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Future of Finance ·

Beyond Firm-Level Sustainable Capitalism

Co-authored by Peter Malik, Director of Center for Market Innovation at the NRDC Generation Investment Management’s recently released white paper calls for a “paradigm shift” to Sustainable Capitalism. It is an admirable and important contribution to the discussion

John Fullerton·
February 27, 2012 5:50 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Ending the Debate on Keystone

In his February 10th essay, New York Times columnist Joe Nocera asked a simple question: “Can a person support the Keystone XL oil pipeline and still believe that global warming poses a serious threat?” Joe answers “yes,” with

John Fullerton·
February 13, 2012 2:20 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Finance for Sustainability: The Future of Business Education

I was honored to join Majora Carter, Eban Goodstein, and Elysa Hammond at the launch of Bard College’s new MBA in Sustainability last week to discuss how finance has been a major factor driving our ecological and social crises and how fixing finance must be a part of the solution. The ideas I presented – an all hands on deck,…

John Fullerton·
January 30, 2012 3:41 pm·
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Financial Reform ·

A Systems Approach to Financial Reform

I spoke last Thursday at the Congressional Progressive Caucus Policy Summit in Baltimore on how our work at Capital Institute might have relevance to the 2012 Congress’s financial reform agenda. These are the hopes I shared for how policy could shape the Future of Finance: “Good Afternoon, and thank you for offering me the opportunity to address you

John Fullerton·
January 23, 2012 5:29 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

What’s Wrong With the Debt Debate

This former banker, and now sustainability investor and humble blogger, will not offer grand predictions for 2012. Forecasting in a world of rising uncertainty suggests a lack of understanding about uncertainty. Instead, inspired by my holiday reading, Debt: The First 5000 Years, by anthropologist

John Fullerton·
January 3, 2012 5:21 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Time to Plan: The Climate Crisis is Here

This is what the fight over Stranding Assets will look like. The spotlight on “stranded assets” is growing brighter, and that is good. The idea was brought to our attention when Carbon Tracker released their report, “Unburnable Carbon,” on

John Fullerton·
December 19, 2011 6:07 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Europe to Investors: “This Time We Really Mean It.”

All eyes are trained on Europe these days. While I look on, I can’t help but yearn for the day when financial markets and financial institutions are a little less interconnected, and a lot more resilient. Whether such a system lies in the future, or only in the past, is open to question. It’s clear that the factious nature of…

John Fullerton·
December 12, 2011 3:47 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Wealth, Illth, and Net Welfare

Wellbeing should be counted in net terms — that is to say we should consider not only the accumulated stock of wealth but also that of “illth;” and not only the annual flow of goods but also that of “bads.” The fact that we have to stretch English usage to find words like illth and bads with which to name…

John Fullerton·
December 5, 2011 2:54 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

The Wisdom of Melville

“If your banker breaks, you snap.” – Herman Melville, Moby Dick During the summer between the day I resigned from JPMorgan after eighteen years, and the horror of witnessing 9-11 up close and personal, I joined a couple of friends on their fifty-foot sailboat in an attempt to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. What better time to

John Fullerton·
November 28, 2011 8:10 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

The Joint Chiefs of Staff and OWS… Who Knew?

Last week, I had the privilege of meeting Colonel Mark (“Puck”) Mykleby, recently retired from the US Marine Corps. Puck was a “Top Gun” pilot, and finished his military career working in the Office of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a senior advisor on strategy reporting to Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

John Fullerton·
November 21, 2011 12:41 pm·
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Efficiency ·

Financial Collapse: It’s Only Natural

What does the collapse of MF Global, the Euro crisis, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the 1998 collapse of Long Term Capital Management all have in common? Certainly these crises all shared the following characteristics: too much leverage, lack of transparency, inadequate regulatory oversight, agency problems of misaligned incentives,

John Fullerton·
November 14, 2011 6:47 pm·
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Financial Reform ·

A Tax for the Supercommittee to Embrace

Last Friday, I participated in a Special Briefing on Capitol Hill in support of the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). I came as a seasoned practitioner speaking on behalf of the real economy, not for the interests of the Wall Street trading community. What I tried to convey was that what the US and World needs is enhanced capital market function,…

John Fullerton·
October 24, 2011 4:52 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Listening to Occupy Wall Street

I’m a former banker, a one-percenter, and I’m mad as hell too. Let’s be clear. This movement is not frustration being expressed, as President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and now Eric Cantor have suggested. Frustration is passive; anger is active. Martin Luther King was not frustrated. But beyond my anger is a real

John Fullerton·
October 17, 2011 10:05 am·
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Future of Finance ·

Taming the Casino

Bloomberg View has joined its Wall Street customers in coming out against the Financial Transactions Tax proposed by Germany and France, and recommended by the European Union, declaring it politically unfeasible while undermining economic growth. Presuming for a moment that the politically unfeasible can become reality when good ideas are pursued in a real democracy, it

John Fullerton·
October 2, 2011 4:45 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Why We Need an Independent Infrastructure Bank

Banking used to be a profession, not just a business. That profession is vital to the real economy, and essential at a time of profound economic system transition. It’s about time we rebuild the banking profession, with public-private hybrid models as necessary to promote critical public purpose such as rebuilding our energy infrastructure for the post-carbon era.

John Fullerton·
September 25, 2011 10:14 pm·
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