Pulse


EconVue Spotlight: Focus on Iran

Payments Power

The payments sector of the FinTech ecosystem heats up this month. Recent developments in the largest and most mature FinTech sector include release of the final report of the U.S. Faster Payments Task Force, major consolidation among worldwide payments processors, and reports of high growth in person-to-person (P2P) payments.

It’s Still the Economy, Stupid!

Republicans know that the terrain for next year’s midterm elections could be treacherous.  Off the record, they bemoan their inability to enact their agenda and mourn President Donald Trump’s unpopularity.  In principle, the GOP still might get its act together and pass a tax reform with new tax breaks for middle class taxpayers.  Events unforeseen and unimagined could offer Trump a platform to renew his poplar appeal.  Even so, they’re ignoring the signs that a sagging economy next year will dominate the 2018 campaigns.

Update on Iran's Political Economy: Will Taxes Replace Oil Revenues?

While the rest of the world is preoccupied with the now familiar crises in the MENA region (refugees, the Syrian civil war, Yemen) the newly reelected president of Iran appears to be making determined moves to shift Iran’s economy from dependence upon energy resources to reliance on taxation revenues.

RMB Redux

EconVue Spotlight

What FinTech Means?

"When you think of FinTech, do you think of it more as a product or a service?" It was a question asked by a member of the audience at the Incubate Illinois FinTech panel sponsored Wednesday by the Chicago law firm Freeborn & Peters. It occurred to me that I take it for granted professionals in finance and technology understand what FinTech means.

Forming a More Perfect Health System: Senate Republicans Confront Their Policy Demons

Senator Mitch McConnell is the most effective Senate Majority Leader since Lyndon Johnson. A tactical maestro, McConnell faces the seeming impossible task of uniting the Republican party’s divergent conservative and moderate wings to pass health reform legislation. Growing numbers of Republican senators have indicated they cannot vote for the legislation as currently drafted.

EconVue Spotlight: Blockchain, ICO Special Edition

We have been following FinTech for a while now, but recently stories about blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been appearing everywhere. ICO's, or Initial Coin Offerings are beginning to look like a gold rush. Beyond the hype, driven by exponential returns for the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum, what are the constraints on further growth?

The ICO Explosion: A Primer

If you’ve been following recent news headlines, you may have noticed an uptick in the number of articles discussing blockchain technology, and more specifically, the emergence of a new venture funding model based on that technology: the token sale. But first, a brief explanation of blockchains.

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