Niall Ferguson Lecture

For a variety of reasons, including illness, I have been unable to develop this blog as I have wanted to over the past few weeks., So I apologise for the lack of activity.

I have just watched a lecture given at the London School of Economics by Professor Niall Ferguson, introducing his book The Ascent of Money, which was broadcasts as part of the BBC’s Briefings series. He ends the lecture by summarising his key themes:

1. Money isn’t metal. It isn’t paper. It is a relationship based on trust. It exists to broker the relationship between creditors and debtors.

2. The bond market can still terrify any Government. Barack Obama please take note.

3. Stockmarkets are essentially mirrors of human psychology. The fact that we can go from euphoria to depression and from greed to fear in a day is the key to bubbles and busts.

4. You can insure against risk, but you can’t insure against uncertainty. And that’s a fundamental mistake that’s been made again and again.

5. The property owning democracy skews virtually everybody’s financial strategy in the English speaking world in favour of that one-way unhedged bet on a single pretty illiquid asset.

6. The future of planet finance… depends fundamentally upon Chimerica - the relationship between China and America

Overall a very interesting lecture, and a book I may very well ask for for Chistmas.