Happy Thanksgiving!!! If the holiday weekend allows you some time between World Cup matches, football games, shopping and family, here are a few longer reads that may be of interest.

Twitter

This first one is not a long article, but might be entertaining. Here is a quiz you can take as a group: Which rich guy said it—Mr. Burns (the Simpsons) or Elon Musk? (New Republic)

FTX

If you are interested in hearing about what the collapse of FTX might mean for regulation of the crypto market, you can read a summary or listen to an interview with Kevin Werbach, chairperson of the Wharton School’s legal studies and business ethics department. (Knowledge@Wharton)

For a deep dive into the thinking and “ethics” of Sam Bankman-Fried, this Vox article is enlightening. Kelsey Piper has put the story together from a Twitter DM exchange between them after the FTX failure. Warning, there is a lot of foul language used as the DM’s are directly quoted. If you prefer, there is a more traditional Vox article attempting to describe SBF’s rise and fall with just one now well-known quote from SBF with an expletive.

Influencers

The concept of “Influencer Capital” is not new. This New York Magazine article begins with an explanation of the concept’s theoretical origins and tracks how influencers have changed markets over time. The rise of social media just accelerates things. (If you get through the whole article, there is one expletive at the end.)

Banking

This topic has come up before, as businesses strive to go cashless to make things simpler and safer, especially for retail businesses. But there are costs, to customers. Some are obvious, some not as much. And how about the segment of society that can only operate with cash? NYT

Credit

The New York Fed’s Liberty Street Economics published the most recent data on credit in the US. While not the only category to increase, credit card balances in the third quarter showed the largest year-over-year increase in 18 years. Read to find out what (and who) is driving the increase in credit card balances.

A Global Perspective

We don’t often include articles about other countries, but sometimes it can be useful to look outside of the US to get some perspective. For those that think economic conditions are tough here, read about what is happening in the UK. (Reuters)

Student Loans

Finally, just a quick up date in case you hadn’t heard, but student loan payments have been paused yet again until the end of June. (Yahoo Finance)

About the Author

Beth Tallman

Beth Tallman entered the working world armed with an MBA in finance and thoroughly enjoyed her first career working in manufacturing and telecommunications, including a stint overseas. She took advantage of an involuntary separation to try teaching high school math, something she had always dreamed of doing. When fate stepped in once again, Beth jumped on the opportunity to combine her passion for numbers, money, and education to develop curriculum and teach personal finance at Oberlin College. Beth now spends her time writing on personal finance and financial education, conducts student workshops, and develops finance curricula and educational content. She is also the Treasurer of Ohio Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.