Quote of the week:
'I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use.' - Galileo Galilei.
Some previous articles from the IWB have been picked up by the International Business Times. Please click here and vote on how great you think they are. This way, perhaps the usual monotone coverage of Muslim issues found in the media will change for the better.
Commentary of the week:
Wailing Wall Street:
Once again, Wall Street has let us down. Here we were, planning to do an IWB on why taking a vacation is beneficial for the economy but have been dragged back from our fanciful musings into the nitty gritty of investment bank bankruptcies and Insurer fold-ups. It just seems that for all their education, smarts and financial sophistication, most people working in finance have perhaps missed their true calling as apprentices to donkey-cart drivers. Perhaps now they will have the opportunity to work in the field in which they should have been all along rather than wasting their lives brokering large deals between those who need to waste money and those with money to waste. The only question that keeps me up these days is - which section of idiot-financiers is dumber than the others? Is it the government regulators who have used up untold amounts of tax-payer money to shore up companies not worth their weight in cow-dung, or is it the people who spend years dreaming up complex, leveraged instruments only to pass them onto people just like them but with some more money?
So where did all this begin, you ask? Well, most things really begin after world war II, but we will skip over some decades and come to the early 70's. This is when President Nixon decoupled the US$ from gold and suddenly we could make as much or as little paper money as the banks that make up the Fed decided to at any time without necessarily having any gold to back it up. Of course, gold prices shot up (or rather, the worth of the US$ fell over the decade), but soon things became more predictable as people found a new way to do business. Everything suddenly became not just trade-able but a potential commodity to speculate with - Oil, Gold, Currencies, Wheat, Soyabeans and even the unmentionable animal. At the same time, some flawed geniuses in the US looked at bank (or savings and loans entities) balance sheets and realized that all these mortgages that people had, which were paying the lenders quite a bit of interest, but were essentially just sitting on the books (I am paraphrasing just a bit here). In the 1980's then, firms such as Bear Stearns (read the IWB obituary here) came up with ways to turn these mortgages back into cash by having one lender simply sell them as a package to investors looking for income. This is when the trading of fixed-income instruments (bonds) really took off and soon home-purchase payments your parents were paying diligently could actually be ending up at a small pension fund in Latin America that was unlucky enough to be a Bear Stearns customer.
Fast forward now to the present day and not only is it just the mortgage principals that are being traded, but interest payments and even the insurance on the mortgages. Actually, everything from credit card payments to the financing you have taken for your local mechanic's bill or marital furniture is ultimately being traded somewhere by a short man wearing glasses or by the computer program he has created to replace himself. All this works fine as long as no one cog in the machine creates problems, but alas, the machine was not made in Germany so breaks down. Since this one is American, lots of things break down and do so quite frequently.
Think of the US economy as a car, and money as gas. If a few people cannot pay their mortgages in the US, one of the cylinders in the engine is not really working and the car is not as efficient anymore. The Fed notices and jumps in to give it more power by giving it more gas. Since that doesn't solve the problem of the faulty cylinder, the car continues to run hotter than normal for bit and then the extra heat breaks something else down. This time, it is the mortgage-backed bond market, where nobody wants to invest anymore, and the Fed jumps in with yet more gas. Suddenly, all the bills for the companies that are involved in the mortgage market are unaffordable because they have no revenue - the Fed jumps in with yet more gas. Then the insurance companies that bought mortgages find that they are not getting paid - the Fed does the usual gas trick. After the insurance companies realize that they are toast (as per our views here), the investment banks realize that they have no customers - the Fed jumps in with High Octane gas. All this while, the car is slowing down because even though there are small explosions taking place in the engine, the engine is not really producing much power (think GM). Let us now suppose that the global political situation is such that the car has to travel uphill. So you have something with the shape of a car, with the engineering of a car, with the heat and sparks of a car, but the performance characteristics of a gas-tank with a lit fuse. It has lots of flammable gas, sparks but no real momentum. Clearly, the natural course would be for it to go screaming downhill while on fire.
