Finance Trends: The Best of 2010

We're wrapping up some of your favorite posts (and mine) for this Finance Trends "Best of 2010" features edition.

You'll find key interviews with leading businessmen and investors, along with the best of this year's posts emphasizing the strong trends and events that are shaping our country, our investment markets, and our world.

Without further ado, here are some key posts highlighting the big picture trends we've witnessed in 2010, some of which may continue to unfold in 2011 and beyond.

1. On a Return to Classical Education. Your educationally-deprived editor muses over the benefits of a Classical education, and how such a foundation in thinking might help us as investors and as citizens of the world.

2. Marc Faber: Final Crisis Yet to Come. Wonderful presentation by Marc at this year's Mises Circle in NYC, offering a crucial take on US monetary policy and the likely outcomes of the Fed's "quantitative easing" experiments. Video and presentation slides included.

3. Niall Ferguson on Fiscal Crises and Imperial Collapse. Must hear presentation from Ferguson offers a historical overview of government debt crises. Highly relevant back in May and only more so now that the developed nations' sovereign debt crisis continues to unfold here at year-end 2010.

4. LTCM and the Lessons of Failure. Thoughts on hedge fund collapses (and fund manager resurrections), the money manager merry-go-round, risk management, and the dangers of overconfidence.

5. Must Hear Interview with John Burbank of Passport Capital. Part of our series on global macro investors and hedge fund managers, this excellent discussion with John Burbank comes to us via Benzinga podcast.

6. Michael Burry: An Up & Coming Macro Star? An in-depth look at Michael Burry's gradual transition from a US stock-focused value investor to an international, global macro investor.

Includes an unedited transcript of Bloomberg TV's interview with Burry, in which he offers his views on the economy, investing, and his famous subprime short trade.

7. Jim Grant, John Hathaway and Peter Munk sit down with Charlie Rose to discuss gold as money, the causes of the recent final crisis, and likely outcomes of Fed and government intervention in the markets.

8. John Allison on "Leadership and Values". The former CEO and Chairman of BB&T bank speaks to Virginia's Darden School of Business on the importance of adhering to a sound ethical framework and engaging in "win-win" business transactions. Excellent talk on the spirit of true capitalism and personal responsibility.

That's all for 2010. Please join us for more in 2011, as we explore the coming year's macro investing themes and future economic events.

You can keep up with us in the meantime through our real-time updates on Twitter and StockTwits or via the Finance Trends RSS blog feed. Have a Happy New Year!

*Photo credit: Floor of the New York Stock Exchange via LOC.gov.
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