A brilliant woman who is modest and collegial, Yellen is most likely to continue the policies of her predecessor.  Yet she has a need interest in employment, one of the two major charges of the US Federal Reserve.  Apart from the obvious secondary effects of monetary policy on job growth, how exactly can the Fed impact on a job market where the central problem is mismatch between available workers and the requirements of jobs?

A Portrait of Janet Yellen

Edward Snowden has effected a significant change in US attitudes toward privacy.  He even made a dent on policy.  But he cannot come home.  Should this be the fate of whistleblowers?

Women in the finance sector can assess the immediate financial impact on a business, which raises their credibility across boards.

Women with financial backgrounds are likely to attain board seats across corporates due to their ability to assess how finance impacts a company’s growth, according to Cynthia Corby, partner at Deloitte and Touche, Middle East.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that women in finance- because they can talk about factual information and link it to strategy- and assess the immediate financial impact that things can have on the business, gives them a very credible seat in the boardroom.
Women In Finance Are More Likely To Attain Board Seats

Bitcoin has been tossed into the virtual gutter at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, as top US financial leaders warned the digital currency could be used to fund terrorism and predicted that regulation would put it out of business.

US Treasury secretary Jack Lew said: “From the government’s point of view, we have to make sure it does not become an avenue to funding illegal activities or to funding activities that have malign purposes like terrorist activities.

“It is an anonymous form of transaction and it offers places for people to hide,” Mr Lew said in a televised interview with CNBC at Davos.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan chairman and chief executive, told the same channel: “The question isn’t whether we accept it. The question is do we even participate with people who facilitate Bitcoin?”

Ultimately, Mr Dimon said, Bitcoin would be subjected to the same regulatory standards as other payment systems and “that will probably be the end of them”.

Regulatory uncertainty has deterred banks from offering services to virtual currency start-ups. But Mr Dimon’s cautious approach contrasts with rival Wells Fargo, which recently launched a group to examine how it might safely offer Bitcoin-related services or banking arrangements to virtual currency entrepreneurs.

The JPMorgan boss said: “Governments put a huge amount of pressure on banks, and so, to know who your client is, anti-money laundering, did you do real reviews of that? Obviously it’s almost impossible with something like that.”  Of course, Mr. DImon has tried hard to do just that.

Dimon added that Bitcoin was “a terrible store of value” that “can be replicated over and over,” and that according to reports, “a lot of it is being used for illicit purposes”.

The US Treasury secretary seemed to agree with the JPMorgan boss, saying: “I’ve talked to Jamie Dimon about it. I think he and I both share a certain incredulity about the whole phenomenon.”

The US Treasury declared last year that Bitcoin businesses must register as money services businesses and impose anti-money laundering checks on customers. Most of the 50 US states also impose their own regulations on money services businesses.

However, JPMorgan only last month filed a US patent application for a computerised payment system, which like Bitcoin would allow people to make anonymous, electronic payments over the internet, without having to reveal their name or account numbers.

Irish telecoms billionaire Denis O’Brien added his voice to the Davos sceptics of the virtual currency by saying he would avoid investing in Bitcoin.

In the US, politicians revving up for the big race for President in 2016 are flying the Inequality banner. Will this bring victory at the polls?  Take from the Rich to Pay for the Poor

Anat Admati, the Stanford economist and author of “The Banker’s New Clothes,”speaks out on banking issues, at the Davos debate on “Are the Markets Safer Now?”  Admati made it clear that markets are not much safer now. The banking lobby has too much influence.  US politicians and other politicians around the world fail to meet their legislative obligations.