The tragedy here is of course twofold. One, all of the gas the Fed, the Bank of Canada and others pour into this American junker is stolen from our cars as governments have one source of revenue and that is the taxes we pay either obviously or through the silent avenue of inflation. Two, many of the donkeys that were previously free will now be stuck with over-eager donkey-cart drivers looking to prove that it wasn't their fault.
Credit to Shahzad Siddiqui for suggesting the topic (and title) and Siddiq Mohamed for forcing me to say something about the tax implications.
Ramadan Mubarak - May this month be full of blessings for you all IA.
--------------
Upcoming Events:
You can watch our newly married (alas ladies), VP of Private Client Services, Mr. Firaaz Azeez, explaining some of the reasons why Ittihad exists and what we stand for as a company between 2 and 3 pm on Saturday the 27th of September on the Faith of Life Network on the CTS channel. Tune in for the depth of the ideas, but if that does not interest you, then perhaps I should also tell you that he has a dreamy voice and very pleasing appearance. Please tune in, listen to what the Private Client Division at Ittihad is up to these days and then call the Faith Of Life people to ask for a repeat or two.
Office for Rent:
As we have recently moved all our staff to the glass-enclosed cage that we call our head office, we have an entire fully furnished, gorgeous office for rent in a Medical Building at the corner of Sheppard Ave. and McCowan. The rent is minimal and the salient features of the space - such as the beautiful windows, the spacious Board-Room, the Corner offices, the nice faux mahogany furniture are enough to motivate your employees to work long hours while being paid whatever little you grudgingly give them. As this is a Professional Building (not just any building mind you, this one has achieved professional status through years of just sitting there), it would be most suitable for a growing real estate, accountancy or legal practice. You can visit the space and see the endless possibilities that this new location presents for your business by clicking here or calling Mr. Azeez at (416) 412 3999 ext. 115.
Useless fact of the day:
Campestral: something or someone that thrives in open countryside and under open skies, as opposed to the usual growth found in cubicles.
__________
Finance News:
1. Two for the price of one ... both Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch go under (but in different ways) ... read more here
2. Bill gates buys $32B worth of Garbage, and we are not even talking about Windows ... read more here
3. Time for many Investment Bankers to realize their true calling and become donkey-cart drivers ... read more here
Economic News:
1. I think the Chinese might end up 'saving' Wall Street ... read more here
2. The Economist opines (finally) on why things are so bad ... read more here
3. Why the underwriting of $62Trillion worth of derivatives may be a bad thing ... read more here
Islamic / Middle East / Emerging Markets:
1. One of the foremost Economists of Islamic Economics (a person who has researched the relative efficiency of debt vs. equity on an economy-wide basis) has written a piece on Ethical Investing. A must read ... read more here
2. Why the Sovereign Wealth Funds have not jumped in to save Wall Street (well, not yet anyway) ... read more here
Interesting but not all Finance:
1. Is there a food shortage in the world, or is there a water shortage? ... read more here
2. Teaching kids a financial lesson ... read more here
Monday, September 22, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Casino Finance
Quote of the week:
'If the industry introduces too many new products, cynics will argue that sharia is being twisted for economic ends-the scholars are being paid for their services, after all. But if it fails to innovate, the industry may look too medieval to play a full part in modern finance.' - The Economist.
Please read this article about the industry and notice how smoothly, coolly and with such great perceived expertise on the matter, The Economist has painted us as medievalists unfit for modern finance. Too funny really ... as if modern finance is somehow better than medieval finance.
Some articles from the IWB have been picked up by the International Business Times. Please click here and vote on how great the articles are. Do be shameless and liberal with your praise.
Commentary of the week:
'Quick and Easy' Islamic Finance:
Regular readers of the IWB know that letting yours truly in at Financial industry conferences is always a bit risky so imagine my surprise when I was invited to the World Alternative Investment Summit held at the very plush, very luxurious Fallsview resort in Niagara Falls. At first, it was questionable whether I would be allowed to go after the cutlery fiasco that took place some decades ago (described here), but after many empty promises of good behaviour, permission was reluctantly granted and I had my bags packed and ready before the authorities could change their mind (or even finish the 'k' part of 'okay, you can go'). On the way there, I realized that in my excitement at being taken along, I had overlooked to read the agenda of the 'Summit'.
