated with deposit guarantees through … Continue reading The Volker Rule: Allow customers decide where their money should be

This is a seminal article and one that western companies and governments should study.  The general assumption is that manufacturing work is outsourced overseas due to lower wages.  Not so. How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work | NY Times Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the … Continue reading The real reasons for offshore outsourcing of manufacturing become clearer

As it became clear in 2009 the influence of Government on banks that the took control of that year had to become a consequential factor in how those banks operate.  My hypothesis at the time was that those banks would lose the innovation incentive and in effect become utilities that provide a basic banking service. I am surprised it took this long, but David Cameron has made the first consequential step by setting a very low limit on bank bonuses on RBS and it appears to also impact all government owned banks so Lloyds and HBOS too.  The piece is … Continue reading UK Cameron moves to use Government ownership influence with Banks to address their lack of acceptance of role in 2008 crisis

This piece in the FT talks about the FSB (Financial Stability Board).  I had to remind myself that the FSB is the G20 designate to fix the banking system, and not the KGB successor.  The quote in the title indicates the goal of the group but the reality of the need for this piece indicates that it is not being taken too seriously yet, hence we must remember … FSB.  The good news is that the FSB has one of the better and clear thinking Central Bank governors in Mark Carney.  The challenge that is faces is critical for the … Continue reading “We’re in the midst of a fundamental restructuring of that financial services industry” | Carney

There are several hints that the mobile payment acquiring space is getting interesting.  Square Intuit GoPayment SimplyTap These new offerings bypass traditional payment networks and thus eliminate (or replace) merchant discount charges for those accepting credit cards. While we await banks being disrupted, this payment space could just be the next big thing. Continue reading New payment offerrings threaten the traditional card acquiring networks

The title says it all in this McKinsey piece from earlier in the year.  While it is fashionable, expected and admired to multitask the reality is that it is counterproductive.  The piece expands into a personal strategy to focus, filter and forget.  It’s a welcome reminder for time management principles.  It underlies the thinking with a new aspect to multi-tasking that is addictive and physiological.  This drug like effect generates company inefficiency, errors and missed opportunities. Always-on, multitasking work environments are killing productivity, dampening creativity, and making us unhappy | McKinsey We tend to believe that by doing several things … Continue reading The Perils of Multitasking | time management redux

An increasingly obvious observation from this Economist piece on the value of social media for commerce.  In particular the original promise was that social media would allow companies to infer and interpret customer preferences in a particularly granular and specific way, by associating customers buying preferences with their friends and their buying behaviors. Too much buzz – Social media provides huge opportunities, but will bring huge problems | Economist Most commentary on social media ignores an obvious truth—that the value of things is largely determined by their rarity. The more people tweet, the less attention people will pay to any … Continue reading What is the value of Social Media to commerce?

There is a brilliant collection of essays in the Jan/Feb issue of Foreign Affairs.  There is one lead piece from Francis Fukuyama entitled the Future of History (premium) which borrows from the title of his earlier book The End of History.  The broad theme is the failure of politics and the problem with the rise of economics over politics that has led (his words) to the end of left wing idealism as a counterweight to the right.  Foreign Affairs:  He closes with this statement on what is needed: It would have to have at least two components, political and economic. … Continue reading “The Future of History” (Fukuyama) and what does it mean for the design of banks

As a follow up to my ‘Failure of Politics’ post, here is succinct piece from Francis Fukuyama, Stanford Senior Fellow.  In particular this paragraph caught my eye.  We often hear of the divisions of power amongst the various branches, and the immobilising effect of lobbying in US politics.  However this was a new one to me, that any of the 100 Senators can place anonymous holds on work proceeding for entirely selfish purposes.  Talk about designing a political system to fail! Oh for a democratic dictatorship and not a vetocracy | ft.com – Francis Fukuyama In addition to the checks … Continue reading “A Failure of Politics” 2–designing a system to ensure failure