IT and financial innovation

What's next?

And after the crisis (yes, the worst is over...), how do we view the prospects for development and innovation in finance? This issue's dossier invites us to take a lucid look at the contributions of IT and research. If the only aim of these dynamics were to develop increasingly complex and opaque products, they would undoubtedly be doomed. On the contrary, investment in quantitative research and the associated IT tools offer the means to control the systems risks to which institutions expose themselves in the event of unbridled development. In fact, this is one of Paris's major assets in these troubled times.

And after ENSAE, what's the point of doing economics research? Does this do anything for ENSAE-ParisTech alumni, who are increasingly recognized and praised in the grandes écoles rankings [footnote: see the latest issue of Expansion on the subject, where Ensae appears as one of the driving forces behind Paristech and Manageurs, is still in the top ten for salaries on graduation and is No. 1 for remuneration after 3 years' seniority: http://www.ensae.org/revuedepresse]? The answer we get from our alumni on the subject is: you gain a better grasp of certain cutting-edge tools, you gain a more thoughtful relationship with tools once you've grappled with the frontiers of knowledge, and you gain access to certain positions reserved for PhDs. But the road is not necessarily easy!

And after contributing to Variances? The quality of the articles you submit to the magazine has been recognized, as Variances is increasingly read, cited and reprinted. This can be seen in the number of visits to the site, and it can also be measured by the number of requests we receive. Two articles from the last issue (on rating agencies) were reprinted in whole or in part in the French documentation journal Problèmes économiques. This obviously encourages us to continue and can only convince you to submit your ideas and texts to us. It's you who make Variances a success, through the richness of your contributions, so...

Thank you very much!