Author's posts
Apr 03
What is Technology?
“Téchnē is a state of capacity to produce with a true logos,” Aristotle defined. Logos was a central notion in Greek philosophy, broadly meaning reason and discourse. Because Téchnē (Art) had its own reasoning and discourse, it was knowledge, as distinct from opinion (doxa) and mere experience. Many arts existed, among others Aristotle cited architecture, …
Feb 14
The Bank that likes to say “Woof”
“If you want a friend on Wall Street, get a dog,” quipped Gordon Gekko, the cold-hearted protagonist of the film “Wall Street”. Now it seems that if you want a bank on the High street, then get a dog. Metro Bank “understand how important man’s best friend is to our dog-loving customers so we actively …
Sep 13
Dear IASB
Comments on Exposure Draft ED/2013/6 I generally welcome the reconsiderations of the IASB and FASB Boards in response to the feedback on the first exposure draft, ED/2010/09. However a number of issues, inconsistencies and unnecessary complexities remain. I summarise my main concerns below. Letter to IASB re Leases ReExposure Draft
May 20
Get Set for Leasing Systems Shake-up.
Update May 2013: Since the publication of this article in December 2010, there have been significant delays to the re-drafting of the Lease Accounting Standards ED1. The Re-Exposure Draft was finally published in May 2013 and, as expected, that it still contains significant changes for both Lessees and Lessors, including many of the issues discussed in this article. Will IT …
Mar 03
No WFH? WTF?
Will banning working from home stop the decline of Yahoo!? Surely not? See this leading article from the Ecomomist.
Feb 19
A tale of two regulators..
The UK Financial Services Authority Mission ‘If we are to get it right, we need to aim high. So we have set ourselves a challenging corporate objective. Our mission statement will be along the following lines:- The Financial Services Authority will aim to be a world-leading financial regulator, respected for its professionalism and integrity both …
Feb 18
Challengers to the High Street
Two articles coinciding over the weekend about challengers to the big British Banks: An article in the Economist on New Banks featuring Weatherbys, Aldermore, Metro Bank, Tesco Bank and Wonga. The Bottom Line on Radio 4 featured a discussion on Alternative Finance including Giles Andrews is CEO of Zopa, the peer to peer lending website; Anil …
Feb 17
The i in team
I have never met him but Ross Bradder should be knighted for services to business for sharing this on facebook from Santa Clarita, CA
Feb 11
The ten-year-old test
In order to provide children with better skills to manage money, it has been suggested that Banks should go into schools to teach basic financial life skills. This suggestion is not without its critics, using much the same arguments as why sugar companies should not provide educational materials about nutrition. I set about explaining banking …
Feb 10
Missing Physical Education
I saw a rapidly vanishing scene the other day; a father walking with his family up to the letterbox and the children standing on tiptoe to post the envelopes they had been clutching. It took me back to my childhood reading the Ladybird Book of the Post Man and watching the film of The Night …