Reading the agenda while doing my best impression of a docile passenger had two effects. First, it made yours truly quite incredulous that the conference (which had a significant component devoted to Islamic Finance), was being held at a Casino (yes, that is correct), in the middle of Ramadan. Second, once I got over the shock of that realization, the predictability of the topics under discussion put me into a deep kind of sleep. Fast forwarding past our arrival at the venue and the sheer decadence of the surroundings, let me tell you what most of the conference was dedicated to.
As this was an 'Alternative' investment conference, you had the usual suspects in attendance. Lots of hedge funds, some real estate LP's, lots of lawyers, some back-office suppliers and of course, yet more lawyers. The salient themes of the conference were twofold, with a session on Islamic Finance thrown it at the end. First, as the liquidity crisis is having its way with public markets, the order of the day is to find assets that are uncorrelated with major stock market indices. This is supposed to create some predictability in your rapidly shrinking portfolio. Second, as there is very little gain to be had if funds just buy and hold stocks, the order of the day is to borrow from banks at prime and invest at prime + infinity% so we can all get rich quicker than we can resolve whether strawberry milk shake is better than chocolate. As we at Ittihad have heard this story again and again and have already decided on strawberry, we of course know that using borrowed money to invest is fine and dandy in this life only some of the time, but can be quite problematic for our next life - so we try and steer clear of this whole idea. As two of my fellow Ittihad geniuses were with me, I quietly nodded my head as if I agreed and did not make a scene by pulling out the hair in my beard at the insanity of it all. But alas, this sense of forced calm did not last - and the session on Islamic Finance broke all pretence at self-control.
While I will not bore you with all the ways in which I came away offended and quite hurt at the shallow way in which many people treat and think of Islamic Finance, there is an exchange that I would like to leave you with that is quite instructive. After describing to the audience how anything that our friendly hedge-fund types usually did or wanted to do could be structured in an 'Islamic' or 'Shariah-compliant' way, some members of the audience were left a bit confused. One question, which was 'well, if you can structure anything 'Islamically', then what is the difference, and why bother?' was answered along the lines of the thought that Muslims need to be liberated from their money (which I thought was a very clever way to put it). The second question (asked by my associate) was along the lines of whether what these practitioners were proposing was in line at all with the letter and spirit of Islam? The answer to this was such that I almost fell out of my chair and had to be first propped up and then restrained before I ran up onto stage, held the speaker's collar and then gently fixed the alignment of his tie before walking back calmly as if nothing had happened, but I digress.
The answer to this beautiful question was quite illuminating indeed. It was that the responsibility of the spirit of Islam, if there is such a thing that can be agreed upon, did not lie with those who create these products and structures, but with the Shariah Boards that approve them. Of course, when this question is asked of Shariah Boards, they simply turn around and say that it is not their responsibility to structure genuine solutions, it is their responsibility to pass on the legalese of individual contracts. Since three or four individual contracts can be combined to reproduce conventional finance quite well, both parties pass the buck to each other on the entire solution and make a mockery of whatever little Islam there is in Islamic Finance.
As we usually find that the only one's at these panels that make a direct link between Ethics and Islamic Finance are people from the Ittihad tribe (at this one it was our Dear Leader - God Bless him for introducing some integrity and dignity to the proceedings), I think it may be time to take some responsibility for what happens in Canada on our own shoulders. As such, let me humbly suggest that I hope you all will not allow anyone to 'liberate you from your savings' unless you are an aware, willing and educated participant in this grand liberation being planned at the Casinos of the world.
Ramadan Mubarak - May this month be full of blessings for you all IA.
--------------
Upcoming Events:
You can watch our newly married (alas ladies), VP of Private Client Services, Mr. Firaaz Azeez, explaining some of the reasons why Ittihad exists and what we stand for as a company between 2 and 3 pm on Saturday the 27th of September on the Faith of Life Network on the CTS channel. Tune in for the depth of the ideas, but if that does not interest you, then perhaps I should also tell you that he has a dreamy voice and very pleasing appearance. Please tune in, listen to what the Private Client Division at Ittihad is up to these days and then call the Faith Of Life people to ask for a repeat or two.
