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Brighter Days Ahead Like so many, I am cautiously optimistic that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. By December 2020, COVID vaccines were developed and tested. Now they are being delivered, giving us all hope.[i] However, variants of the virus may prolong the disruption to everyday lives,…

The Evolution of Student Loans The new administration and the hyperbole around socialism has led many pundits to discuss the student loans that are on the U.S. Government’s balance sheet. There are currently over $1.5 trillion of student loans outstanding. These loans can be categorized as either government backed/originated or private…

Landscape for Change The challenge for the modern organization is to attract, retain, and maximize the potential of their people. These key efforts are paramount to creating, and maintaining, vibrant future organizations. Thirty-five years ago, before the domination of Silicon Valley across America, physical assets made up nearly half of…

During 2020 COVID-19 crisis, better liquidity planning has been paying off Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, Inc., once quoted, “Liquidity is oxygen for a financial system.” And when better to have an abundant supply than during the past ten months? The2020 COVID-19 pandemic-induced financial market crisis was just another in…

In July 2020, GFMI delivered a virtual seminar on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). One of the questions posed to the audience was “Does too much money in the financial system, as measured by the monetary base, M1 or M2, cause inflation?” Nearly 70% of the respondents believed it did. This…

A Storm Arrives In my study of economics, I don’t recall ever evaluating the impact of health policy or crisis on our economy. Yet, here we are. The storm of Covid‑19 crept up on us quickly and violently. We are now dealing with this crisis in our country and around…

Blockchain Technology – Transforming Global Financial Markets Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, have been under strict scrutiny by both regulators and leaders in the financial industry. We must understand, however, that blockchain technology does not equate to bitcoin or to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is only one example of a blockchain technology…

Déjà Vu All Over Again When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, it promised to provide Americans with better access, better outcomes, and reduced costs for our healthcare.i Great news!Of course, it would take some time to have it all implemented. There could be changes in delivery…

The Roaring ‘20s are here! The world of finance looks wonderful – the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at record highs, inflation and interest rates are low, unemployment is at an all-time low, and trade tensions have eased. What could go wrong? Plenty. The Bull Market started in March 2009…

Despite the fact that end-of-year lists always risk being arbitrary, over-simplified, opinionated, and exclusionary, we’ve compiled yet another for “What We Were Talking about in 2019” in Operations and Technology. These areas are in no particular order and include issues and trends because of economic and business changes, regulatory requirements,…

The repo markets in the United States have historically been a relatively obscure but highly important part of the “plumbing” of the capital markets by facilitating overnight and generally, short-term financing of securities transactions primarily in the US Treasury market. Repos are also a key provider of short-term liquidity to…

Investors have a long history of directing their capital towards organizations whose activities lead to desirable social outcomes. The earliest examples of this practice were often associated with specific religious or spiritual frameworks. For example, Shari’a investing principles dating to the first millennium are informed by specific Islamic values that…