First free access, then getting rid of money altogether… Read the rest

I’ve just heard from Jacques Attali who is currently in Shanghai that he will need to be in New York on Thursday morning. This will make it impossible for him to give the lecture planned at the VUB on Wednesday April 17. I’m sure this will be especially disappointing for those of you for whom it was their second attempt at attending his talk.

The scheduled plan was that I would be giving the second part of the talk, I will thus give it all. I’ll be speaking on the arranged topic: “What can we tell about the future?” and … Read the rest

The Financial World and its Regulators

The panel discussion which took place after my lecture. Participants were Mathias Dewatripont (BNB-ULB), Jean Bellemans (Vesalius), Thierry Philipponnat (Finance Watch) and Guy Roelandt (Belfius Ins). The moderator was Steven Rombaut, from vrt, the Flemish Belgian radio and television.

… Read the rest

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to participate in an Invited Talk and a Panel Discussion, both steered by Paul Jorion, on October 24th and October 25th, 2012. Law, Ethics and the Business World

– The Invited Talk and the Panel Discussion are part of the Academic Chair ‘Stewardship of Finance’ founded by Vrije Universiteit Brussel and sponsored by six major insurance companies. The chairman of this new chair is Professor of economic and financial law, Michel Flamée. The holder of the chair is the famous Belgian anthropologist, Paul Jorion. Both events are English spoken.

On Wednesday, October 24th, Luc … Read the rest

Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell

Here is a summary of the situation. Newly named Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras is continuing to put together a government which was voted in on the basis that it would renegotiate a bail-out plan which is falling apart anyway. In supporting him without sending in any of their big names, Pasok and Dima are doing the strict minimum, which augurs badly for the outcome of the experience. In Brussels the new Greek finance minister is awaited resolutely, with, at best, extensions to the time frame likely to be granted. “Renegotiating the … Read the rest

Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell

Financiers loathe risk, though they don’t mind so much if it is others bearing it. When they refer to it they juxtapose terms of risk aversion or, its opposite, appetite for risk, but this is only another of their manners of speaking (of which they have so many). In reality they cannot stand others making them take risks and when this is required, they make their feelings known about it in the strongest possible terms.

For having played with fire to an excessive degree, the Spanish government is paying the price … Read the rest

Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell.

A Euro trading this morning at 1.2389 dollars, and sharply rising bond rates, reveal that capital continues to flow out of the Euro zone and that investors are selling Spanish and Italian bonds (both tarred with the same brush) whenever they can. They are also seeking refuge in the purchase of American, British or German debt whose rates are historically low, a phenomenon just as worrying as the rising costs of the others. German two-year bonds issued with a zero coupon, something never seen before, while the Spanish have to pay … Read the rest

An English translation by Jean-Loup Komarower of the post « ÉBULLITION DU MONDE » ET PROPRIÉTÉ PRIVÉE

Two questions have to be resolved initially: is new wealth created in the production of goods and services and if it is, how can its amount and value be determined? In addition, are the opposing parties that in our contemporary world share the newly created wealth all justified in getting a share and if they do, where do they derive this right and what is the conceptual foundation of this right?

We have the first part of an answer: wealth is necessarily created … Read the rest

Mr. Alan Greenspan, who headed the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, for nearly twenty years, has recently committed an article in the Financial Times entitled “Frank-Dodd Fails to Meet test of our times.” (March, the 29th).

The Dodd-Frank Act is a several thousand page long jumble of 243 separate regulations, thought of as a financial overhaul. That it is not up to the task goes without saying. A couple of basic principles such as a prohibition of wagers on price fluctuations would have done a much better job and would have filled a mere five pages. If I say … Read the rest

… to say the least. And the reason wasn’t laziness, it was just simply the success of the French version of it which has taken all my energy, plus that of François when he joined me, plus that of Julien, when he joined the team.

But this blog is about to be revived and the reason is not that there is less to do on the French version of the blog but that Bénédicte is about to join the team with a special assignment and dedication to this piece.

More to come. Very soon!… Read the rest

We will ponder: “Might the financial crisis be followed by national crises?”

Alessandro Giraudo – Chief Economist, Tradition Viel (in the studio like myself)
Ondine Smulders – The Economist (calling in from Athens)
A (to be determined) Reuters Breakingviews’ journalist (calling in from London)

Podcasts :

First part.
Second part. … Read the rest