Banking's Past, Present, and Future
Citibank chief Vikram Pandit warns in the Financial Times against excessive increase in capital and liquidity requirements. This is a tough argument to make in the aftermath of a serious crisis in which banks and other financial institutions were caught short on both counts. The op-ed below was co-authored with Masami Imai, who is is … Read more
Since I will return to the subject of bank capital, it is probably worth spending a few lines describing what it is and why it is important. You can’t start a bank—or any new enterprise, for that matter—without some start-up funds. Or, as Gus Grissom says in The Right Stuff: “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” … Read more
Although movies dealing with themes of economics and high finance are common, it is rare to see films with economists cast in starring roles. This past week I managed to see two. In Freakonomics: The Movie, the economist is portrayed as hero. Based on the book of the same name by economist Steven Levitt and … Read more