Latest articles from Editor’s blog

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

China’s industrial revolution: was it the last one?

October 9, 2017

If robots become the mainstay of manufacturing, the advantage of cheap labour disappears and with it the prospects for poor countries to get rich, writes Brian Caplen.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

Is it really all about the customer?

October 3, 2017

The customer service mantra is constantly chanted but would banks do better by being more honest about the trade-offs a business has to make? Brian Caplen looks into the situation.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

German election kills eurozone reform

September 25, 2017

The big loser in Germany’s surprise election result is much-needed eurozone reform. Investors must accept that the eurozone and some banks remain prone to crises, writes Brian Caplen.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

​Is open banking the industry’s Netflix moment?

September 19, 2017

Analysts are making great claims for open banking under PSD2, but does it have the wow factor? Brian Caplen looks into the matter.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

Beware of tech purists and their flying saucers

September 6, 2017

Bank CEOs desperately need a map of the future but should be cautious of visions that are too neat and tidy, writes Brian Caplen.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

It’s the environment, stupid

September 5, 2017

Banks are on the front line in the war against climate change. Getting it wrong could destroy them.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

​Is Lagarde’s Beijing card a Trump joker?

August 29, 2017

Managing director Christine Lagarde says that within the next 10 years the IMF could be headquartered in Beijing rather than Washington. Maybe, writes Brian Caplen, there is a hidden message for the IMF sceptics in the Trump administration.

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​Too little data, too much IT

August 22, 2017

Banks are supposed to be sitting on masses of data which, if they could put it to work, would be gold dust. In fact they need more data to do a proper job, writes Brian Caplen.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

When the internet is slower and costlier than the branch

August 15, 2017

For all the talk about channel integration, banks have little in the way of back-up when online banking goes awry. The trusty branch – maybe shared by competitor banks – needs to play its part, writes Brian Caplen.

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Brian Caplen blog 2016

How to stop robots seizing control of your bank

August 8, 2017

In the Musk-Zuckerberg debate, artificial intelligence could either ruin or save the planet. In responding to the AI challenge, banks need to be aware of the risks, writes Brian Caplen.

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