WPenner's Blog

Disclaimer: This was originally written to fulfil course work

The impact of insurance on world trade is simple to understand. Transactions, including trade, involve multiple types of risk. Insurance is one way of dealing with risk by aggregating it across multiple owners and thus shifting it away...

As a technophile, for decades I have maintained an interest in space developments, so the current boom in space, especially the private space race, has been enormously entertaining. While reading and studying for a class in finance, I saw things a little differently. This following essay shares one...

At a recent conference I attended, many people agreed with the proposition that financial education is sorely lacking in all parts of the world. Part of the problem is that even if everyone had advanced degrees in the topic, there would still be unknown aspects. The space is simply too large! One o...

(Note: The following was originally written to fulfill course work)

Carbaugh (2017) on page 370 briefly mentions cryptocurrency. He takes a pretty negative view, focusing almost exclusively on the bad actors taking advantage of the technology’s lack of governmental controls. Though cryptocurrency/...

(Note: This article was originally written to fulfill class work.)

Kiva is a platform I have some familiarity with, having made 487 loans, to date. The idea is simple, connect microfinance lenders with capital from the Western do-gooders to re-shape economic destiny in the poorest of countries. Th...

The other day, while having lunch with friends, I got into a side conversation with a buddy who talked about a trip he and his wife want to take to another city. Many people feel it unsafe to travel. They feel that they are exposing themselves to undue risk. Talking of my travel plans, I said to him...

"Equality" has become the battle cry of protestors, activists and rioters, but before it was a public idea it was a spiritual ideal. Thomas Jefferson summed up thousands of years of thinking on the matter thus, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are e...

Daring is an initial element in most accomplishments. It’s been said that “all glory comes from daring to begin.”

When setting out to be daring, the first step is to emulate non-conformists and be a step out of the mainstream thinking. Horace wrote that, “The power of daring anything they fancy ha...

Ah, space.

It's always been an attraction for me. While I didn't come up in the aerospace industry, or make my career in one of the hard sciences, I've always been attracted.

A couple of years ago, Elon Musk announced his intention to go to Mars. I followed every announcement with rapt attention...