Crisis

We have terrible moments of human strife and suffering. Wars, famine, pandemics, earthquakes and more. People dying, parents and friends lost, grief and tears, a world that could not be worse … … But for some, it’s good times. There’s always money to be made out of a crisis. I …

As I ponder the world and everything, this article by Jemima Kelly in The Financial Times keeps coming back to me: The virus has crushed the challenger bank dream In it she says things like: There comes a time in your life that you realise that some of the friends …

Way back in March 2020 – what month is it now? – I said that lockdown would be a challenge for all. Obviously. Now, so many months later – what year is it now? – it is clear that has challenged all. Personally, I see two massive rifts: the physical …

During this health crisis, everything has changed a lot. We are at home, home schooling, home learning, home entertaining, home working and more. Great. That’s all good. Yes and no. Mental health has become a big issue and is something everyone is talking about more as, after all, if you …

I went back and talked to the elephant. The elephant in the room. The elephant I hadn’t noticed until, one morning, he was there. The elephant that says he’s the economy. Me: Hello again, how are you? The Elephant: Not great, how are you? Me: Not bad. Why are you …

Everyone was talking about a V-shaped recovery in March 2020. Then it went onto a dialogue about whether it might be U-shaped or even W-shaped. Now, some economists are talking about a K-shaped economy. Some say this is all about the haves and have nots – the upper half are those …

One thing that is clear about demand and supply is, when you think about where we are today, there is little demand for anything. We are all staying at home – and so the only demand is what can be delivered to the home – that’s the issue. This came …

My father was a teacher. His expertise focused upon economics. Does it show? I am an economics fan, and studied consumer economics as a specialist subject as part of my university course. The main thing I remember now – quite a few years later – is demand and supply. The …

Yes, we’re all doing stuff from our home offices. I don’t know what your office is like, but mine’s quite nice. I like it. Until I noticed a strange smell yesterday. Didn’t know what it was, so I had to look around the room a lot, then suddenly realised … …

It shows what a complex world we live in within our financial markets. We debate whether companies should get involved in politics, but banks cannot avoid politics. Banks are integral to governments and economies and, as such, are a political tool. Equally, banks choose to operate in markets that could be …

Everyone keeps talking about Big Tech opening banks. Rather than opening or buying banks, most of the Big Tech firms are partnering with them. Apple and Goldman Sachs make a nice pair as does Google, who partner with a variety of banks to offer financial capabilities. Several of the Big …

During the summer I teamed up with a colleague, George Ravich, to research views on the crisis amongst the financial community. We published the results in August, and here’s an update guest blog from George on the process.   New Research Finds Banking Industry Positive on Effects of Covid-Crisis Chris …

WARNING: LONG READ During the last week, I had a chat with a friend about lockdown. I always start conversations with how’s lockdown been for you? For him, it’s been particularly bad. Based in downtown New York City (NYC), USA, he described how hordes of homeless people, evicted by landlords, …

I’m going to shut up about challenger banks soon, but noted that even the regulator is getting worried about them. After Monzo’s admittance that it may not continue as a going concern if the pandemic continues through 2021, N26 admitting that profit is not their focus, Revolut’s tripling of losses, …

Over the past week or two, the neobank and challenger bank sector has been issuing financial reports. If you haven’t noticed: WHERE WERE YOU? Monzo got a particular hammering for warning that the coronavirus pandemic could impact the company as a going concern. Some argue this is just accounting and …