Do the poorest countries in the world need their own development bank? Existing development banks have completely failed places like Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Eritrea, Uganda and Djibouti. For more, seehttps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2790661

What do we know about the successes and failure of development banks so far? We describe the data -- showing how development banks have had high lending costs, low loan amounts, and socially inefficient project choices. For more, see https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2790661

Many countries continue to set up development banks. Should they? We show data about effectiveness of development banks. They have a good record of turning a profit. But a poor record of promoting development. For more, see https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2790661

We present the data showing how far China's real estate prices need to drop in order to wipe out China's current GDP growth. We talk about the 4 sources of economic shocks -- and weigh their relative effects. For more, see https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2785503

How will changes in real estate prices likely affect China's growth? In this episode, we describe the data which might help us predict (if not at least understand) banking, real estate and even sovereign crises. For more, see https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2785503

We describe how economies -- and especially China's economy -- respond to different economic rules before versus after a crisis. We present data from major OECD economies' real estate and banking sectors before and after crisis -- and the model which allows us to understand China's growth better. For more, see https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2785503

Infographic instant episode describing new data showing banking restrictiveness by country. We introduce our index of the similarity of banking and financial regulations around the world. Listen if you want to know the best/worst countries to invest/bank. For the paper, see https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2563981

How can law firms and investment banks compete for Chinese Going Out mandates? We show - using econometric analysis - how the legal complexity of the advisors' jurisdictions, their differentiation strategies and their local law schools, play a role. We also talk about a new way of seeing Geography as an academic discipline.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2607348

What does legal theory and economics teach us about the way corporate governance needs to change in Hong Kong? In this presentation, we review the problems with Hong Kong's corporations. We show how some simple changes can help bring much more money to this international financial centre.

Hong Kong sits perilously close to China -- geographically and economically. If and when crisis hits the Mainland, Hong Kong's financial centre will probably suffer. What can lawmakers do to protect an international financial centre highly dependent on a fragile larger hitherland? In this presentation, we review the amendments we propose to Hong Kong's own financial law. We talk about the tools and mind-set regulators need to get their jurisdictions ready for the crisis.