This story is just a little too 1929ish for my tastes. Then, as apparently now, investors borrowed money to purchase stocks on high flying but fragile stock markets. In the roaring 20s, some investors borrowed on margin, with the help … Continue Reading
Federal Reserve Bank Notes Less Dependence on Data Used in FICO Scores
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia published a working paper covering FinTech lending. As Jackson Mueller points out: According to the report’s findings, Lending Club’s consumer lending activities “have penetrated areas that could benefit from additional credit supply,” including areas that … Continue Reading
US-China Dialogue Ends Without Joint Statement
These annual dialogues are relatively mundane events—and are not usually the source of much news, economic or otherwise. But the fact that there would be more attention this year is not at all surprising. That said, to end the … Continue Reading
Hedge Fund Traders Seem to think a Hard Brexit is More Likely
Story is here. Not that traders haven’t been wrong about UK-related politics before, of course. But still noteworthy. One interesting observation is that to stay in power, Theresa May will have to navigate her Conservative Party’s annual conference in … Continue Reading
Is China Creating Its Own FSOC?
According to one recent news report, the PBOC has been instructed to play “a bigger role in managing financial risk.” This didn’t seem too noteworthy in itself until the story went into bit more detail: A Financial Stability and Development … Continue Reading
Why A “Premium” Listing on the LSE for State Owned Companies Needs a Rethink
I can’t help but be concerned about the Financial Conduct Authority’s apparently serious consideration of “premium” (read: relaxed) listing standards for state-owned companies. Precisely because of the often cozy relationship between state-owned firms and their home governments, the finances of these kinds … Continue Reading
FSB Goes Hollywood and Releases a Video on G20 Reforms
Okay, so it’s not Hollywood. Or even close. Still, it is extremely interesting that the FSB took the effort to describe in clear, simple terms, and in a video to boot, what steps members are taking to make the global financial … Continue Reading
Hard to Imagine a “Quick” US-UK Trade Agreement (But Financial Regulation Won’t Be the Stumbling Block)
Economists are chiding the notion that the UK and US will be able to agree to a trade agreement “very, very quickly”, despite the US Administration’s optimism. It’s hard to disagree with them. Even though some preparatory work can be done to … Continue Reading
On Theresa May’s Offer to Allow the Labour Party to Help Her Govern the UK in Return for Brexit Support
Story is here. There is no way to imagine this moving forward, and I predict that the only thing that will be bipartisan is the opposition to it. That said, it is an interesting thought experiment to contemplate how much … Continue Reading
I’m not convinced (yet) that the IPO market needs fixing
It’s hard to tell exactly what IPO numbers mean nowadays, but there is some concern that there still aren’t enough companies seeking financing in public markets. Yet reforms have been made over the last several years under the JOBS Act precisely … Continue Reading