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Behind blue eyes: Simon Taylor's blog. Behind blue eyes: Simon Taylor's blog.

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Multiple causation in history: the case of the Global Financial Crisis
18 Aug 2024

Multiple causation in history: the case of the Global Financial Crisis

by Simon Taylor | posted in: Course material, MFin | 0

Each year on the Master of Finance core course on Financial Institutions and Markets, I do a session on the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-09. One thing I emphasise is the many different causes of this highly influential event, which … Continued

China, GFC, history, regulation, USA
Nuclear is only a small part of the answer to climate change
14 Aug 2023

Nuclear is only a small part of the answer to climate change

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, Economics, Energy, International affairs | 0

Nuclear has a role to play in providing reliable carbon-free electricity, but in the US and Europe it is likely to be too expensive to have more than a small role. * As I have written two books about nuclear … Continued

China, construction, energy, nuclear power, UK, US
What is geopolitics?
13 Apr 2023

What is geopolitics?

by Simon Taylor | posted in: International affairs | 2

Geopolitics has two related but distinct meanings * International politics, the relationship between states, is complicated. What are a nation’s interests? Determined by who? How do national politics affect foreign policy? Can technology transcend geography? How do culture and “national … Continued

China, Geography, Geopolitics, history, USA
Avoiding another Cold War
30 Mar 2023

Avoiding another Cold War

by Simon Taylor | posted in: International affairs | 1

A child’s enquiry about the Cold War brings back memories and raises concerns for the future * The other day a friend’s child asked me, what was the Cold War? Children ask about history all the time, but perhaps in … Continued

China, cold war, history, nuclear war, USA, USSR
The paradox of Chinese Communist ideology
26 Mar 2023

The paradox of Chinese Communist ideology

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, International affairs | 0

A country with several thousand years of distinctive cultural history is governed through European ideology * It is often said that China is one of the world’s oldest civilisations, tracing a history back to around 2,200BCE. Of course there were … Continued

China, history
The case for bitcoin
15 Mar 2021

The case for bitcoin

by Simon Taylor | posted in: Course material, Financial products | 2

People are often surprised when they ask economists, what is money, and the reply is, well, anything that fulfills the functions of money is money: money is as money does. The classic definition of money is anything that is: i) … Continued

bitcoin, China, cryptoassets, gold, Insurance
Has the US “lost” China a second time?
22 Feb 2021

Has the US “lost” China a second time?

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, International affairs | 3

The shift of US attitudes on China owes as much to American disappointments as it does to changes in China’s behaviour * After the revolution that brought the Chinese Communist Party to power in 1949, a shocked US foreign policy … Continued

China, Foreign policy, Geopolitics, International relations
India and China
20 Jun 2020

India and China

by Simon Taylor | posted in: Book recommendation, China, International affairs | 0

Recent news of increasingly lethal clashes on the long and disputed border between India and China raises a question, how have the two most populous nations on Earth previously mostly kept the peace? * “Good fences make good neighbours” Robert … Continued

China, Geography, Geopolitics, history, India, Vietnam
Why “Chinese virus” is wrong
6 May 2020

Why “Chinese virus” is wrong

by Simon Taylor | posted in: Book recommendation, China | 3

I was asked a question by a student today and I thought I would share my answer in this blog. The question: “You rightly call the global financial crisis of ’08 the North American crisis – in attribution, correctly, to … Continued

China, crises, debt, history, US
Could China’s population halve by the end of the century?
1 Apr 2019

Could China’s population halve by the end of the century?

by Simon Taylor | posted in: Book recommendation, China, Economics, International affairs | 4

Demography, the study of population, is one of the few areas of the social sciences where long term predictions (over one or more decades) can have some value. This is because the dynamics of population growth depend on the current … Continued

China, demography, globalisation
What has the world economy ever done for us? – EMBA elective reading 2 (*)
14 Jan 2019

What has the world economy ever done for us? – EMBA elective reading 2 (*)

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, Course material, Economics, EMBA, International affairs, MFin | 2

A lot of people in the richer economies appear doubtful that economic globalisation has been good for them. But there are hundreds of millions in the rest of the world for whom globalisation has been a critical part of their … Continued

China, EMBA, globalisation, growth, poverty
Are we heading for a world like that of “1984”?
7 Oct 2018

Are we heading for a world like that of “1984”?

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, Economics, International affairs | 0

I think the world may be fragmenting into increasingly separate economic and cultural regions, one dominated by China, another led but not dominated by the US, with other nations watching and wondering how best to position themselves. This reminds me … Continued

BRI, China, development, globalisation, growth, international finance
What’s the future for peer-to-peer lending?
23 Sep 2018

What’s the future for peer-to-peer lending?

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, Course material, Finance sector, Financial products, MFin | 5

P2P (peer-to-peer) lending is the biggest and most developed form of alternative finance. But does it have any enduring value to add in the financial system? * P2P lending platforms have sprung up in many countries since the global financial crisis, … Continued

alternative finance, banks, China, credit, fintech, P2P, regulation
Is China’s debt even higher than we thought?
27 Oct 2017

Is China’s debt even higher than we thought?

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, Course material, Finance sector, MFin | 4

The high and rising level of Chinese corporate and local government debt has been a concern for several years. Recent data from the People’s Bank of China suggests the true figure may be much higher than we thought, but things … Continued

China, debt, shadow banking
The Chinese stock market mess may have a long term benefit
27 Aug 2015

The Chinese stock market mess may have a long term benefit

by Simon Taylor | posted in: China, Finance sector | 6

The Chinese stock market rise and fall is relatively unimportant for the Chinese and global economies but it has harmed the government’s reputation and may set back reform. But it if helps to kill the idea that the market can … Continued

China, stockmarkets

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About

Simon is a member of the finance faculty group at Cambridge Judge Business School. From 2008-18 he was the first Director of the University of Cambridge Master of Finance (MFin) degree, and he is now Director of the University's Global Executive MBA. An economist and former equities analyst at JPMorgan and Citigroup, he teaches on financial markets and institutions, infrastructure finance and the world financial system. He is a Fellow in Economics at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. His book on nuclear power in the UK was published in March 2016.

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