Hi there,
As I’m writing this I’m hurtling towards London on a highspeed train from Glasgow. The final part of my master’s in Management at the London School of Economics. Now I only have an essay left between me and a finished degree (hopefully).
This week, I’ve chosen to focus on a topic that’s been all over the news: the strong dollar reaching (practical) parity with the euro.
📃In this week’s Monday Morning Mashup:
⭐Highlight: Push for Parity
🔍Modelling & Valuation: Table-based Modelling
🌍Geopolitics: Critical Infrastructure
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Have a great week!
⭐Highlight: Push for Parity
The dollar is doing well. As the currency grows stronger others have been falling relative to it. In this highlight I’ll go over some of the larger concepts at play here.
The Euro-US dollar exchange rate has parity for the first time in two decades
Fears of a looming recession, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a growing European energy crisis have pushed the value of the euro down to parity with the US dollar.
2: an overview of the effects on other currencies
What a Strong Dollar Means as Global Economic Worries Grow - The New York Times
The value of the U.S. dollar is the strongest it has been in a generation, devaluing other currencies and unsettling the global economic outlook.
3: Krugman on the macroeconomic landscape in Europe
Renowned economist Paul Krugman gives his view on the meaning of a weaker euro for Europe.
Opinion | Wonking Out: The Meaning of the Plunging Euro - The New York Times
This time, a weak currency does reflect a weak economy.
🔍Modelling & Valuation: Table-based Modelling
If you’ve ever built a large model you’ll probably be familiar with troubleshooting a small error. In most cases these are caused by updating a formula and then not extending it to the whole calculation area (“dragging it down”). They can be tedious to spot and can take long to manifest themselves.
With Table Based Modelling (TBM), another modelling standard, calculations are made up of tables. This has many benefits. For example: calculations are done on columns, which is less prone to errors.
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🌍Geopolitics: Critical Infrastructure
Much of the world runs on one thing: the Linux kernel. The kernel is the first piece of software that runs when turning on any computer and it underpins everything from datacenters to phones. The US military has launched a research project that seeks to understand the dynamics and risks surrounding usage of the (open source) Linux kernel.
With (technically) anyone able to edit the kernel, there is potential for foreign powers to insert unsafe code into critical infrastructure. The open source community is tasked with filtering out these potentially dangerous edits. Understanding the power of “social engineering” as a ways of attacking open source projects will become increasingly important. Recent research has shown that even proprietary software uses 70% open source code on average.
The US military wants to understand the most important software on Earth | MIT Technology Review
Open-source code runs on every computer on the planet—and keeps America’s critical infrastructure going. DARPA is worried about how well it can be trusted
⏭️Next
A warm welcome to all new subscribers and thank you all for sticking with me for the weekly newsletter. If you have any topics, sectors, or interesting articles you want me to take a look at, feel free to reach out to [email protected]
Have a great week!