The Bank of England in their recent Quarterly Bulletin have a great primer on investment banking which should be read by anyone who wants to understand modern finance - click here. The article explains the role played by investment banks, the systemic financial stability issues posed by them, and the role of the regulatory authorities in addressing these systemic stability issues. A video interview with the article's author is below.
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.