Micro-finance – small loans without any banks involved, are steadily appearing at a more rapid pace than even I appreciated. Social lenders go where banks fear to tread | ft.com Belu is unusual not only because raising environmental awareness is just as important to its founders as producing bottled water, but because of its sources of funding. About £100,000 ($148,620) of the money behind Belu was lent not by a bank or venture capital firm, but by London Rebuilding Society, one of about 100 UK non-profit lenders known as community development finance institutions Continue reading Community Development Finance Institutions are making their mark – UK

Interesting perspective from Dr. Pomerleano which refers to the Auto sector in the US. I am increasingly seeing that auto sector and the banking sector as parallels. He argues that fixing the banking sector is not enough – the ‘fix’ requires that the corporate sector is also fixed. There is a risk that the recent recapitalization of the banking sector will fail to achieve its intended objectives, because none of the measures addresses the corporate side of the picture. … … For instance, Detroit seem to have forgotten that before asking Congress to allocate tax dollars, efforts should be made … Continue reading Can governments ever fix the right thing?

This is a fascinating post at ASI that is intriguing. The concept is that the benefit of innovation lies with the consumer, and NOT with the innovator. This actually resonates (in a bad way) and would support banks’ sticking with the status quo. Have to study this more – there is a paper in the links. Missing the point on innovation | Adam Smith Institute It’s actually only 2.2 % of the value that goes to the innovators. The rest goes to the users of the products. Continue reading Who actually benefits from innovation?

Lex sums up the difficulties when government ownership in banks is involved. State-owned banks The trouble when state and private interests collide is that banks suffer crises of purpose. It is not enough to say both sets of shareholders want to maximise total returns. Even private investors disagree on the best deployment of capital. But a government’s holding has to be consistent with wider policy objectives. For example, the new US administration hopes to add 2.5m new jobs. Yet rolling heads at Citigroup, in which Uncle Sam could one day own an almost 10 per cent stake, are fast approaching … Continue reading The trouble when state and private interests collide

Every four years the National Intelligence Council (American) produces a review of the international landscape.  While it is definitely produced with a view to security considerations, its a wonderful glimpse into the global shifts and changes at play.  The four year schedule is long enough to catch the big shifts. Global Trends 2025 National Intelligence Council Despite the recent financial volatility—which could end up accelerating many ongoing trends—we do not believe that we are headed toward a  complete breakdown of the international system, as occurred in 1914-1918 when an earlier phase of globalization came to a halt. However, the next … Continue reading The 2025 Global Landscape

A remarkable achievement from RBC in these times.  Royal Bank profit falls 15% | Globe and Mail But Dundee Securities analyst John Aiken chose to upgrade Royal Bank on the announcement. Technorati Tags: RBC Continue reading RBC gets an investment analyst upgrade – a unique achievement

In true form, Jim posts some excellent observations from BAI. I especially liked the Moneto, BMO, and Tapscott comments – two awesome/ one terrible. Highlights from BAI Retail Delivery 2008 | Netbanker Most audacious business plan: Alt-payment startups Moneta and sister company Acculynk which are looking to disrupt online payments at the point of sale Best demo of something that actually exists: Bank of Montreal’s demo of its new branch locator using Microsoft Virtual Earth (shown at the Microsoft’s booth) Worst financial example during a keynote: Don Tapscott used Zopa USA as an example of a promising new web 2.0 … Continue reading BAI | Netbanker review