John Kay

One of the paradoxes of modern business is that firms have never had so little need of capital or so much involvement with capital markets.

The belief that the right response to the failures of Basel I and II is a more elaborate version of the same global regime is a triumph of hope over experience.

The most remarkable thing about Warren Buffett’s achievements is not that no one has rivalled his record, it is that almost no one has seriously tried to emulate his investment style.

If trust and confidence in financial intermediation are to be re-established, principles of loyalty and prudence are a prerequisite.

On Friday 4th January John appeared as a guest on Radio 4’s ‘More or Less’. He discussed his recent Financial Times article, The Parable of the Ox, and it’s implications with presenter Tim Harford. Click here to listen again.

The activities of Shah Jahan epitomise rent-seeking – the accumulation of a fortune not by creating wealth through serving customers better but by the appropriation of such wealth after it has already been created by other people.

On the 29th October John gave evidence to the parliamentary commission on banking standards. The discussion covered banking culture, regulation, competition and corporate governance. Watch in full here.

Some complexity is unavoidable, but much of the complexity consumers experience is not.

Effective banking reform should aim at structures, not at intensified supervision. Resilient systems are simple ones.

Goodhart suggested that any measure adopted as a target loses the information content that appeared to make it relevant. People change their behaviour to meet the target.