TheStreet: Scrap the C-note to Stop Crime? It's a Red Herring

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Something smells fishy about the call to scrap large denomination currency, such as the U.S. $100 bill and the €500 note.

The idea, forwarded by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, is that the only people who really use such money are criminals and terrorists.

"Extensive analysis is totally convincing on the linkage between high denomination notes and crime," Lawrence wrote in a recent editorial for The Washington Post.

The problem is that such assertions don't pass even the most cursory sniff test. Read more here.

U.S. News: The Disconnect Between the Economy and Wall Street

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Ugh! The financial world seems to have developed a touch of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, the economy is slowly, but surely, getting better. On the other hand, investors seem jittery, like addicts waiting in agony for their next fix. 

It can be confusing, but here's what you need to know. Read more here.

TheStreet: Lower Oil Prices Are Actually Stopping a U.S. Recession, Not Causing One

By SIMON CONSTABLE

What a difference a few months makes: Not so long ago, hand-wringing pundits warned that plunging oil prices portended an ugly global recession from which the U.S. wouldn't escape.

Now that concern seems overblown. The economy continues to grow and add jobs -- 242,000 in February, according to the latest government data. Read more here.

WSJ: Gender Bias in Hedge Funds?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Running a successful hedge fund is a challenge for anyone. But it’s especially hard for women, a recent study says.

Hedge funds run by women are struggling for capital despite there being no statistically significant difference in performance between their funds and those run by men, according to new research. Part of the reason, say the researchers, is that women running hedge funds get a low level of news-media attention. Read more here.

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

WSJ: What Is the Presidential Predictor?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Will the stock market’s performance this year determine who will be the next U.S. president?

It’s a questionable proposition, but a study of market data in presidential election years since World War II found a strong correlation between the performance of the S&P 500 index and who ended up in the White House. Read more here.

Forbes: Truman's Forgotten Economic Crisis

By SIMON CONSTABLE

President Harry S. Truman is famous for many great lines, including one of my favorites: ”I never gave anybody hell! I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.”

What perhaps isn’t so well known is the economic turmoil his administration had to navigate as peace broke out.

Kenneth Weisbrode reveals that story, as well as other parts of the first post-war year, in his new book: The Year of Indecision, 1946: A Tour Through the Crucible of Harry Truman’s America. It was published in March. 

Read more here.

Forbes: Worst Boss Possible Part 13

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Part 13 of a continuing series, which outlines how you too can be an appalling manager. Read part 12 here.

I read with horror about a new practice sweeping the offices of corporate America. It seems tailor-made for the awful manager. In this case, a very high level manager.

CNN Money reports that companies are introducing “hoteling” and “beach toweling.” Confused?

Read more here.