Computerised Storytelling and Quantitative Easing Doldrums

As another week draws to a close, our editors have chosen another selection of stories that have captivated them in some way. With a variety of different interests at heart and recommended reading topics that range from the outstanding to the thought-provoking, each editor takes his turn to enlighten us.

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We start with Sylwester Majewski's recommended read of the week.

Computerised Storytelling

An article which recently caught my attention was one which described the latest idea from Microsoft about how artificial intelligence can be used to read images.

The article discusses how computers can be taught to “read” photos and then describe them. For example, where a group of people feature in the picture, the computer could recognise whether or not it is a family. It could also describe non human objects.

This technology could be used for story-telling based on a series of photos from a vacation, for example. Stories have been passed down for ages and now this could be taken online.

For anyone interested in the financial markets and trading, this technology opens up also other areas of usage. For example, there is no reason why it could not be used for describing trading charts.

There are already applications which catch the screenshots of a given website in order to monitor whether any changes in its content took place and which try to read technical analysis formation on the chart. This technology would be much better than reading formations from a mathematical point of view as current apps do the 'human way' by describing what is seen.

This opens up new commercial possibilities for brokers and platform providers. Will we use computerised trading advisors in the future run by artificial intelligence? An interesting scenario indeed!

We turn our attention from AI to the banking sector. Senior Editor Victor Golovtchenko hones in on concerns about the credibility of global central banks in his recommended read of the week.

Quantitative Easing Doldrums

My read this week is focused on the impending worries about the credibility of global central banks. The well expected dire consequences to the functioning of capital markets stemming from the quantitative easing policies are now here and are not being addressed in any way.

Axel Merk from Merk Investments outlines in “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly” the policies of the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank.

The article comes at the right time, as the U.S. central bank this week has effectively pulled the plug on its rate hike cycle. The value of paper currencies is collapsing, as gold is getting back its luster and is marking new highs in recent sessions.

The multi-trillion dollar question is how long will central banks be able to maintain low interest rates… And the simple answer is, as long as investors believe in policies of central banks, and with the shifts in their moods occurring rather quickly, this could happen any moment now…

And last, but by no means least, we conclude with Michael Pearl's recommended read of the week which focuses on globalization and an intriguing article which caught his eye.

You Can't Turn The Wheel Back On Globalization

This week I stumbled upon an article called “Rethinking Robin Hood” by Prof. Angus Deaton in the great op-ed source Project Syndicate. In this piece, the Nobel laureate in economics for 2015 shows the ugly sides of the globalization process.

He explains how globalization caused mass unemployment in some places in the US. When the factories migrated to China, Vietnam and Bangladesh, the jobs followed. He also talked about how even those who were lucky enough to keep their jobs witnessed a sharp decline in their salaries to such an extent that millions of American households live with an income of less than $2 a day.

The article, which goes on to look at the consequences of globalisation in depth, makes by my own admission, a very revealing and worthwhile read. Read my full contribution here.

That wraps up another week of stories that our editors are reading. We hope you found their reading suggestions interesting and read-worthy.

We’d love to hear from you so feel free to share your views in the comment section and any recommendations of your own.

Check out our previous posts here:

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Financial Efficiencies And Inefficiencies

The Bank Robber And The Psychologist

Fly Me To The Moon….And Bremain In The EU

Brexit: Ice-Cream Magic Or An Artistic Defeat

Virtual Reality and the Dark Side of Shaming

Insider Trading and the Dude Driving Istanbul Mad

On Valley Life and Opening Up AI