Office for Rent:
As we have recently moved all our staff to the glass-enclosed cage that we call our head office, we have an entire fully furnished, gorgeous office for rent in a Medical Building at the corner of Sheppard Ave. and McCowan. The rent is minimal and the salient features of the space - such as the beautiful windows, the spacious Board-Room, the Corner offices, the nice faux mahogany furniture are enough to motivate your employees to work long hours while being paid whatever little you grudgingly give them. As this is a Professional Building (not just any building mind you, this one has achieved professional status through years of just sitting there), it would be most suitable for a growing real estate, accountancy or legal practice. You can visit the space and see the endless possibilities that this new location presents for your business by clicking here or calling Mr. Azeez at (416) 412 3999 ext. 115.
Useless fact of the day:
Conniption: flirting with a stroke-like state due to intense anger or excitement. The feeling of being emotionally overwhelmed such that self-control falls below the top 3 on the list of one's priorities in life. Not recommended during Ramadan.
__________
Finance News:
1. The US Govt. decides to own everyone's home also ... welcome to the USSR, no, no - I mean the new USA ... (quite possibly the best news for Gold investors but don't quote me) ... read more here
2. After the fall of Bear Stearns, another large investment bank is having a delayed reaction ... read more here
3. Who bears the cost of mortgage bailouts ... read more here
Economic News:
1. Economist Paul Krugman speaks about the paradox of deleveraging ... read more here
2. An excellent article on the background of why the creation of credit in an economy is fraught with danger ... read more here
3. The problems with deposit insurance and how this creates issues for the industry ... read more here
4. What the instability of the US$ means for US policy-makers ... read more here
Islamic / Middle East / Emerging Markets:
1. An article on Islamic Finance from The Economist (must read article of the week) ... read more here
Interesting but not all Finance:
1. Introducing the Ramadan Phone. If only it could cook before sunrise also ... (hat-tip to Husein Kirefu) ... read more here
'If the industry introduces too many new products, cynics will argue that sharia is being twisted for economic ends-the scholars are being paid for their services, after all. But if it fails to innovate, the industry may look too medieval to play a full part in modern finance.' - The Economist.
Please read this article about the industry and notice how smoothly, coolly and with such great perceived expertise on the matter, The Economist has painted us as medievalists unfit for modern finance. Too funny really ... as if modern finance is somehow better than medieval finance.
Some articles from the IWB have been picked up by the International Business Times. Please click here and vote on how great the articles are. Do be shameless and liberal with your praise.
Commentary of the week:
'Quick and Easy' Islamic Finance:
Regular readers of the IWB know that letting yours truly in at Financial industry conferences is always a bit risky so imagine my surprise when I was invited to the World Alternative Investment Summit held at the very plush, very luxurious Fallsview resort in Niagara Falls. At first, it was questionable whether I would be allowed to go after the cutlery fiasco that took place some decades ago (described here), but after many empty promises of good behaviour, permission was reluctantly granted and I had my bags packed and ready before the authorities could change their mind (or even finish the 'k' part of 'okay, you can go'). On the way there, I realized that in my excitement at being taken along, I had overlooked to read the agenda of the 'Summit'.
Reading the agenda while doing my best impression of a docile passenger had two effects. First, it made yours truly quite incredulous that the conference (which had a significant component devoted to Islamic Finance), was being held at a Casino (yes, that is correct), in the middle of Ramadan. Second, once I got over the shock of that realization, the predictability of the topics under discussion put me into a deep kind of sleep. Fast forwarding past our arrival at the venue and the sheer decadence of the surroundings, let me tell you what most of the conference was dedicated to.
