Finance topics

The Ascent of Money (Niall Ferguson) - Part I

franco@financialconsultantsguide.com — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Niall Ferguson extraordinary talent makes interesting and exciting to read a book on finance; and it is a book so rich in cases and so detailed to be worth reading 2 or 3 times. The history of finance innovations dating back from the ancient times illuminates the role of finance as engine of progress and civilisation, but also wars.

Finance Innovations

The underlying concept is that innovation in finance was on one hand a necessity to answer evolving commercial trading and governments’ needs, and on the other an essential catalyst for human progress. Money appeared first as a medium of exchange which allowed the human genre to overcome the constraints of barter. After having been associated with metals (mainly gold) to ensure its intrinsic value it progressively became nominal and then just virtual.

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Europe's Problem

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:00:00 GMT

For years the old continent has not had any substantial growth and is struggling to remain competitive with the rest of the world.

There is one word that can summarize the root cause: vacations.

Not there

Is there a European citizen who was not faced with this kind of answers when trying to reach by phone the public administration:

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Three Ways to Pay off Debt Soon

franco@financialconsultantsguide.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:00:00 GMT

If you’re being troubled by your intolerable debt burden, you are not the only one. Studies have shown that the average credit card debt borne by an individual is around $8,000. The majority of people have mortgage loans, automobile loans, student loans and so on. Paying off debt has to be your main concern. You should try to pay off your credit cards that usually carry high interest rates. Following are some useful ways to pay off debt...

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The Positive Economy

franco@financialconsultantsguide.com — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:48:47 GMT

Positive vs. Negative Economy

A traditional electric company exploiting a fuel based central, although supposed to produce energy, actually depletes our planet Earth resources, has a low efficiency (about 70% goes on wasted heat) and contributes to accumulate CO₂ in the environment. By considering our planet as a whole system or capital this kind of “production” has a negative budget on the domains of the energy, climate, resources, health and biodiversity.

The same is for our cars (down to 1% overall efficiency if we consider the weight of the car!), our houses, travels, vacations, for the agriculture and the industry in general.

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