On a business trip to New York, I find myself having lots of conceptual discussions about digital banking and automated capital markets.
“What is Amazon?” one banker asks, I hope rhetorically. “Clearly it is not just an online shop.”
To my relief, he answers himself: “It is a price discovery tool.” His colleague objects, however. “Surely, it is an automated supply chain.”
I have stopped listening. It is late and I have agreed to meet another banker at the ghastly and characterless Hudson Yards where we wander round the new and much heralded arts complex, The Shed. This turns out to be utterly bland and forgettable.
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| The Shed arts center at the Hudson Yards development on Manhattan's West side |
Afterwards the banker has to get to a party in Brooklyn. She slips out her new smartphone and hits the Lyft app.
“Not using Uber?” I ask the person who first introduced me to ride hailing and who used to spend her life in Ubers. “No. Uber is so expensive, these days,” she tells me almost pitying how far behind I still am.