As this was an 'Alternative' investment conference, you had the usual suspects in attendance. Lots of hedge funds, some real estate LP's, lots of lawyers, some back-office suppliers and of course, yet more lawyers. The salient themes of the conference were twofold, with a session on Islamic Finance thrown it at the end. First, as the liquidity crisis is having its way with public markets, the order of the day is to find assets that are uncorrelated with major stock market indices. This is supposed to create some predictability in your rapidly shrinking portfolio. Second, as there is very little gain to be had if funds just buy and hold stocks, the order of the day is to borrow from banks at prime and invest at prime + infinity% so we can all get rich quicker than we can resolve whether strawberry milk shake is better than chocolate. As we at Ittihad have heard this story again and again and have already decided on strawberry, we of course know that using borrowed money to invest is fine and dandy in this life only some of the time, but can be quite problematic for our next life - so we try and steer clear of this whole idea. As two of my fellow Ittihad geniuses were with me, I quietly nodded my head as if I agreed and did not make a scene by pulling out the hair in my beard at the insanity of it all. But alas, this sense of forced calm did not last - and the session on Islamic Finance broke all pretence at self-control.
While I will not bore you with all the ways in which I came away offended and quite hurt at the shallow way in which many people treat and think of Islamic Finance, there is an exchange that I would like to leave you with that is quite instructive. After describing to the audience how anything that our friendly hedge-fund types usually did or wanted to do could be structured in an 'Islamic' or 'Shariah-compliant' way, some members of the audience were left a bit confused. One question, which was 'well, if you can structure anything 'Islamically', then what is the difference, and why bother?' was answered along the lines of the thought that Muslims need to be liberated from their money (which I thought was a very clever way to put it). The second question (asked by my associate) was along the lines of whether what these practitioners were proposing was in line at all with the letter and spirit of Islam? The answer to this was such that I almost fell out of my chair and had to be first propped up and then restrained before I ran up onto stage, held the speaker's collar and then gently fixed the alignment of his tie before walking back calmly as if nothing had happened, but I digress.
The answer to this beautiful question was quite illuminating indeed. It was that the responsibility of the spirit of Islam, if there is such a thing that can be agreed upon, did not lie with those who create these products and structures, but with the Shariah Boards that approve them. Of course, when this question is asked of Shariah Boards, they simply turn around and say that it is not their responsibility to structure genuine solutions, it is their responsibility to pass on the legalese of individual contracts. Since three or four individual contracts can be combined to reproduce conventional finance quite well, both parties pass the buck to each other on the entire solution and make a mockery of whatever little Islam there is in Islamic Finance.
As we usually find that the only one's at these panels that make a direct link between Ethics and Islamic Finance are people from the Ittihad tribe (at this one it was our Dear Leader - God Bless him for introducing some integrity and dignity to the proceedings), I think it may be time to take some responsibility for what happens in Canada on our own shoulders. As such, let me humbly suggest that I hope you all will not allow anyone to 'liberate you from your savings' unless you are an aware, willing and educated participant in this grand liberation being planned at the Casinos of the world.
Ramadan Mubarak - May this month be full of blessings for you all IA.
--------------
Upcoming Events:
You can watch our newly married (alas ladies), VP of Private Client Services, Mr. Firaaz Azeez, explaining some of the reasons why Ittihad exists and what we stand for as a company between 2 and 3 pm on Saturday the 27th of September on the Faith of Life Network on the CTS channel. Tune in for the depth of the ideas, but if that does not interest you, then perhaps I should also tell you that he has a dreamy voice and very pleasing appearance. Please tune in, listen to what the Private Client Division at Ittihad is up to these days and then call the Faith Of Life people to ask for a repeat or two.
Office for Rent:
As we have recently moved all our staff to the glass-enclosed cage that we call our head office, we have an entire fully furnished, gorgeous office for rent in a Medical Building at the corner of Sheppard Ave. and McCowan. The rent is minimal and the salient features of the space - such as the beautiful windows, the spacious Board-Room, the Corner offices, the nice faux mahogany furniture are enough to motivate your employees to work long hours while being paid whatever little you grudgingly give them. As this is a Professional Building (not just any building mind you, this one has achieved professional status through years of just sitting there), it would be most suitable for a growing real estate, accountancy or legal practice. You can visit the space and see the endless possibilities that this new location presents for your business by clicking here or calling Mr. Azeez at (416) 412 3999 ext. 115.
Useless fact of the day:
Conniption: flirting with a stroke-like state due to intense anger or excitement. The feeling of being emotionally overwhelmed such that self-control falls below the top 3 on the list of one's priorities in life. Not recommended during Ramadan.
