A freshman at Duke, an elite US college, makes up the shortfall between a $13,000 scholarship and the $60,000 annual tuition tab by doing pornographic films. Is this the answer to paying for college today? Financing a College Education
In Romania, two business-savvy sisters have used financing from IFC client Garanti Bank to create hundreds of jobs at their shoe and clothing company, miniPRIX.
With IFC’s support, the bank is building a profitable, high-impact business targeting the fast-emerging women entrepreneurs market.
Clearly corporate taxes need to be revised in the US. Our resident policy guru, attorney and political activist Lloyd McAulay, weighs in on the goals of revision and how they should be received.
Here are the goals McAulay thinks should be the beacons of reform: (i) encouraging investment and job creation, (ii) maintaining a mathematically progressive personal tax code in which higher income individuals pay a higher percentage of income as taxes and (iii) minimizing the regressive impact on the cost of goods and services of high corporate profit taxes. Corporate Taxes
Blinding speed and low latency are giving way to instrumentation and fine-tuning as the objective of algorithm users. “Speed is changing from being a competitive edge to being a requirement of the trading platform,” said Hazem Dawani, chief executive of OptionsCity, provider of the Freeway platform. “The trend is to build intelligent trading strategies that use predictive analytics.” Algorithms Get Smarter
Women and men don’t have the same relationship to money. For one thing, women are likely to have less of it. While the wage gap between men and women is getting smaller but women still earn less than men. Women have to get more excited about building wealth. Five Things for Women to Know About Money
Here are 8 Common Thinking Mistakes:
1. We surround ourselves with information that matches our beliefs. 2. We believe the ‘swimmer’s body’ illusion. 3. We worry about things we’ve already lost. 4. We incorrectly predict odds. 5. We rationalize purchases we don’t want. 6. We make decisions based on the anchoring effect. 7. We believe our memories more than facts. 8. We pay more attention to stereotypes than we think. Avoid Common Thinking Mistakes
Twice every business day in London, representatives of five banks and some select clients participate in a phone call in which offers to buy and sell gold are put forward. These calls determine the morning and afternoon gold fixings, which serve as the benchmark for trillions of dollars in transactions around the world. Silver fixings work similarly, with only three banks involved. Price Manipulation by Banks
Why Financial Literacy is Important
World is one of America’s largest providers of installment loans, an industry that thrives in at least 19 states, mostly in the South and Midwest; claims more than 10 million customers; and has survived recent efforts by lawmakers to curtail lending that carries exorbitant interest rates and fees.
Installment lenders were not included in a 2006 federal law that banned selling some classes of loans with an annual percentage rate above 36 percent to service members — so the companies often set up shop near the gates of military bases, offering loans with annual rates that can soar into the triple digits. Bilking the Poor
Zephyr Teachout, who teaches law at Fordham University, has identified anti-corruption as part of the US Constitution. THE ANTI-CORRUPTION PRINCIPLE She is expanding her arguments in a book to be published by the Harvard University Press. An article by Lawrence Lessig traces Senator John McCain’s positions on this matter. Definition of Corruption in the US
The Supreme Court case can be found on the SCOTUS blog. http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/mccutcheon-v-federal-election-commission/
The financial crisis left huge numbers of financiers, traders, brokers, investment-wizards and hedge-fund fixers dazed by the sweeping tide of a storm for which they lacked the understanding and breadth of ideas to predict, let alone combat.
A soft burn of neglect suddenly raged into a fierce inferno, exposing the inability of those inside the industry to make responsible decisions. Economics, as the art or science of observation and prediction has proved disastrous in preparing the human world for the consequences of its own actions.
At the core of the current financial system lies a flaw. Economics is a field that holds more than theories of how to make money, endorse GDP growth and create an ever-growing economy. Yet these aspects lie remote and untouched by financial and commercial leaders. Educating Economists
