Institutional Investor (February Issue)
“For those who build and manage market and trading technologies, 2012 was punctuated by trouble. High-profile system malfunctions marred the BATS Global Markets and Facebook IPOs in March and May, respectively, and brought down market maker Knight Capital Group in August. These too were good new/bad news incidents, not as catastrophic as the still-reverberating ‘flash cash’ of May 6, 2010, but reminders that such technological snafus happen too frequently for comfort. All of this casts a pall over the industry and profession.”
Tags: BATS, Facebook, Flash crash, IPO, Knight Capital, Malfunctions, Technology, Trading
Wall Street Journal (December 22)
“How is it that a derivatives trading platform younger than Justin Bieber is about to acquire the New York Stock Exchange, which traces its Wall Street lineage to 1792? Thursday’s announcement that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will buy NYSE Euronext for about $8 billion is in part the story of a tech-savvy upstart that quickly grew to eclipse established giants.”
Tags: Acquisition, Derivatives, Ice, NYSE, Technology, Wall Street
The Economist (December 15)
“Thankfully, North Korea is still a long way from putting nuclear warheads on a missile. It has between six and 12 nuclear devices, but they may not be small enough to put on a rocket. The technology relies on liquid fuel, which makes preparations for a launch both more hazardous and easier to spot than solid fuel. Above all, shooting a rocket up is one thing; mastering the re-entry technology that a military ballistic missile requires is quite another.”
Tags: Missile, North Korea, Nuclear warheads, Re-entry, Technology
Forbes (July 16)
Free markets and technology promote competition, revolutionizing one industry after another. “The legal profession is also starting to get hit by the whirlwinds of what Joseph Schumpeter called creative destruction. There’s a proliferation of legal apps that show you how to write wills and take care of other such tasks without the bother and expense of an attorney. There will soon be numerous businesses with low-paid lawyers manning call centers to answer any questions. Entrepreneurs in India will also train individuals to handle routine legal matters in the U.S., via the Web and phone. State bar associations will howl, but strictures preventing individuals from taking bar exams without first completing law school will be undermined by the Web.”
Free markets and technology promote competition, revolutionizing one industry after another. “The legal profession is also starting to get hit by the whirlwinds of what Joseph Schumpeter called creative destruction. There’s a proliferation of legal apps that show you how to write wills and take care of other such tasks without the bother and expense of an attorney. There will soon be numerous businesses with low-paid lawyers manning call centers to answer any questions. Entrepreneurs in India will also train individuals to handle routine legal matters in the U.S., via the Web and phone. State bar associations will howl, but strictures preventing individuals from taking bar exams without first completing law school will be undermined by the Web.”
Financial Times (May 1)
China’s vice-premier Li Keqiang writes of strengthening ties between China and Europe, which now trade over $1.5 billion of goods daily. “Economically, both regions have much to benefit from each other’s strength; this is the defining feature of China-EU relations. When ‘designed in Europe’ is combined with ‘made in China’ and when European technologies are applied to the Chinese market, there will be amazing results.”
China’s vice-premier Li Keqiang writes of strengthening ties between China and Europe, which now trade over $1.5 billion of goods daily. “Economically, both regions have much to benefit from each other’s strength; this is the defining feature of China-EU relations. When ‘designed in Europe’ is combined with ‘made in China’ and when European technologies are applied to the Chinese market, there will be amazing results.”
Tags: China, Europe, Li Keqiang, Markets, Technology, Trade
New York Times (February 26, 2012)
“Are people getting dumber?” Not according to four of five experts. Based on IQ tests, “the average person today would be 30 points above his or her grandparents, so we are not getting any dumber.” And yet, the increasing pace of complexity leaves many feeling left behind and technology has dulled some skills, like mathematics or spelling, once taken for granted. Moreover, “the really dumb things that people do…get amplified almost instantaneously” thanks to the internet. Still, we are far more advanced in terms of “abstract reasoning: the ability to ignore appearances and reckon in formal categories.”
“Are people getting dumber?” Not according to four of five experts. Based on IQ tests, “the average person today would be 30 points above his or her grandparents, so we are not getting any dumber.” And yet, the increasing pace of complexity leaves many feeling left behind and technology has dulled some skills, like mathematics or spelling, once taken for granted. Moreover, “the really dumb things that people do…get amplified almost instantaneously” thanks to the internet. Still, we are far more advanced in terms of “abstract reasoning: the ability to ignore appearances and reckon in formal categories.”
Tags: Complexity, Intelligence, Internet, IQ, Reasoning, Technology
Economist (January 14, 2012)
Founded in 1880, “Kodak was the Google of its day,” with innovative marketing and pioneering technology. But Kodak quit changing. Profits peaked at $2.5 billion in 1999. With 9 quarterly losses in the past 3 years, Kodak’s share price has fallen by 90% in just the past year. In contrast, “Fujifilm has mastered new tactics and survived. Film went from 60% of its profits in 2000 to basically nothing, yet it found new sources of revenue.” In contrast, Kodak “is poised, like an old photo, to fade away.”
Tags: Fujifilm, Innovation, Kodak, Marketing, Profits, Technology
Boston Globe (November 26)
Domestic car makers are balking over proposed fuel efficiency requirements designed to bring corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The standards should be enacted. “Technology has caught up with every previous standard, allowing Americans to save fuel while still driving the largest vehicles in the world….The result will be a major step toward independence from foreign oil, with the least possible disturbance of American driving habits.”Domestic car makers are balking over proposed fuel efficiency requirements designed to bring corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The standards should be enacted. “Technology has caught up with every previous standard, allowing Americans to save fuel while still driving the largest vehicles in the world….The result will be a major step toward independence from foreign oil, with the least possible disturbance of American driving habits.”
Tags: 2025, Automakers, CAFE, Efficiency, Oil, Technology, U.S.
The Economist (October 29)
Technology is improving to the point where it may one day be able to read minds. While this could be a boon in many ways, especially to those who are physically impaired, this sort of complete honesty “would lead to disaster, for lying is at the heart of civilisation…. Call it diplomacy, public relations or simple good manners: lying is one of the things that makes the world go round.”
Tags: Diplomacy, Honesty, Lying, Manners, Technology
New York Times (September 20)
Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman was convinced “the next great crisis would be different” from the last. He figured it might be technology- or resource-related, rather than financial. He’s now surprised to find “we’re having the same crisis, and making the same mistakes.” We are again suffering from “a banking crisis and a collapse of aggregate demand, aggravated by bad monetary and fiscal policy.”