__________
Finance News:
1. The US Govt. decides to own everyone's home also ... welcome to the USSR, no, no - I mean the new USA ... (quite possibly the best news for Gold investors but don't quote me) ... read more here
2. After the fall of Bear Stearns, another large investment bank is having a delayed reaction ... read more here
3. Who bears the cost of mortgage bailouts ... read more here
Economic News:
1. Economist Paul Krugman speaks about the paradox of deleveraging ... read more here
2. An excellent article on the background of why the creation of credit in an economy is fraught with danger ... read more here
3. The problems with deposit insurance and how this creates issues for the industry ... read more here
4. What the instability of the US$ means for US policy-makers ... read more here
Islamic / Middle East / Emerging Markets:
1. An article on Islamic Finance from The Economist (must read article of the week) ... read more here
Interesting but not all Finance:
1. Introducing the Ramadan Phone. If only it could cook before sunrise also ... (hat-tip to Husein Kirefu) ... read more here
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ramadan & Economic Sustainability
Quote of the week:
'I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than his. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.' - Hadith Qudsi
Commentary of the week:
Ramadan and Sustainability:
As you can see, the Ramadan theme continues this week (and depending on responses, perhaps for the month). This could be because it is difficult to summarize in a single IWB the various strands of thought that being famished and dreaming of samosas all day forces upon weak minds such as yours truly or it could be that there is something unexplored about the subject still left to say. The thirst for something cool, refreshing and liquidy does not allow me the latitude to use the overtaxed brain matter too much today so I will leave this particular question for now. What I will share with you though, is a thought that is becoming more and more impossible for me to get away from as I reflect a bit on the first few days of fasting.
Perhaps it is also appropriate for me to describe exactly the circumstances in which this thought was forcibly put into my head. It sort of happened as I was huffing and puffing my way up the last hill to perform my various cleaning duties at the glass castle that is Ittihad on my two-wheeled human powered vehicle that I began to day dream about not having to huff and puff back home after work and instead thought of driving back in the red Porsche that had just overtaken me at something approaching light-speed at a distance so close as to almost take my bushy, flowing and truly impressive beard with it while I progressed at a pace approaching that of a particularly slow snail on her way to visit reluctant in-laws. Of course, it should not have been so easy for me to lose focus on what is truly important in life but what can I say - the car was the exact shade of cherry red it should have been and I was suffering from severe dehydration. The thought in question though, as I was deciding between making a sincere prayer for a drink of water or wishing for the Porsche itself, was driven home in quite violent fashion as my poor vehicle suddenly fell into what is perhaps the largest pothole east of the Grand Canyon. As my bones, wrists, knees, elbows, neck and torso felt the impact of a bicycle travelling upwards towards a fairly heavy body travelling downwards, I was reminded again of many things that I had foolishly forgotten. One was that there is language one must not use during fasting, or ever really. The second was that on the road of life, it is not the usual smoothness that is memorable, but the violence of the potholes. Once I recovered (if that is indeed the word), I also realized a deeper truth - which is that it is exactly such thoughts as the ones I was having for the Porsche and the vicious cycle of longing for things only to be bored with them later that festivals such as Ramadan are supposed to protect people such as me from.
Even if on the face of things we think of Ramadan as a particularly Muslim month, there is no denying that there are many religions, faiths and viewpoints that advocate the sacrifice of both some our petty needs and some of our deepest longings in order to develop something of a more refined personal and societal character. Festivals such as Lent come to mind, but I am sure that there are many others with whom we share some of the concepts of Ramadan. One reason this is important for one as obsessed with finance as me is that Ramadan to me is perhaps one of the most anti-consumption ideas to take some hold in a society bent on consuming itself and in theory this holds great promise for the development of a sustainable economy. To truly take advantage of this month and it's insights promises to let us break out from the mental prison of personal needs and take us through to the liberation of generosity and compassion instead. This is an important point because one of the things that we need at a societal level is a system or way of life that allows us to live as part of the world, not as parasites upon it. While one has to be very careful about promising grand solutions to the world's problems and we as Muslims certainly cannot claim to have everything figured out (the disagreements about the sighting of the moon come to mind), there is nevertheless a deep wisdom at work here in building a society that is willing to sacrifice personally for at least some part of the year in order to give the rest of the planet a bit of a break from their personal needs.
