Powell’s Black Monday

The recent sell-off in equity markets is a timely reminder of how inherently unstable the financial system is. The trigger, a larger than expected increase in Average Hourly Earnings in the US, cannot itself explain such a violent gyration. In fact, US Treasury yields have been steadily raising since the summer, when macro data clearly … Continued

Disintermediation: disruptor or disrupted

Why would a client pay for intermediation that adds no extra value to a final product? In 1985, Michael Porter described in his book “Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance” that a consumer was willing to pay a margin for a product whose final price would be higher than the mere sum of the … Continued