Editorial

CREDIT PERFORMANCE Nº 15

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Ultimas Notas

Will the recession change us?

Mahatma Gandhi admired the Boston Tea Party protesters, fondly referring to them during his campaign against the oppressive salt tax imposed on Indians by their British rulers. To him, such taxes belonged at the top of his sobering list of mankind's seven social sins: commerce without morality, politics without principle, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, education without character, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. (...)

By: Julia Baird

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The making of a euromess

Lately, financial news has been dominated by reports from Greece and other nations on the European periphery. And rightly so.

But I’ve been troubled by reporting that focuses almost exclusively on European debts and deficits, conveying the impression that it’s all about government profligacy — and feeding into the narrative of our own deficit hawks, who want to slash spending even in the face of mass unemployment, and hold Greece up as an object lesson of what will happen if we don’t(...)

By: Paul Krugman - New York Times

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The simple (but not easy) task of focusing

For some time it has been fashionable to describe businesses and organisations as “complex adaptive systems”. The phrase sounds learned. It is a cousin of that other knowing statement: that leaders need to be “comfortable with ambiguity”.

Well, yes. It is a turbulent world. It is hard to be certain about the future. But isn’t part of the problem for business leaders that life is in fact too complicated? Particularly in larger organisations, the legacy of old structures and traditions adds to this complexity. It is easy to lose sight of priorities. No wonder that, these days, the role of chief executive is often described as being an impossible job(...)

By: Stefan Stern - Financial times

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The safety-net frays

Governments used to worry about their banks. Now the reverse is also true.

A Senior HSBC executive reminisces fondly about the day he was parachuted into Latin America, a decade or so ago, to help run a recently purchased but troubled local bank. As he arrived he passed people protesting against the acquisition, some of whom were being carried about in coffins. For a moment he wondered whether that would end up being his fate(...)

By: The economist (print edition)

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Are chip and pin credit cards coming?

The U.K. is all abuzz about "chip and PIN," but it's not a popular pub snack or a nickname for the newest celebrity power couple. It's the credit card security system rolled out in recent years to stem a wave of credit card crime (...)

By: Claes Bell - Bankrate.com

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Debt collectors want you to know they're here to help. (no, really)

You're having a hard time coming up with the cash. That's understandable. The economy tanked and dragged you down with it. Trish Hilliard gets that. She knows times are tough.

But here's the deal: You owe the money, and it's her job to collect. In the delicate relationship between debtor and collector, she has to be authoritative, always "in control." But nice, too, careful to keep her voice at a soothing lilt. She wants you to trust her (...)

By: Christian Davenport - Washingtonpost.com

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