As this is not a very obvious topic for discussion (I think), I am somewhat sure that there has been very little research that has been done to determine whether widespread societal fasting such as that during Ramadan contributes to the sustainability of that particular economy. Of course - it may be difficult to gather evidence because we could be so far gone as Muslims that we simply shift our consumption to the evenings instead of during the day and thereby do not really change much except just our patterns, not the amount or kind of our consumption. If the latter is true, then perhaps this loss of the deeper meaning and transformational promise of Ramadan is a tragedy even larger than that of the pothole. One feels though, that that all of you fine IWB readers are better than that, and it is only moi that needs the bone-crushing reminders.
Ramadan Mubarak - May this month be full of blessings for you all IA.
--------------
Upcoming Events:
Go ahead, invite us ...
Office for Rent:
As we have recently moved all our staff to the glass-enclosed cage that we call our head office, we have an entire fully furnished, gorgeous office for rent in a Medical Building at the corner of Sheppard Ave. and McCowan. The rent is minimal and the salient features of the space - such as the beautiful windows, the spacious Board-Room, the Corner offices, the nice faux mahogany furniture are enough to motivate your employees to work long hours while being paid whatever little you grudgingly give them. As this is a Professional Building (not just any building mind you, this one has achieved professional status through years of just sitting there), it would be most suitable for a growing real estate, accountancy or legal practice. You can visit the space and see the endless possibilities that this new location presents for your business by clicking here or calling Mr. Azeez at (416) 412 3999 ext. 115.
__________
Finance News:
1. For those of you wondering what the Private Equity industry is up to ... read more here
2. An interesting story about the emerging nexus between Finance and the Army in Canada ... read more here
3. Is Commercial Banking the next in line for losses? ... read more here
Economic News:
1. Municipal Bond market in a bit of a pickle. Can't have cities and townships going bankrupt now can we ... read more here
2. Another Green Revolution with implications for a sustainable economy ... read more here
Islamic / Middle East / Emerging Markets:
1. Looking just beyond the headlines of a booming Indian economy ... read more here
2. Abu Dhabi is getting into the movie business. Can this mean that the next Superman will have a beard, or will wear his underwear on the inside?! Stay tuned ... read more here
3. Almost everything that is wrong with the field of Islamic Finance in one short paragraph (hat-tip to Sikander Ali) ... read more here
Interesting but not all Finance:
1. An excellent write-up on how universities contribute to local (and global) economies. A case study of the Perimeter Institute, funded by the founder of RIM (hat-tip to Suhail Ahmad) ... read more here
2. Absolutely and positively a must read for anyone that is fasting this Ramadan (hat-tip to Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed)... read more here
3. A piece of ice larger than the size of most countries breaks off the Arctic Ice-Shelf ... Hummer, anyone? read more here
'I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than his. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.' - Hadith Qudsi
Commentary of the week:
Ramadan and Sustainability:
As you can see, the Ramadan theme continues this week (and depending on responses, perhaps for the month). This could be because it is difficult to summarize in a single IWB the various strands of thought that being famished and dreaming of samosas all day forces upon weak minds such as yours truly or it could be that there is something unexplored about the subject still left to say. The thirst for something cool, refreshing and liquidy does not allow me the latitude to use the overtaxed brain matter too much today so I will leave this particular question for now. What I will share with you though, is a thought that is becoming more and more impossible for me to get away from as I reflect a bit on the first few days of fasting.
