Pulse: Finance, Banking, and Regulation


Conventions, Convergence, and Competition

Innovation, a favorite topic of debate in the business of technology, gets a FinTech work over in this week's links. Plus more blockchain endorsements and reports, along with some timely cautions.

FinTech food for thought

Blockchain Watch

For this week, I'm moving the weekly blockchain feature to the top of the links, as blockchain continues to capture business and technology attention. The Wall Street Journal even reported that blockchain is at a tipping point, in a comparison of the technology now versus the internet 25 years ago. It certainly is in terms of FinTech attention.

Rocky Transitions

Rocky Transitions

I know it's difficult to believe but transitions in technology and updates to regulatory regimes do not necessarily put the consumer's point of view first. The digitization of money and banking is inevitable, but the ability of FinTech to empower individuals and community institutions is not.

This week's links provide some examples. And also some hope for outcomes that work for everyone.

The chip card transition in the U.S. has been a disaster

The FinTech Bubble - My Response

My response after reading professor Joi Ito's piece at https://joi.ito.com/weblog/2016/06/14/-the-fintech-bu.html, 

Report from Beijing - 2015 International Finance Forum

The following remarks with subsequent modification were delivered at the November 6-8 convening of the International Finance Forum, headquartered in Beijing. IFF’s mission is to facilitate high-level, multilateral dialogue and promote insights about current issued defining the international economy. The writer is a member of the IFF Academic Committee.

Greece: The Turning Point

Economist Anotole Kaletsky has not joined the Greek chorus bemoaning the recent deal between Athens and the EU.  He is instead refreshingly optimistic that it was a good deal for both sides, and is sustainable.

...the main conditions now seem to be in place for a sustainable recovery in Greece. Conventional wisdom among economists and investors has a long record of failing to spot major turning points; so the near-universal belief today that Greece faces permanent depression is no reason to despair.

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