By their very nature, so-called black swan events are difficult to prepare for given their rarity and unpredictability. Their uncertainty makes risk assessment daunting.

Today, it is abundantly clear that the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is dramatically impacting our daily lives and the economy at large. It is easy to overreact to the volatility of financial markets. Yet, the end of the world only occurs once, and this most likely is not it.

Asset markets have experienced unprecedented growth since the financial crisis as central banks globally attempted to offset deflationary trends through massive injections of liquidity. In effect, their actions have prevented or delayed a default cycle.

Although likely not the first movie on your list of holiday favorites, Trading Places has developed a Christmas cult following. While worth a watch this time of year, the broad theme of the film - literally trading places - seems to be occurring across the global economy. In some cases, countries are being much more forceful in bringing about this change.

It is difficult to argue that the digital revolution hasn’t improved most people’s standard of living. The tremendous breakthroughs in computing and communications technologies have forever altered our daily interactions....Despite our growing obsession with bits and bytes, the drive to a digital world hasn’t wholly displaced the analog world.