Two year anniversary

My first long blog post was published two years ago on this day. A couple of weeks earlier, I had decided to quit my job in order to write Bankers are people, too.

I want to use this anniversary to thank you for reading my work. Who could foresee then that I would make new friends because of this blog?

There is more to celebrate. The Dutch translation of Bankers are people, too will be released on April 12. Check out the invitation (pdf, in Dutch). Send me a message if you would like to attend the book launch party in Brussels!

I also have a favor to ask if you have already bought Bankers are people, too. Please consider writing a review. This will help other intelligent readers like you to find the book.

Crooks with books: Laundering money as an “author” (part 1)

Createspace enables independent authors to publish their works and to distribute them through Amazon.

Amazon takes care of the printing, shipping, and payments. The author receives a monthly royalty payment. I used Createspace to publish Bankers are people, too.

Unfortunately, criminals have also discovered that they can use the platform for money laundering.

Brian Krebs explains how it works on his blog, KrebsonSecurity. Someone publishes a bogus book and sets an extremely high price for it, e.g. $555. They use stolen credit cards to buy the book. Amazon pays the “author” about 60% of the retail price in royalties. This money looks like a legit income. The stolen money has been laundered. Continue reading “Crooks with books: Laundering money as an “author” (part 1)”

The crucial part missing from the preview of ‘Bankers are people, too’

If you haven’t already, please take a look at Bankers are people, too on Amazon before you buy the book. The Look inside! feature gives a preview of the table of contents and part of the introduction.

However, you should know that as the author, I don’t have control over what is displayed on ‘Look inside!’. Prospective readers might get the impression that Bankers are people, too is yet another book that blames the banking sector. But that’s only because the last two pages of the introduction are missing from the preview.

So here are pages 17 and 18 (I put some text in bold and added links to related blog posts): Continue reading “The crucial part missing from the preview of ‘Bankers are people, too’”

Why the pension fund report of the OECD is bunk

Click on the blue bird (top right in the tweet below) to read the whole thread on Twitter. It also works if you don’t have a Twitter account.

I know that life insurance is important in France thanks to my research for Bankers are people, too.

From page 92:

“In France, the reserves in such insurance savings vehicles make up the largest component of household financial assets.” – Jan Musschoot in ‘Bankers are people, too’

Central banking analogies

Economists are fond of analogies to describe technical ideas.

Most of those analogies are confusing and/or useless. As I wrote in the introduction of Bankers are people, too:

Economists and journalists writing for lay audiences tend to use metaphors when explaining financial concepts. For example: ‘Cheap credit is like heroin. It’s addictive, and the economy can overdose from it.’ That may sound nice, but what does it even mean?

Continue reading “Central banking analogies”

Grazie mille, dottore Draghi!

ECB President Mario Draghi has answered a number of questions from the public. People could tweet #AskDraghi to join.

I’m honored that the ECB also picked one of mine πŸ™‚

The website Debating Europe has listed all the replies of Dr. Draghi.

I only wish the ECB President would have responded to this question as well πŸ˜€

Prospective returns on equities

What long-term returns can you expect to make on a portfolio of stocks? That’s a crucial question for pension funds and other investors.

There are several ways you can try to answer this question. You can look at historical returns and assume that the future will resemble the past. Continue reading “Prospective returns on equities”