When Vikram Pandit took over Citigroup in 2007, he was seen as an unlikely choice. In an industry dominated by white, glad-handing alpha males, Pandit is a bookish Indian immigrant known for his financial acumen but not his …
Finance
Spain Plays Cat-And-Mouse Over Bailout
An upcoming E.U. summit on banking union is being overshadowed by speculation over whether Spain will apply for financial rescue.
Are Average Investors Getting Bilked by Wall Street Supercomputers?
While high-frequency trading has propped up volume in the market, the method rewards shortsighted investors looking to make a quick profit
Bain Capital, Private Equity Firms Accused of Price Fixing in Lawsuit
Mitt Romney’s presidential run has had the ancillary effect of increasing scrutiny of the private equity industry. After all, Romney founded the private equity outfit Bain Capital, and has built his case for the presidency in …
New Public-Private Partnerships: The President’s Stealth Plan To Create Jobs?
As casual reading, the Presidential Memorandum “Accelerating Technology Transfer and Commercialization of Federal Research in Support of High-Growth Businesses,” released Oct. 28, 2011, is about as riveting as the Department of …
‘Super Mario’ Rides to the Euro’s Rescue
ECB plan to buy sovereign bonds of euro nations under market attack marks significant shift in policy
Amid Public Backlash, Bankers Maintain Influence in Washington
Wall Street isn’t the most popular industry in America right now. A poll conducted last fall by the Washington Post and ABC News found that 70% of the country viewed financial institutions on Wall Street unfavorably — and that …
Why Isn’t There More Inflation?
Huge deficits and ultra-low interest rates should have led to serious inflation by now. The great mystery of the past three years is why they haven’t.
Bankers: Who Needs Them?
Would the world be a happier place if we just got rid of all the bankers? Well, no. The financial sector, for all of its foibles, is as necessary for the economy as blood is for our bodies: it facilitates trade, allocates …
Should Mitt Romney Embrace His Rich-Guy Image?
Evidently feeling that our political discourse is not silly enough yet, the kind folks at National Review have given us a cover story arguing that Mitt Romney needs to fully embrace his inner Thurston Howell. And that he should …
Junk Bonds: Wall Street’s Newest Bubble?
In an effort to nurse the long-ailing global economy, central banks around the world have maintained near-zero short-term interest rates for many years now. The Federal Reserve has even gone so far as to buy up billions of …
Nassim Taleb: In the Investment Biz, Luck Trumps Skill, So Take Your Talent Elsewhere
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be investment professionals.
That’s the argument Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the investment expert and math whiz who wrote the influential book The Black Swan, is making these days.