Chicago FinTech executives and developers celebrate, examine, and help create the future of money and finance through a series of events April 24 – 30. As the week approaches, Chicago takes the fifth spot in a new list of global financial technology hubs, based on FinTech innovation research by Deloitte.

In doing some research on the why legal cannabis businesses cannot get bank accounts, I came across a letter on cannabis business regulation sent last week by the governors of four states to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin. Give pot a chance, the letter essentially asks.

Co-authored with Kristin Carey.

Competitive markets drive innovations in business efficiency and strategy. Twenty-five years ago, Big Pharma companies did little outsourcing. Fortified by robust cash flows and high profit margins, they exercised near-total control over drug discovery, testing, approvals, manufacturing and distribution.

In the great whirl of FinTech news, with daily reports on the potential of artificial intellitence, machine learning, bots, and blockchain, the power of present practices can be forgotten.

Most small and midsize businesses pay with paper checks: 62% according to a recent Javelin Strategy and Research survey. Because it's easier.

Last Friday was supposed to be the shootout at the healthcare corral where Republican gunslingers were going to take the first major step toward repealing Obamacare. Instead legislators retreated to their offices with no shots fired.

Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the vote on the controversial American Health Care Act (AHCA) as moderate and conservative Republican Representatives pulled their support in droves.

In late January, I participated in an Oxford-style debate regarding whether healthcare is a commodity. The debate was the featured event at Tata Memorial Centre’s Platinum Jubilee Conference in Mumbai, India.

A packed auditorium of over a thousand attendees buzzed with excitement as Professor Antonio “Tito” Fojo (my opponent) and I walked on-stage. The conference theme, “HEALTHCARE: A Commodity or Basic Human Need?” put the spotlight on our contest. We were midway through the 3-day conference, and it was show-time.