Books

The COVID-19 crisis and banking system resilience | OECD

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This paper outlines the findings of a simulation analysis that assesses the extent of the potential rise in bank NPLs, taking into consideration assumptions under extensive monetary and fiscal support versus a scenario without continued support measures in keeping with conditions that prevailed in the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis. The paper also investigates the subsequent implications for bank capital and discusses whether policy responses may be needed to clean balance sheets.

Source: The COVID-19 crisis and banking system resilience – OECD

Hunter Biden Says His Family Name ‘Opened Doors’ But Can Be ‘a Burden’

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Hunter Biden has said his family name opened doors for him but it was also sometimes a burden. He was discussing his role on the board of Ukrainian holdings company Burisma.

President Joe Biden‘s son spoke to the BBC in an interview published on Tuesday. His memoir, Beautiful Things, is due to be released today and he’s made several appearances to promote it.

Source: Hunter Biden Says His Family Name ‘Opened Doors’ But Can Be ‘a Burden’

On the dynamics of social trust in human cultures | Aeon Essays

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Many of us will recall Petri dishes from our first biology class – those shallow glass vessels containing a nutrient gel into which a microbe sample is injected. In this sea of nutrients, the cells grow and multiply, allowing the colony to flourish, its cells dividing again and again. But just as interesting is how these cells die. Cell death in a colony occurs in two ways, essentially. One is through an active process of programmed elimination; in this so-called ‘apoptotic’ death, cells die across the colony, ‘sacrificing’ themselves in an apparent attempt to keep the colony going. Though the mechanisms underlying apoptotic death are not well understood, it’s clear that some cells benefit from the local nutrient deposits of dying cells in their midst, while others seek nutrition at the colony’s edges. The other kind of colony cell death is the result of nutrient depletion – a death induced by the impact of decreased resources on the structure of the waning colony.

Source: On the dynamics of social trust in human cultures | Aeon Essays

I Interviewed Hundreds of New Yorkers. Here’s What I Learnt | Time

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In 2014 I was given a unique assignment: move to New York and talk to people, hundreds of them, and then somehow create a book using their words to describe the experience of living in New York right now. I spoke to New Yorkers in all five boroughs, in coffee shops, in pizzerias, in elevator shafts, on job sites. At one point, when the book was nearly finished, I began to recognize a by-product of the interviewing process. Something happens when you ingest so many stories from so many New Yorkers.

Source: I Interviewed Hundreds of New Yorkers. Here’s What I Learnt | Time

How to choose a bottle of wine | Psyche Guides

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Regardless of what’s highlighted on the label – grape, origin or producer name – none of it is any use unless you have some idea of each wine’s flavour profile. In short, trying to decipher the label is a recipe for confusion. The only route out of the randomness-versus-routine conundrum is to learn a little bit about wine.

From the perspective of a wine lover, learning about the stuff is, of course, a total joy, but whatever you’re interested in, there’s something in the wine world to please you. People who love poring over maps will get a kick out of the way that wine style interacts with geography. Geologists find that the further they dig down, the more they’ll discover about different soils producing different kinds of wines. There’s plenty going on during winemaking to attract microbiologists and biochemists, while those whose interests lie in the humanities find much to love in the way that wine and culture interact. Historians enjoy contemplating the way that older vintages become time capsules of history, making them think about what happened during the year the wine was bottled. Students of human nature love the way that a winemaker’s personality is often reflected in the wines they make, while food lovers will enjoy experimenting with pairings of flavors.

Whatever your interests, all newcomers to wine have the same simple question: how do I find a wine I’ll enjoy?

Source: How to choose a bottle of wine | Psyche Guides

Why Teams Are the Key to Beating Burnout | Knowledge@Wharton

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In Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being and Resilience, Paula Davis, founder of the Stress & Resilience Institute, explores a new solution to the burnout problem at work: a comprehensive approach focused on building the resilience of teams of all sizes. Davis argues that teams, and their leaders, are uniquely positioned to create the type of cultures that are needed to prevent burnout.

Brett LoGiurato, senior editor at Wharton School Press, sat down with Davis to talk about her book, her own burnout story, and how to start on the path to resilience and thriving.

Source: Why Teams Are the Key to Beating Burnout – Knowledge@Wharton

Atlanta shootings: A reading list on anti-Asian racism in America | Vox

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On Tuesday, eight people were killed in shootings in Atlanta; six of those eight people were Asian women. While authorities have not yet established an official motive for the shooting, the tragedy fits into a rise of anti-Asian hate crimes across America.

Those hate crimes followed months of xenophobic rhetoric from then-President Donald Trump, who repeatedly and falsely associated the Covid-19 pandemic with Asians and Asian Americans. But the rise in hate crimes is also rooted in a long history of specifically anti-Asian racism in America, going back to the first wave of Asian immigration to the United States in the 1800s.

Americans tend to be bad at talking about racism in general. But Americans tend to be particularly bad at talking about racism toward Asian Americans, with those outside the community leaning on outdated myths like the idea of the “model minority” to argue that Asian Americans don’t face any particular prejudice and have nothing to worry about. And in the process, the history of the way Asian Americans have been deliberately and violently excluded from the United States’ dominant culture gets ignored, overwritten, and erased.

Source: Atlanta shootings: A reading list on anti-Asian racism in America – Vox

The Secrets to Happiness Around the World

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With the toll 2020 took on all of us, the pursuit of happiness seemed more challenging than ever, but we learned that everyone can relate to isolation and dark days. How each of us finds happiness is another story though, suggests The Atlas of Happiness: The Global Secrets of How to Be Happy, in which Helen Russell shares 30 countries’ take on contentment. Our list below highlights some of our favorite cultural concepts from the book, as well as some additions. From channeling your inner grit—or sisu, used by the Finns to survive the Arctic darkness—to embracing life’s fleeting, imperfect moments according to the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, here are the secrets to being happy around the world.

Source: The Secrets to Happiness Around the World

What bankers should learn from the traditions of pastoralism | Aeon Essays

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What are the connections between a banker working on a trading floor in London and a pastoralist herding animals across the grasslands of East Africa? More than you’d think. Let me explain how they’re connected; and why they can both learn from each other.

Both bankers and pastoralists must, as a matter of course, work with deep, pervasive uncertainty – where they don’t know the probability of future events. Both often confront ignorance – where they don’t know what they don’t know. These conditions of making important decisions amid incertitude require a very distinct approach to navigating day-to-day practices, as well as long-term futures.

Simple risk management is insufficient, as probabilities of events happening can’t be calculated and outcomes are unknown. Navigating pervasive uncertainty has important consequences, suggesting a particular approach to confronting a turbulent world.

Source: What bankers should learn from the traditions of pastoralism | Aeon Essays

The challenge of digital transformation in the automotive industry | etui

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This book addresses the impact of new technologies, typically discussed under the heading of Industry 4.0. It focuses in particular on the automotive industry which has been at the forefront of introducing new technologies such as industrial robots. It analyses their impact on working conditions and employment as well as on the role of production sites in the value chain. The book also addresses the extent to which digital transformation represents an opportunity, or a challenge, for the countries that specialise in manufacturing production as far as their development prospects and competitiveness are concerned.

Source: The challenge of digital transformation in the automotive industry | etui