In 1919, journalist John Reed published Ten Days that Shook the World, a first-hand account of the October 1917 Russian Revolution. During that dramatic 10-day period, Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks took control of the Russian government and established the world’s first socialist government. Russia and the world would never be the same.
 

It's that time of year: review and predict. Here are 18 links of 2017 trends and 2018 predictions to ponder over the New Year holiday.

2017 in Review

Well, what else?

There is other FinTech news in banking and payments, but capital markets got most of the FinTech attention in the last week.

Even my favorite noncrypto FinTech story ended with a crypto note. Nearly 200 people attended the initial meeting of Chicago's FinTech Women (FTW), "The Future of FinTech is Female."

On the 19th of April in 1775, a ragtag Massachusetts militia confronted the mighty British army in search of Colonial munitions and rebellion leaders. The Battle of Lexington and Concord marked the first military engagement between American revolutionaries and their British colonizers. The Americans carried the day and began their long arduous march toward independence.
 
Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson captured the battle’s mythical meaning to American patriots at the July 4, 1837 dedication ceremony for the Battle of Concord memorial. In his “Concord Hymn” Emerson wrote:

"If the current financial industry is to remain relevant, it must brace for a FinTech-tonic shift of unprecedented proportions," writes Jim Marous in the Financial Brand. "FinTech carries awesome potential for creative disruption, and the financial industry—the very creators of money—must manage this global dash towards both disintermediation and demonetization."

Common wisdom holds that “it’s easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar.” That aphorism also applies to payers seeking lower prices for routine healthcare procedures. It “tastes” better when providers attract new customers with “bottom-up” high-value services than when payers hammer providers through “top-down” payment reform.

Having failed to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, House and Senate Republicans have set their sights on reforming the U.S. tax code, a daunting undertaking that hasn’t occurred since the mid-1980s. Their principal objective is to reduce the corporate tax rate from its current level of 35% to 20%.

This week, the banking drama unfolds in three acts:

I.   Payments Possibilities
II.  Regulatory Ruminations
III. Lending Lessons

I. Top 10 trends in retail payments

Co-authored with Richard Jones, president and CEO of Essence Healthcare, one of the nation’s first accountable delivery systems and a consistently high-rated Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) health plan. 

Earlier this year, the Choosing Wisely campaign celebrated its 5th anniversary. Choosing Wisely is a well-funded, practice-focused organization created to reduce “wasteful or unnecessary medical tests, treatments and procedures.”