Banks and debt
A small loan costs more than a large one: 4.37 against 3.55
22 September 2026, 18:06
The Bank of Italy says so every month and nobody reads it. Below a million you pay almost a point more. Meanwhile, money in the current account earns 0.69.
The factory building is an investment. It should be judged like any other
21 September 2026, 14:12
Your money is tied up in the factory building, and almost always nobody has worked out what it earns. The right comparison is not mortgage payments against rent: it is what that capital would have earned if put to work in the business.
How much debt is too much? It is the wrong question, for a state as for a business
21 September 2026, 13:14
Rising yields, wide deficits, huge debts. The instinctive reaction is that there is too much debt, and it is the same mistaken reaction people have in front of a company's accounts: the stock tells you how much, not whether you can cope.
When debt speaks: the indicator that reveals a business crisis
Theory and practice
In previous posts we learned how to read financial statements, but one fundamental issue remains to be addressed: knowing how to recognise the warning signs of a crisis.
The numbers that really matter: reading the financial statements to steer the business
Theory and practice
The balance sheet, the profit and loss account and the cash flow statement tell the story of the company: now it’s time to understand how to read them to make real decisions.
Company financial statements explained (really) in simple terms – Part I
Theory and practice
Accounting helps us tell the story of the business through numbers: now it’s time to understand where all these numbers come together.