Perhaps it is also appropriate for me to describe exactly the circumstances in which this thought was forcibly put into my head. It sort of happened as I was huffing and puffing my way up the last hill to perform my various cleaning duties at the glass castle that is Ittihad on my two-wheeled human powered vehicle that I began to day dream about not having to huff and puff back home after work and instead thought of driving back in the red Porsche that had just overtaken me at something approaching light-speed at a distance so close as to almost take my bushy, flowing and truly impressive beard with it while I progressed at a pace approaching that of a particularly slow snail on her way to visit reluctant in-laws. Of course, it should not have been so easy for me to lose focus on what is truly important in life but what can I say - the car was the exact shade of cherry red it should have been and I was suffering from severe dehydration. The thought in question though, as I was deciding between making a sincere prayer for a drink of water or wishing for the Porsche itself, was driven home in quite violent fashion as my poor vehicle suddenly fell into what is perhaps the largest pothole east of the Grand Canyon. As my bones, wrists, knees, elbows, neck and torso felt the impact of a bicycle travelling upwards towards a fairly heavy body travelling downwards, I was reminded again of many things that I had foolishly forgotten. One was that there is language one must not use during fasting, or ever really. The second was that on the road of life, it is not the usual smoothness that is memorable, but the violence of the potholes. Once I recovered (if that is indeed the word), I also realized a deeper truth - which is that it is exactly such thoughts as the ones I was having for the Porsche and the vicious cycle of longing for things only to be bored with them later that festivals such as Ramadan are supposed to protect people such as me from.
Even if on the face of things we think of Ramadan as a particularly Muslim month, there is no denying that there are many religions, faiths and viewpoints that advocate the sacrifice of both some our petty needs and some of our deepest longings in order to develop something of a more refined personal and societal character. Festivals such as Lent come to mind, but I am sure that there are many others with whom we share some of the concepts of Ramadan. One reason this is important for one as obsessed with finance as me is that Ramadan to me is perhaps one of the most anti-consumption ideas to take some hold in a society bent on consuming itself and in theory this holds great promise for the development of a sustainable economy. To truly take advantage of this month and it's insights promises to let us break out from the mental prison of personal needs and take us through to the liberation of generosity and compassion instead. This is an important point because one of the things that we need at a societal level is a system or way of life that allows us to live as part of the world, not as parasites upon it. While one has to be very careful about promising grand solutions to the world's problems and we as Muslims certainly cannot claim to have everything figured out (the disagreements about the sighting of the moon come to mind), there is nevertheless a deep wisdom at work here in building a society that is willing to sacrifice personally for at least some part of the year in order to give the rest of the planet a bit of a break from their personal needs.
As this is not a very obvious topic for discussion (I think), I am somewhat sure that there has been very little research that has been done to determine whether widespread societal fasting such as that during Ramadan contributes to the sustainability of that particular economy. Of course - it may be difficult to gather evidence because we could be so far gone as Muslims that we simply shift our consumption to the evenings instead of during the day and thereby do not really change much except just our patterns, not the amount or kind of our consumption. If the latter is true, then perhaps this loss of the deeper meaning and transformational promise of Ramadan is a tragedy even larger than that of the pothole. One feels though, that that all of you fine IWB readers are better than that, and it is only moi that needs the bone-crushing reminders.
Ramadan Mubarak - May this month be full of blessings for you all IA.
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Finance News:
1. For those of you wondering what the Private Equity industry is up to ... read more here
2. An interesting story about the emerging nexus between Finance and the Army in Canada ... read more here
3. Is Commercial Banking the next in line for losses? ... read more here
Economic News:
1. Municipal Bond market in a bit of a pickle. Can't have cities and townships going bankrupt now can we ... read more here
2. Another Green Revolution with implications for a sustainable economy ... read more here
Islamic / Middle East / Emerging Markets:
1. Looking just beyond the headlines of a booming Indian economy ... read more here
2. Abu Dhabi is getting into the movie business. Can this mean that the next Superman will have a beard, or will wear his underwear on the inside?! Stay tuned ... read more here
3. Almost everything that is wrong with the field of Islamic Finance in one short paragraph (hat-tip to Sikander Ali) ... read more here
Interesting but not all Finance:
1. An excellent write-up on how universities contribute to local (and global) economies. A case study of the Perimeter Institute, funded by the founder of RIM (hat-tip to Suhail Ahmad) ... read more here
2. Absolutely and positively a must read for anyone that is fasting this Ramadan (hat-tip to Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed)... read more here
3. A piece of ice larger than the size of most countries breaks off the Arctic Ice-Shelf ... Hummer, anyone? read more here
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