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US deficit reaches world record levels, and rising

Colin Henderson

US deficit is now in Botswana and Russia territory in terms of record levels relative to GDP. The argument that this is not inflationary sounds to me like pushing water uphill. $1.4 Trillion Deficit Complicates Stimulus Plans WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that the federal budget deficit for the fiscal year that just ended was $1.4 trillion, nearly a trillion dollars greater than the year before and the largest shortfall relative to the size of the economy since 1945. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/us/17deficit.html?_r=1&th&emc=th Continue reading US deficit reaches world record levels, and rising

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Active and Passive Banking as a way to filter your online banking & mobile services

Colin Henderson

One challenge that banks continue to fail at is mobile banking. Jim here coins the phrase ‘active banking’ to describe the gap that can be filled with mobile banking. Some have tinkered with active banking but most focus on mobile being a mini online banking (‘passive banking’). In these days of deliberating on cost cutting while simultaneously improving service to assure customer retention, this piece is worth the read, to form basis for analysis of your own strategies for active and passive banking. The Impact of Always-On Mobile Banking | netbanker But most users will want to be in active … Continue reading Active and Passive Banking as a way to filter your online banking & mobile services

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Microsoft is fighting the wrong fight in Europe over Internet Explorer

Colin Henderson

Microsoft continues to miss out on its largest opportunity by continuing the anti-trust battle in Europe over Internet Explorer. It is ironic that this battle in Europe continues when Microsoft is defending a browser that everyone knows is behind in terms of security and standards implementation notwithstanding the IE 8 release. I stand by something I thought a few years ago that MS would be better served to support Firefox (and Chrome) and thus allow the MS product managers to remove non standard implementations required to accommodate IE. Continue reading Microsoft is fighting the wrong fight in Europe over Internet Explorer

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Inflation or no inflaton coming | Econobrowser

Colin Henderson

James at Econobrowser always offers insightful views on the economy. This post deals with the prospect for the current hot topic, of inflation or not. My read is that earlier inflation is the more likely prospect, given sectoral imbalances are more likely than not. Will stimulating nominal aggregate demand solve our problems? My personal view is that real-world unemployment arises from the interaction of sectoral imbalances with frictions in the wage and price structure of the sort documented by Truman Bewley and Alan Blinder. The key empirical test, in my opinion, is at what point inflationary pressures begin to pick … Continue reading Inflation or no inflaton coming | Econobrowser

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Who will be the last bank without an iphone app?

Colin Henderson

Jim notes the new Mercedes app but he also asks the important question. When we consider the relatively small cost why would any bank not have an iphone app, even with rudimentary functions, such as balance and transfer, but through in bill payment and secure communication, and you cannot go wrong. The safari browser is as (more) secure than internet explorer which banks trust for majority of their web banking, so for the life of me I cannot see why this is not a priority. The positive press and customer comments from users translates into marketing gold and customer advocacy. … Continue reading Who will be the last bank without an iphone app?

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The Economist Special Report on the World Economy coins the term ‘Gandhian Banking’

Colin Henderson

Under the heading ‘Gandhian Banking’ The Economist reveals the extent of worldwide government injection into banks at $432 billion by this spring and guaranteed bank debts at $4.65 trillion. Of perhaps even greater significance is the implicit guarantee that now exists for all banks. By this summer 33 American banks had repaid the capital the government had injected into them. The new era of state ownership seemed to be passing almost as quickly as it had arrived. But the state still has a large stake in the financial system beyond its explicit ownership of shares. It now owns the risk … Continue reading The Economist Special Report on the World Economy coins the term ‘Gandhian Banking’

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Too Big to Fail and How Little the Concept is Misunderstood

Colin Henderson

Sheila Blair Chair of the American FDIC (retail deposit guarantees) speaks clearly yet with words that are hardly reflective of US policy. The first task is to scrap the “too big to fail” doctrine. To do this, we need to fix weaknesses in our regulatory system, and achieve global reform for effective resolution processes when large firms fail. With these steps, we can foster real market discipline and make international cooperation more successful. Co-incidentally I watched the BBC World Debate earlier with an interesting group of contrasts (no video online yet) BBC World Debate – Global Financial Crisis: Can we … Continue reading Too Big to Fail and How Little the Concept is Misunderstood

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Concern over banks and ‘dark pools’ reaches G20

Colin Henderson

A new concern has arisen over the growth of ‘dark pools’ or private unregulated trading exchanges, where banks and large investors are trading derivatives off balance sheet. IT is significant enough to have come to the attention of this weeks G20. Exchanges issue warning on spread of ‘dark pools’ | ft.com The world’s stock and derivatives exchanges on Tuesday warned the Group of 20 leaders that the continued “proper functioning” of their markets could not be taken for granted because of a proliferation of alternative trading venues such as “dark pools”. This is relevant because the near $ 1 trillion … Continue reading Concern over banks and ‘dark pools’ reaches G20

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Moody’s has not recovered nor learned any lessons apparently

Colin Henderson

This is a dramatic situation for Moody’s and the state of the rating agencies. NY Officials Cast Doubts on Moody’s | FT US insurance regulators are expected to discuss dropping Moody’s Investors Service from a list of acceptable rating organisations at a meeting later this week, according to an official in the New York Insurance Department, reports Reuters. This from the Reuters piece. They have not recovered from the credibility gap associated with the financial crisis. The insurance industry has $3 trillion in rated bonds in the insurance industry alone. The three leading ratings firms — Moody’s, Fitch and Standard … Continue reading Moody’s has not recovered nor learned any lessons apparently

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Thoughts on the real-time web, and the fallacy of the wisdom of crowds

Colin Henderson

The big meme at the moment is the real-time web. I have a couple of points to make here, that might help understand the current state of internet. If like me you are fed up of hearing CNN reporters say "and over here on Twitter mightymouse says ….. " then read on, and hopefully this helps define your own perspective. The broad notion of real time is that the internet is series of information snippets that can be pulled together from disparate sources across the web. By immersing yourself in this pool of information through tools such as twitter, Facebook, … Continue reading Thoughts on the real-time web, and the fallacy of the wisdom of crowds