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Author: David James

  • ECONOMICS

    Dawn of the multipolar world: A new order in global finance?

    • David James
    • 13 June 2023
    1 Comment

    From Moscow to Beijing, a change in global finance looms, set to challenge the long-standing economic hegemony. This imminent shift could redefine global power structures, disrupt currency markets and international trade. Amidst this uncertainty, one thing is clear: the game of geopolitical chess is no longer played on a Western-centric board.

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  • ECONOMICS

    When transactions mask reality

    • David James
    • 01 May 2023

    As the economy becomes more focused on monetary exchange, we overlook underlying realities that are hidden from plain sight. Largely invisible aspects of our economic life such as transactionalisation and industrial efficiency are transforming our society and can shape our future in unexpected ways. So what does this mean for the future of capitalism and our society?

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  • ECONOMICS

    The debt crisis we all saw coming

    • David James
    • 03 April 2023

    As the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse poses a renewed threat to the global financial system, the question arises: how can we manage out-of-control debt? With global debt exceeding 230 per cent of GDP, could nationalising banks be the solution to the ongoing crisis, or will the debt merry-go-round continue to spin out of control?

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  • ECONOMICS

    Ballooning risks of finance fictions

    • David James
    • 14 March 2023

    Was Russia's removal from the SWIFT system the moment when the global financial system detached itself from reality? The financial system is at risk from unpayable debt and the delusion that money can be created out of money itself, and wider trust underpinning finance is steadily evaporating.

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  • ECONOMICS

    The future of work is transhuman

    • David James
    • 16 February 2023
    4 Comments

    AI and transhumanism will continue to transform economic life on the planet. Rather than trying to stop it, which will fail, the counterattack should instead be to repeatedly insist on the obvious: that the ‘I’ in AI is not human intelligence, and that the ‘humanism’ in transhumanism is not human.

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  • ECONOMICS

    Best of 2022: The rise of the machines

    • David James
    • 12 January 2023

    There is a great deal of commentary about the growing importance of artificial intelligence, or AI, especially in business circles. To some extent this is a self-fulfilling prophecy — if people think something will have a seminal effect then it probably will. But if the supposed commercial benefits are significant, the dangers are potentially enormous.

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  • ECONOMICS

    Russia sanctions reveal growing split in the global financial system

    • David James
    • 14 December 2022

    What the failed attempt to crush Russia’s economy has revealed is that America’s and Europe’s dominance of the global financial system is something of an illusion; more like money changing hands in a giant casino rather than actual wealth. 

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  • ECONOMICS

    In finance, story matters most

    • David James
    • 16 November 2022
    1 Comment

    Financial markets are made up of human beings and human beings have always been storytellers — long before science, or modern finance, or accounting even existed. Accordingly, the main skill of successful analysts, advisers, financial gurus and commentators is the construction of compelling narratives. They are, if not exactly creators of fairy stories, not too far removed from it. 

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  • ECONOMICS

    Managestocracy

    • David James
    • 28 October 2022

    Who wields the most power in the world? If one follows the money trail, it becomes clear that Western societies have become ruled by a new type of aristocracy: a management aristocracy. 

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  • ECONOMICS

    Real world problems can’t be solved by finance fictions

    • David James
    • 18 October 2022
    3 Comments

    The world is facing cross-currents: a collapsing financial system that is balanced by the benefits of massive, long term improvements in production efficiencies, mainly because of technological advances. It is a bad news/good news story that can only be seen accurately if the intractable errors of contemporary economics are jettisoned. We are in a battle between finance fictions and reality. 

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  • ECONOMICS

    Blowback to Russia sanctions in Europe as gas crisis looms

    • David James
    • 03 October 2022
    5 Comments

    For Europe, especially Germany, there should be enough gas in storage to limp through winter but by next spring there may be severe trouble. The leaders of Europe and the United States expected that they would win the economic war against Russia and force the invader to withdraw. Not only did that not happen, it is likely to lead to severe unintended economic consequences.

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  • ECONOMICS

    Why we need new rules for money

    • David James
    • 23 August 2022
    4 Comments

    Now that it is becoming hard to avoid just how much trouble the global financial system is in, it is interesting to speculate about what should be done about it. The first thing to understand about the global financial system is that the assumptions that were used to shape it are demonstrably false.

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