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Governments which demand to be the only investor can steal their citizens' savings
The world’s 300 largest pension funds have managed assets worth almost $9 trillion. That’s a one with 12 zeros. And they’re not all based entirely in the rich North. South Africa’s Government Employees Fund is – with $96 billion – one of the 20 largest in the world.
Read more: Governments which demand to be the only investor can steal their citizens' savings
Poverty and the capacity for technology to bring Change
"The capacity for technology to drive change is limited by two things: the will of the people who use that technology to demand change; and whether governments are willing to murder their own citizens in order to prevent change."
I was speaking as part of a panel at the IESE Doing Good and Doing Well conference in Barcelona. Our topic was "Does Information Equal Power?"
Read more: Poverty and the capacity for technology to bring Change
Reducing risk for the poorest of the unbanked and uninsured
The range of interest rates applied to micro-credit loans can be chilling. 45% to 85% in Africa, 30% in India and a jaw-dropping 155% in Mexico.
“What should be the appropriate rate of interest?” thunders Jacques Toureille, general manager at the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance. The occasion is the Doing Good and Doing Well conference hosted by IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
Read more: Reducing risk for the poorest of the unbanked and uninsured
Paying for Universal Healthcare
Otto von Bismarck looms large in German history. He unified the Prussian states and became the first Chancellor of the fledgling German Empire in 1871.
Ironically, the man known as the Iron Duke – who was aggressively anti-Socialist – presided over the introduction of the world’s first health insurance bill in 1883. His Social Insurance program found many imitators across the world.
Free the people by freeing their bank accounts
It didn't happen and it wouldn't have worked anyway. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, was expected to legislate that every bank in the UK provide a free bank account to every adult. No money, just the account.
Which is why it was silly. Just about anyone can walk into a UK bank and open a savings account. And legislating that banks provide the account leads to the question: how is this to be coordinated so that I don't end up with 50 bank accounts, one from each bank?
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