In a surprise move, the Indian government retired the country's current high-dollar bank notes and replaced them with new versions. ATMs ran dry as people went to banks to exchange their banned old notes for the brand-new ones.

Enrollment for purchasing 2017 health insurance on public exchanges began November 1st. Headlines for this fourth enrollment period include: 22% average price increases; major health insurers dropping coverage; and some exchanges only a single insurer offering health plans.

While Obamacare reels, its Healthcare.gov website functions smoothly. That was not true three years ago when the Obama administration launched HealthCare.gov. Curious consumers overwhelmed the website. It crashed repeatedly, catastrophically and almost died.

Many facile comparisons have been made between Brexit and the election of Donald Trump today.

They have an important element in common. But the commentators have missed it.

It is said that both represent a backlash against globalisation. Others say it is a revolt of the uneducated, the marginalised, the people who have been left behind.  Others  emphasise the reaction against excessive immigration: “We want our country back”.

This week's issue of The Economist mentions FinTech as a factor in two economic trends in financial services and their relationship to technology: falling revenues for investment banks and shifting power for the City of London.

This US election cycle has had more ups and downs than Game 7 of the World Series. The  sturm und drang  has perhaps defocused us from current issues and uncertainty clouding the global economy.  In our commentary roundup, we will get the US out of the way first, but won’t neglect China, Russia, and the UK, each facing crises of their own. We will end with steady-as-she-goes Japan, and baseball. Fun fact: the victory parade here in Chicago on Friday was the 7th largest gathering of people in human history. 

Data and its use and control, more than any technology innovation, took a primary position at this year’s Money20/20 conference and exhibition. This year’s annual event brought more than 10,000 financial-services executives, entrepreneurs, and technologists to Las Vegas for a whirlwind of meetings, presentations, and demonstrations.

Co-authored with James Moloney and Carsten Beith

There's a battle outside and it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'!

I am attending the annual Money20/20 FinTech conference in Las Vegas this week. Here is a summary of this week's FinTech related links: