Impact of Covid-19: Science
How is the world grappling with the Covid-19 Pandemic, especially in the realm of science? Much is happening and the world is hungry for information on these fronts, was the consensus of the panel convened by the magazine the Economist, which presented a webinar on July 30, 2020, titled “The Inside Story: The Impact of Covid-19.” Helen Joyce, executive editor for events at the Economist, interviewed two staffpersons, working on different aspects of the pandemic. She also ran a Q & A session with an audience of thousands via the Zoom platform. This is part one of a two-part summary. […]
Quality in the time of Covid
There’s a wide range of “quality factor” investing out there. How can the investor distinguish between the variety of methods? More importantly, how can the investor select the best factor method for given economic conditions? To answer this question, a recent paper compared the variety of methods, and examined how each method performed under different market conditions. The paper, “What is Quality?”, by Jason Hsu, Vitali Kalesnik, and Engin Kose, won the Graham & Dodd 2020 award for the best paper published in the Financial Analysts Journal in 2019. To celebrate the achievement, the journal invited the authors of the […]
New World Order 2
From state-owned enterprises to the Covid-19 pandemic, issues in China affect the Canadian investment environment and capital flow decisions. Given China’s ascendance in the global economy, what is the best strategy to ride the wave upward, too? What are potential danger areas? The following is the second half of a report on the webinar “New World Order: How China’s Rising Affects Investment Strategy” held on June 15, 2020, and sponsored by the CFA Society Toronto. Three panellists were interviewed by Tanya Lai, Managing Director, Public Equities, of the Investment Management Company of Ontario (IMCO). Lai noted there was increased scrutiny […]
New World Order 1
From trade wars to 5G technology, issues in China are having an impact on the Canadian investment environment and capital flow decisions. What effect will China’s ascendance have on the global economy? What is the best strategy to ride the wave upward? What are potential danger areas? On June 15, 2020, Herbert Zhang, the chair of the institutional asset management committee of the CFA Society Toronto, welcomed three panellists at the webinar titled, “New World Order: How China’s Rising Affects Investment Strategy.” The panellists shared their thoughts on how investors should view US-China trade tensions and deal with the associated […]
Inside Story, South America
How are different parts of the world reacting to the Covid-19 Pandemic, and how does that affect those who must analyze and report on global geopolitical risk? The magazine The Economist presented a webinar on May 28, 2020, titled “Inside Story: Reporting on the Covid-19 Pandemic Around the World.” Helen Joyce, executive editor for events at The Economist, interviewed two outstanding foreign correspondents. This is part two of a two-part summary. The second panellist was Sarah Maslin, foreign correspondent for The Economist, South America. She spoke from her home in São Paulo, which is decorated with scarves from soccer teams […]
Inside Story, Southeast Asia
How are different parts of the world reacting to the Covid-19 Pandemic, and how does that affect those who must analyze and report on global geopolitical risk? Much depends on having a strong and trusted network of contacts, was the consensus of the panel convened by the magazine The Economist, which presented a webinar on May 28, 2020, titled “Inside Story: Reporting on the Covid-19 Pandemic Around the World.” Helen Joyce, executive editor for events at The Economist, interviewed two outstanding foreign correspondents, from vastly different parts of the world. She also ran a Q & A session with an […]
“Disasters Everywhere”
What is the cost of a disaster? What is the cost of the business cycle? Economically speaking, how do business cycles compare with disasters? The cost of business cycles and the gain to be had from stabilization policy is a highly controversial topic in macroeconomics. Some believe the welfare gains from stabilizing the business cycle are extremely low and therefore not worth the effort. “Depression prevention and stabilization policies are central to the discipline of macroeconomics,” conclude the authors of recent research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. “Extreme and costly events are not the only reason […]
Handling cloud data
A silver lining of any crisis is that experts get a data point… or many data points, depending on what that crisis is. The lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, as bitter and hard-won as they might be, will find a use. It is the event that will test in real life whether the infrastructure already put in place will respond well. “Covid 19 is a black swan event,” said Patrick McFadin, Apache Cassandra and Developer Relations at DataStax. He was the second speaker for the webinar, “Cloud Native Data: The Foundation of Modern Business,” presented through The Briefing Room on […]
The Value of Data
What is the value of data? Who benefits from data? Can you construct a decent predictive model to manage risk if you have lousy data? Some enterprising souls have tried to sell their data back to the tech giants that collect and use big datasets. There are even some small companies such as CitizenMe and Datum that pay a user for taking a quiz or sending location data. “Data are far from becoming a standardized commodity whose value can readily be established through trades,” writes Diane Coyle, professor at University of Cambridge, in a report she tabled February 26, 2020, […]
From brown energy to green
How will climate change affect the financial sector and the broader economy? What policy responses will mitigate climate change risks? Recently, the US Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) sponsored the first conference dedicated to exploring the economic and financial risks associated with climate change. “Climate change will have sweeping effects on our economy and financial system,” says the report summarizing the main themes of the conference. The report, released on December 16, 2019, was co-authored by Galina B. Hale, Òscar Jordà, and Glenn D. Rudebusch. Hale is a research advisor and Jordà and Rudebusch are both senior policy advisors at the Federal […]