How the personal finance industry patronizes women.
An entire industry encompassing everything from financial service behemoths to book publishers has arisen to tell women that the appropriate response to their lesser financial status is to hire someone to tell them how to manage their money ..article
The great question is whether the world economy really is at the start of a fresh cycle of growth, or whether the roaring asset rally of the last few months is another false dawn driven by central bank liquidity that is failing to gain economic traction. The International Monetary Fund’s said this week that the world economy is not yet out of the woods. “It is clear that financial markets are ahead of the real economy. The question is whether they are too much ahead or not, whether we are seeing a bubble,” said chief economist Olivier Blanchard. Article
Bond Crash Alert in US?
In a profound article on the state of big banks in America, the Atlantic Monthly holds out little hope for their future. Article
How far can a government go in keeping trade ‘fair’? Article
Mary Jo White and the SEC: The right woman at the wrong time
President Obama’s pick for SEC chair has a lot of experience prosecuting Wall Street crime. We could have used that four years ago…article
Despite a new quota system demanding that the largest members send one woman for every four men, just 17% of the 2,500 delegates are female. Despite a push to encourage more women on to panels to discuss the issues of the day, just 20% of those invited to do so are women. The majority of panels, especially on key economic topics, are still dominated by (white) men. Article
*MIA is “Missing In Action”
Announcing his candidacy on Thursday, Dijsselbloem told Dutch lawmakers he wanted to broaden out the Eurogroup’s agenda beyond discussion of crisis measures and bailout countries. “It has to be broadened out to include economic co-operation and reinforcement,” he said, adding that reforms were needed in virtually all the countries of the eurozone. This conciliatory style marks a break with the blunt style of his predecessor, Jan Kees De Jager, who ruffled feathers with his demands for fiscal discipline in the eurozone periphery. He has carrots to go with the sticks. In December, he promised Dutch lawmakers he would help Greek tax authorities deal with tax dodgers by sending them details of hundreds of Greek yachts anchored in Dutch ports…Article
After a day of discussions ranging from the future of Russia to what the West Wing tells
us about intelligence, here are some of the day’s highlights…article
“Europe faces issues, but its destiny shines through the smoke and fog. I’m optimistic about Europe’s future”
“Unless we take action on climate change, future generations will be roasted, toasted, fried and grilled.”
Christine Lagarde
Morgan Stanley employees working on one of the toxic assets that helped blow up the world economy discussed what to name it. Among the team members’ suggestions: “Subprime Meltdown,” “Hitman,” “Nuclear Holocaust,” “Mike Tyson’s Punchout,” and the simple-yet-direct: Shitbag. Article
The US Secretary of Defense has said women are combat ready. Is combat what we have always wanted? Article
