Regular readers will know my stance on Brexit. And I voted as I did – after much reflection – well aware of the risk of turbulence ahead. Just as I anticipated that the Pound would descend, not in a linear fashion, but in steps. Until, that is, the end-game becomes clear. In a rational world…
The internet revolution began more than 20 years ago. And yet not a month goes by without news of new internet-based businesses threatening to disrupt traditional business models. Turning my telescope back towards the firmament of cyberspace, I perceive a small cluster of twinkling stars – and the presence of a possible black hole… Micro…
With the go-ahead for the Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor, announced on 14 September, the nuclear power industry is back in the news in the UK. Nuclear power generation is a massive global industry which currently uses a number of related technologies. Yet the sector has been overlooked by investors mainly because most (though not…
It is more than 20 years since the internet revolution began. And yet not a month goes by without news of new internet-based businesses threatening to disrupt traditional business models. In the first of an occasional series I’d like to point my telescope towards a few rising stars in the firmament of cyberspace. Some of…
Don’t tell ze Britisch but ve really need zem… In a recent reflection on what central bankers get up to when they meet together for some rest and recreation, I attempted to explain what TARGET2 is. This is the settlements system that, since 1999, has facilitated payments between the various Eurozone countries’ internal settlement platforms.…
Schrödinger’s Cat is out of the bag On 04 August I authored an article on these pages entitled Schrödinger’s Cat is SO Clever – about Quantum Computing (QC). Little did I know that that was the very day that a secret group of Google’s scientists chose to publish an academic paper for peer review which…
European bank stocks have fallen to historically low multiples. The earnings outlook is uncertain and the banking environment is in flux. Tighter regulation, coordinated at the EU level, and challenging market conditions have forced banks to refine their business models and strategies – but all this has impacted their Return on Capital. European banks are…
The remainiacs control the media Do not underestimate the breadth and depth of the recusant remainiacs. Their mouthpieces are the BBC, the Economist and the increasingly ludicrous Financial Times. But they have extensive influence propagated by Church of England vicars, luvvies, much of the teaching profession as well as trendy entrepreneurs and a throng of…
The European politicians who perpetually nudge the United Kingdom to get on with it (that is, to trigger Article 50 and to set out, point-by-point, the definitive post-Brexit blueprint) are like junior chess players who huff and puff because their opponent spends too much time making his first move. They can’t understand that considered meditation…
It was bound to happen – and now it has. India’s love affair with technology and e-commerce has spawned an explosion in “fintech”. We can define fintech as digital technology businesses that compete against (and disrupt) – or sometimes support – the activities of established financial institutions. Businesses in the fintech space serve both customers…
