Being diagnosed with cancer concentrates the mind. In my case, nearly four years ago, the diagnosis was followed by two operations and six months of chemotherapy. Chemo is quite extraordinarily unpleasant and the third worst experience of my life. (Since … Continued
Perhaps I’m a bit naive, but in my years in the finance business I met very few people who struck me as unethical. Selfish, blinkered, dull and sometimes even quite stupid, yes, but seldom really bad. Perhaps they were good … Continued
The summer lull is a time for conspiracy theories and wacky ideas to be rolled out to fill space in the media. But one current topic of discussion has a deadly seriousness: the probability of an Israeli attack on Iran’s … Continued
London is permanently in the news in Britain. But a number of recent stories get to the heart of what London is and should be, the subject of increasing disagreement among Londoners themselves. First we have the imminent Olympics, a … Continued
Michael Sandel’s recent book “What Money Can’t Buy” has been selling well. He has put his finger on something that many people feel very uncomfortable about, the increasing number of activities that are subject to market-like forces. Examples including people … Continued
Ridley Scott’s latest film Prometheus has been heavily pre-marketed but someone of my age group, who remembers the brilliant original Alien, just had to go and see it. A prequel to Alien, Prometheus is visually striking (like all of Scott’s films, … Continued
In recent years there has been a fierce debate about the effectiveness of foreign aid, with opponents such as William Easterly arguing that most is wasted and that it often props up regimes that harm their population’s long term future. … Continued
I’m reading a new book by the American political philosopher Michael Sandel, called “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets”. It’s an interesting and characteristically thoughtful book on the way that market-based ideas and mechanisms have invaded areas … Continued
Recently one of my most distinguished colleagues said that the defining feature of academic research is rigour. He didn’t define it but I think his is a widely accepted view. I agree but “rigour” needs to be considered in context. … Continued
Daniel Kahneman – Thinking, fast and slow Whenever I’m asked in future to recommend a book on behavioural finance, I shall enthusiastically suggest this one. Although it’s not limited to behavioural finance or even its wider relation behavioural economics, the … Continued
Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson: “Why Nations Fail“ There have been many fascinating books in the last couple of decades on the big question of why some countries are rich and others poor, and the persistence of inequality over decades, … Continued
It has taken me about five months to finish “On China” by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Although I have faced several distractions along the way, including the desire to spend time with someone I love, that long … Continued
Rogue traders, like the poor, seem always to have been with us. Liaquat Ahamed, in his excellent “Lords of Finance” tells us on page 422 how the head of Lazards, one of the City’s most illustrious banks at that time … Continued
I normally try to be optimistic but we are living in difficult times. The risk of a calamity in the European economy is alarmingly high. While catastrophes such as the pan-European slump we are now threatened with have multiple causes, … Continued
In my Financial Institutions and Products course on the MFin, I give a brief introduction to national accounts and a way of thinking about macroeconomics that is relatively simple but allows us to explain a lot. It draws on the … Continued