Insurers and re-insurers have been warning about the potential consequences of climate change for years. Munich Re has calculated that by 2050, climate change could cost up to $300 billion annually in weather-related damages, industrial and agricultural losses, and other associated expenses. A Ceres report “From Risk to Opportunity 2007: Insurer Responses to Climate Change” …
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Category:3 The World of Money
The US housing market is already starting to clear – that’s efficiency
This NYT article describes a Minneapolis auction of properties that have been foreclosed: 300 properties in 2 days, winning bids as low as half market value of 6 months ago. More than half the properties were previously owned by speculators who had never moved in. The story illustrates how quickly an efficient market can move …
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As the US slows, will Asia and the world follow?
While I expect China and India to weather the slow down in US consumption reasonably well, perhaps even benefiting from a relief of inflationary pressure, others are more sanguine about the central role the US economy still plays in the global economy. This linked article, A Subprime Outlook for the Global Economy, by Stephen Roach …
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US banks want you to carry the can for their sub-prime mistakes
A rescue plan proposed by a group of large banks and backed by Treasury Secretary Paulson (who presided over Goldman Sachs massive foray in to sub-prime CDOs etc) recommends a massive rescue fund the Master Liquidity Enhancement Conduit (mmmm!) which would borrow from the public and invest the proceeds in mortgage-backed securities. So, banks (which …
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Being green is more profitable
Companies with sophisticated and comprehensive climate change strategies have financially outperformed their competitors over the last three years, according to a major new report from investment research firm Innovest. The Carbon Beta and Equity Performance study of 1,500 companies found that there is a “strong, positive, and growing correlation between industrial companies’ sustainability in general, …
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VC social networking
Next month, the New England Venture Network, a regional social group for venture capitalists, is launching VentureNetwork.vc, an online social network for professionals looking for another channel to connect and talk shop. It would be great to see a global portal of this nature, especially if it contains substantial public access.
World Development Report: we must focus on agriculture and rural opportunities
“Poverty is overwhelmingly rural and will be for decades to come” according to the World Bank and their annual World Development Report. The World Bank warned that the UN goal of halving the incidence of poverty and hunger in the poorest countries would go unmet unless agriculture took centre stage in development aid. While 75% …
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Central banks and the world economy
The Economist delivered a comprehensive review of the role central banks and financial policy have played in the global economy, focusing on the past five years and the recent credit crunch: Only human- A special report on central banks and the world economy. The report discusses the challenges faced by central banks over recent decades, …
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Trade, inequality and education
Observations that inequality is rising as wealth rises have circulated recently with the publication of the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook which shows that while global income inequality has fallen, within countries, both rich and poor, inequality has been rising almost everywhere. As the IMF put it: “This recent experience seems to be …
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Dot.com bubble again?
While stock markets gyrate it seems investors are also resorting to the kind of investment screening applied near the end of the dot.com bubble to justify their bets. NYT reports that Silicon Valley start-ups are awash in dollars, again as investors apply convenient metrics, like number of users, to justify paying billion dollar prices for …
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