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Category Archives: Financial System

Alexander Skarsgård Explains the Answer to Everything

The New York Times – (It Involves Doing Some Math – Opinion / Video) “Partha Dasgupta is a Cambridge University economist who in 2021 prepared a more than 600-page report for the British government about the financial value of nature. Not your average bedtime reading. But believe us when we say his report, the culmination of decades of scholarship, is incredibly important. Or at least believe the United Nations, which awarded him the title Champion of the Earth for his work. Or King Charles III, who this year made Mr. Dasgupta a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire — an extremely rare honor — for his services to economics and the natural environment. Mr. Dasgupta’s voluminous study [The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review] is so important, that we decided to publish a short film about it, the Opinion video above. To make his complex review digestible, the film employs old-timey cartoons, some cursing, a clip of Boris Johnson in a hard hat while dangling from a cable, a very apt soccer metaphor, a bit of Strauss and a title that could be viewed as an exaggeration. We even hired the Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard to help simplify its concepts and convey why the report is, if not required reading for everyone, at least something everyone should know about…”

Loose Monetary Policy and Financial Instability

Via NBER – Loose Monetary Policy and Financial Instability. Maximilian Grimm, Òscar Jordà, Moritz Schularick & Alan M. Taylor “Do periods of persistently loose monetary policy increase financial fragility and the likelihood of a financial crisis? This is a central question for policymakers, yet the literature does not provide systematic empirical evidence about this link… Continue Reading

Nearly 200 Other Banks Vulnerable To SVB-Style Collapse

Jiang, Erica Xuewei and Matvos, Gregor and Piskorski, Tomasz and Seru, Amit, Monetary Tightening and U.S. Bank Fragility in 2023: Mark-to-Market Losses and Uninsured Depositor Runs? (March 13, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4387676 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4387676 “We analyze U.S. banks’ asset exposure to a recent rise in the interest rates with implications for financial stability. The… Continue Reading

What Really Broke the Banks

The Atlantic – “The Fed, among others, is blameworthy. But the ultimate culprit is COVID-19…After COVID-19 hit the U.S., bank deposits soared. The pandemic-relief measures—including stimulus payments, expanded unemployment insurance, and Paycheck Protection Program funds—put more money in people’s hands, even as consumer spending fell. At the same time, businesses cut back sharply on spending… Continue Reading

2022 Fossil Fuel Finance Report

Banking on Climate Chaos – Any bank supporting any company that is expanding fossil fuels is driving climate chaos: “Fossil fuel financing from the world’s 60 largest banks has reached USD $4.6 trillion in the six years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, with $742 billion in fossil fuel financing in 2021 alone. This… Continue Reading

New Online Tool Helps Consumers Compare Homeowners Insurance

“After every major disaster, many homeowners are shocked to learn that their homeowners insurance fails to pay for their losses. The same is true in everyday events; a plumbing leak that causes thousands of dollars of damage may not be covered under homeowners insurance. The Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility at Rutgers Law aims… Continue Reading

AI isn’t yet going to take your job

Washington Post – “but you may have to work with it Artificial intelligence is increasingly making its way across industries, changing jobs from retail to medicine to marketing…Today, AI can power grocery store robots that change how stores get stocked, speed up vaccine production and generate creative ideas. But the latest advancements raise important questions… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 18, 2023

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 18, 2023 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the… Continue Reading

Morgan Stanley is testing an OpenAI-powered chatbot for its 16,000 financial advisors

CNBC: Morgan Stanley is rolling out an advanced chatbot powered by OpenAI’s latest technology to help the bank’s army of financial advisors, CNBC has learned. The bank has been testing the artificial intelligence tool with 300 advisors and plans to roll it out widely in the coming months, according to Jeff McMillan, head of analytics… Continue Reading