Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Crypto markets aren't all the same
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 23/01/2018
» There's a compelling reason to consider what's going on with cryptocurrencies a purely speculative boom-and-bust roller-coaster: Over a three-month period, the prices of all the top coins and tokens are rather strongly correlated, going up and down in unison. What does that make them if not the 21st-century incarnation of tulip bulbs?
Digital currencies can hurt the US
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 06/12/2017
» Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's announcement that the Latin American country will issue a cryptocurrency called the petro to overcome a "financial blockade" by the US probably mirrors the thinking of other maverick regimes. The possibility of sanctions-busting, and generally finding a way to work outside the Western-dominated global financial system, makes cryptocurrencies attractive to non-Western nations, and the more so to rogue regimes.
Authoritarian cryptocurrencies are on the march
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 18/10/2017
» With Russia and China both embracing the idea of sovereign cryptocurrencies, it's time to ask a simple question: Why is a technology threatening to decentralise money so attractive to highly centralised, authoritarian regimes?
Merkel's lacklustre win is good for the nation
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 26/09/2017
» The sour faces of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's allies after the first exit poll results for the federal election were announced on Sunday night will prompt much talk of a Pyrrhic victory for Ms Merkel. But the outcome of Sunday's election could be good both for her and for German democracy: It has clarified the options for the next governing coalition, and it has made sure there will be vocal opposition to the government from both the left and the right.
Turnover tax on global technology giants is sheer folly
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 20/09/2017
» Ten European Union countries' finance ministers have signed a letter calling for a tax on the revenues of multinational tech companies that have been hiding away their European profits. But European leaders should proceed with caution, because a turnover levy may not be the best solution to this multi-billion-dollar problem.
Brexit reversal? The EU should simply say 'no way'
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/08/2017
» Though most UK politicians would have us believe that "Brexit is Brexit", European leaders have recently spoken of a reversal of the UK's decision to leave the European Union as a real possibility. That should be alarming to anyone who cares about continuing the EU's resurgence since the 2016 vote.
Why cold, hard cash remains king in the digital age
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 28/06/2017
» We don't have to like the way technology is changing the world. Given the technological disruption happening everywhere, it's reasonable to expect a little Luddite pushback. The growing share of cash in advanced economies might fall in that category.
Politicians should be keeping their money at home
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 07/04/2016
» Ramon Fonseca, a founding partner of Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian offshore incorporator that has suffered the biggest leak of privileged information in history, has told Financial Times that the investigations stemming from the leak are an attack on the basic human right to privacy. Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, described them as an attack on his boss ahead of the 2018 presidential election. The investigative journalists themselves see their effort as a strike against corruption and money-laundering. So what purpose do the Panama Papers investigations really serve?
David Bowie, artist and visionary businessman
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 13/01/2016
» David Bowie was that rare kind of rock star, you didn't have to like his music to admire him. Bowie was a business visionary like the ones who shaped Silicon Valley who just didn't see the point of building companies. He was his own greatest product.
Greek perception of 'firm deal' seems to be a bit hazy
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 10/07/2015
» It's easy to lose count of "final" deadlines that have been missed in the past five months of negotiations between Greece and its creditors. The latest is Sunday, when, according to European Council President Donald Tusk, Greece will face "really and truly the final wake-up call". It's possible the Greeks don't believe it is quite that final.