Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
John Gapper: The problem with Goldman
It will be business as usual for Goldman Sachs on Thursday. The bank will annoy a lot of people. Goldman will say how much money it made in the third quarter (a lot) and how many billions it has stored for bonuses. You do not have to be a ‘vampire squid-style’ conspiracy theorist to see the difficulty. Goldman wants to carry on as its old self (but bigger) in a world that has changed.
Future of investing: Charts to take stock of it all
After a financial crisis that overturned previous assumptions on investment strategy, fund managers have to think afresh about the basis on which they buy and sell. John Authers provides a guide.
Future of investing: Sovereign wealth funds cast their net
Sovereign wealth funds have been on an investment learning curve that is starting to reap results with states looking beyond the US debt markets to find value, writes the FT’s Henny Sender. A coming rebalancing in global capital flows is likely to strengthen Asian SWFs and currencies, with further implications
Questions the US should ask on healthcare costs
America has a historic need and opportunity to “bend the cost curve” down so that its healthcare system is accessible, affordable and sustainable, writes Peter Peterson, chairman emeritus and co-founder of the Blackstone Group and founder and chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. But to make that happen, we must address the cost drivers.
Lex on contagion
Why are some financial crises contagious while others die at the border? A new paper from the IMF reckons uncertainty is the key. When a crisis occurs in one country, investors’ belief in their intelligence-gathering ability at home diminishes. Rattled, they adjust their behaviour, which in turn increases spreads, thereby precipitating a new crisis. The policy implications of uncertainty as the root of contagion are obvious.
Bird & Fortune, FT video: Banking, bonuses, boom and bust
Satirists John Bird and John Fortune offer their take on important issues affecting banks, saying: ‘Banks make money . . . so keeping a lot of it for ourselves is what counts for us as job satisfaction’.
Insight: Full ahead for emerging markets
The recent global crisis did not derail the rise of emerging economies but only accelerated it, writes Antoine van Agtmael, chairman and chief investment officer of Emerging Markets Management and author of The Emerging Markets Century. Now there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic on the longer term outlook for emerging markets for the next three, five, 10 and 25 years. And there are fewer and fewer reasons to be afraid.
Money Supply: Fed minutes
Many Fed policymakers – not just the ones calling for increased asset purchases now – think policy is on the tight side of optimal, given the forecast for inflation and unemployment, notes the FT’s Krishna Guha. They are willing to live with this, since increasing purchases would carry costs in terms of credibility and expectations. But the forecast will have to shift a lot to get them into an early tightening mode.
Letters to the Editor
- Let me confess my part in the crisis
- Forcing trading on exchange is not desirable
- Unquestionably, the quality of earnings has improved