12 must-read stories for the weekend

Technology is transforming finance. Stock-trading was first to be disrupted, then came banking. Insurance is next in line.

The world’s mega-cities are being held back by violent crime. Key lessons must be heeded to make mass urban living an engine of growth.

Mistrust and hubris poisoned Greek debt negotiations. Do creditors share the blame for Greece’s failure to recover?

The Middle East is wrestling with conflict and falling demand for oil. To avoid making a bad situation worse, energy politics must become less divisive.

Global growth projections are being revised downwards. Can anything be done to give the global economy a boost?

It’s over a year since the Chibok girls were kidnapped. Are we any closer to making schooling safe everywhere?

The productivity paradox is back.  New technology is creating new markets, products and companies. So why is increased productivitynot showing up in the numbers?

Uberizing finance. The Forum’s Future of Financial Services report shows how technology start-ups are forcing the world’s biggest bankers and insurers to rethink their business models. (New York Times)

How did Sweden become the start-up capital of Europe?The Scandinavian country is the second most prolific tech hub in the world. Cites Forum’s Global Information Technology Report. (Telegraph)

The business of education in Africa. With more Africans willing and able to pay large sums on private schooling, the industry is set to take off. Cites the Forum’s Human Capital Report. (Reuters)

The most valuable resource of the 21st century? Not oil. Data. References the Future of Financial Services. (Wall Street Journal)

Why 75 million youth are jobless. Ideas from a World Economic Forum report – Disrupting Unemployment – could help companies across the Middle East create the jobs the region needs. (Yahoo)

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Author: Adrian Monck is Managing Director and head of Public Engagement at the World Economic Forum.

Image: A Greek national flag flutters atop the university building as dark clouds fill the sky in Athens, Greece. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis