Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Opinion

A rationale on bank bonuses

Last week, I decided to post blogs for and against bank bonuses. I was surprised at the reactions to the case in favour, which drew more comments on a single posting  than most of my blog entries. This is obviously an emotive subject. By posting both sides of the debate, I can actually see that…

Wonga: another web disruption for loans

During the week, I enjoyed lunch with a venture capitalist who works with start-up firms that are innovating in financial services. One of the businesses he’s investing in is Wonga, another business that appears to be disrupting banks' business models in the same way as Zopa has been. I’d never heard of Wonga before, except…

Wonga: another web disruption for loans

During the week, I enjoyed lunch with a venture capitalist who works with start-up firms that are innovating in financial services. One of the businesses he’s investing in is Wonga, another business that appears to be disrupting banks' business models in the same way as Zopa has been. I’d never heard of Wonga before, except…

Wonga: another web disruption for loans

During the week, I enjoyed lunch with a venture capitalist who works with start-up firms that are innovating in financial services. One of the businesses he’s investing in is Wonga, another business that appears to be disrupting banks' business models in the same way as Zopa has been. I’d never heard of Wonga before, except…

The Banking Bird Feeder

I bought a bird feeder and hung it on the patio the other week. I filled it with seed every day to see if it would attract the birds. Within a week, there were hundreds of birds feeding on the continuously free and easily accessible food. I enjoyed watching them for a while … but…

The Banking Bird Feeder

I bought a bird feeder and hung it on the patio the other week. I filled it with seed every day to see if it would attract the birds. Within a week, there were hundreds of birds feeding on the continuously free and easily accessible food. I enjoyed watching them for a while … but…

Are these the green shoots of recovery?

After billions of dollars in bailouts and bonuses hit the decks, can we finally say that the worst is behind us? Many of us would like to think so, and possibly they could be right. I mean how much of this recession, depression, gaping black hole or whatever you want to call it, still sits…

Bankers deserve bonuses? You’re an idiot!

Thanks for all the comments providing the balance to my promotion of the idea that bankers deserve their bonuses yesterday. Here’s the contrarian view I could have put forward, but left out: How could you possibly agree with the idea that bankers deserve their bonuses, you schmuck? That’s just darned foolish, as bankers just do…

Fred the Shred becomes Fred the Tread?

There’s a wonderful rumour that’s circulating about Sir Fred Goodwin taking over from Max Mosley as head of Formula 1, the fast car racing league that travels the world in a carnival of cars and cash. It's not a popular rumour with some, as there’s a lot of anger over Sir Fred’s £4.2 million pension…

Fred the Shred becomes Fred the Tread?

There’s a wonderful rumour that’s circulating about Sir Fred Goodwin taking over from Max Mosley as head of Formula 1, the fast car racing league that travels the world in a carnival of cars and cash. It's not a popular rumour with some, as there’s a lot of anger over Sir Fred’s £4.2 million pension…