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Chinua Achebe (1930-2013): A Great Tree Has Fallen
In the mid-20th century Africa was starting once more to find its own voice, having been gagged by centuries of colonial oppression. For all that time, the story of Africa had been told by Europeans. The narrative they presented was
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Barry E. Silbert: Going Out on a Limb, Reinventing Capital Markets
SecondMarket was set up in 2004 and has since expanded into multibillion dollar trading platform with well over 53,000 registered participants. The exchange offers a bewildering array of securities ranging from public debt instruments to bankruptcy claims and credit derivatives.
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Blythe Masters: The Risks of Spreading the Risk
Out of a tragic oil spill came forth a new financial instrument: The credit default swap – to some a financial weapon of mass destruction; to others a nifty way to spread, and thus diminish, credit risk. The credit default
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Shami Chakrabarti: The Need for Loyal Dissent
In a free society, dissent is a civic duty. The presumed fallibility of those in power leads to a system governed not by men, but by laws – a system of rights and due process. Fear can undermine this system.
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Wit, Knowledge and Intellect: Ronan Farrow Poised to Reassert Primacy of Reason
Family connections, or at least bearing a name of near-universal acclaim, do seem to facilitate the breaking down of barriers guarding the entrance to the world of fame and its attendant fortune. To the scions of the famous, this is
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Jesse Lauriston Livermore: The Boy Plunger
Playing the stock market in order to make a bundle is not a pursuit deemed suitable for the faint of heart. For every story starring an investor who struck it rich, there are countless others of poor souls who lost
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Wang Meng: A Champ Tumbles and Falls on Her Way to the Top
We all crash into the barricades from time to time and Wang Meng, China’s most successful winter Olympian ever, did so at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. However, this young lady got up, brushed herself down and went on to finish
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Mario Draghi: ECB President Gearing Up for Eurozone Growth Spurt
Italian banker Mario Draghi entertains no doubts at all: Pessimist, sceptics, naysayers and assorted worrywarts severely underestimate the resolve extant – political and otherwise – to forge the euro into a resounding success. Then again, the president of the European
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Peter Macnee: IFC Helps Virgin Mobile Find Untapped Demographic
For Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) Latin America is virgin territory. Barely 0.5% of installed network capacity is currently leased out to providers that do not themselves own any telecom assets. UK operator Virgin Mobile has taken note and is
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Alessandro Carlucci: Going Global on Intuition and Emotion
Ethics and aesthetics: That is what Alessandro Carlucci sells as CEO of Brazilian cosmetics firm Natura, now wrapping up its 44th year in business with an annual revenue north of $3.2bn. At the forefront of conservation efforts and mindful of
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