Humour

Two or three great lists were published over the holidays, such as the Top 11 CEO Firings of 2008 from Forbes magazine.  Strangely enough, 7 of the top 11 were bankers and financiers: Richard Fuld, Lehman Brothers; Martin Sullivan, AIG; Kerry Killinger, Washington Mutual; Ken Thompson, Wachovia; Richard Syron, Freddie Mac; Daniel Mudd, Fannie Mae;…

Nothing to do with banking, except that banks run on technology and one key piece of technology is about to die: the keyboard. I've predicted the end of the keyboard for years, as it's not intuitive or natural to type.  We just do it because we've learned it is the only way to use today's…

I noticed this letter sent to an Agony Aunt over the weekend: "Dear Janet, I have a new girlfriend who I am totally in love with, but I am terrified about telling her about my family.  You see, my father is a convicted rapist.  That's bad I know, but then my mother has been working…

I just had a great offer from Barclaycard for balance transfers. It was the usual thing, a marketing letter in the post with a big headline: "0% on Balance Transfers until October 2009" At the end of the letter, there's a bunch of cheques to send off to pay for things at 0% for 10…

Welcome to 2009! I'll put some thoughtful commentary here next week about the outlook for the year, but here's an interesting idea spotted in the Telegraph the other day.  The Post Office approached children to design their literature for their financial services products, and their answers are brilliant. Asked to explain 'inflation', seven year old…

Welcome to 2009! I'll put some thoughtful commentary here next week about the outlook for the year, but here's an interesting idea spotted in the Telegraph the other day.  The Post Office approached children to design their literature for their financial services products, and their answers are brilliant. Asked to explain 'inflation', seven year old…

Every now and then you find a comedy that people either love or hate.  The IT Crowd is one of those.  It's a UK minor hit comedy series on Channel 4, and here's a clip of the CEO meeting his CFO: I'm posting this because I can see every CEO meeting their bank manager or…

Every now and then you find a comedy that people either love or hate.  The IT Crowd is one of those.  It's a UK minor hit comedy series on Channel 4, and here's a clip of the CEO meeting his CFO: I'm posting this because I can see every CEO meeting their bank manager or…