My end of week morning train WFH reads:
• Weaponizing Finance: To Punish Putin, the World Turned Finance Into a Weapon of War Russia’s central bank became the main target on a front that could crater the country’s economy. (Businessweek) see also Lloyd Blankfein, Cold Warrior The veteran banker watches as the system he helped build turns into a weapon. (New York Magazine)
• Gold fetishism has had its day; Money isn’t an asset. It’s a privilege Putin’s war on Ukraine rested on two premises: that a massive show of force would demoralise Kyiv; and that Russia’s $630bn in financial reserves would deter anyone who might question the value of the rouble. But both premises evaporated, because they depended on decisions that were beyond Putin’s control. (Financial Times)
• Russian cyber attacks against US banks increasing The big US banks — JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs — are under constant attacks by cyber criminals looking to disrupt operations and steal client information. The usual suspects are most often located in Iran, China and, of course, Russia. (New York Post)
• The case for (always) staying invested: Volatility is no fun for most investors, but these four things may help investors achieve their long-term goals. (JP Morgan)
• War in the time of crypto In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which side is crypto helping? Both. (Recode)
• Americans Are Going Everywhere Except Back to the Office Remote workers are clinging to work-from-home arrangements not out of fear of Covid, but because they like work-life balance. (Bloomberg)
• The Bands Are Never Coming Back The era of group collectives dominating the charts has ended, probably forever—and it’s an issue much larger than just music. (The Honest Broker)
• Don’t Be the Co-Worker With the Terrible Farewell Email Millions of people leaving their jobs means millions of goodbye emails. Here’s how to write one that ensures you’ll be remembered—for the right reasons. (Wall Street Journal)
• Putin No Longer Seems Like a Master of Disinformation In the Ukraine invasion, we are seeing that Russian influence has significant limits — and perhaps the unraveling of the myth of Putin’s mastery over global discourse. Whatever the military and geopolitical outcome in Ukraine, it’s already clear that Russia has suffered a public-relations catastrophe. Repudiation of the invasion has been swift, forceful and widespread. (New York Times)
• Why Are So Many Pop-Punk Songs from 20 Years Ago Beloved by Incels? From “Teenage Dirtbag” to “Flavor of the Weak,” a startling number of early-aughts anthems center on losers being ignored by girls they feel entitled to (Inside Hook)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with David Kotok, who co-founded Cumberland Advisors in 1973. The firm manages $4 billion in assets. Kotok is Program Chairman of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), and was on the Treasury Transition Teams for New Jersey Governors Tom Kean and Christine Whitman, but is probably best known as the creator of Camp Kotok. His recent research includes Economic Consequences of Pandemics, and What Long Covid Means for Financial Markets.
Russia’s Main Imports
Source: Statista
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