Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Friday, November 15, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
The big grey box in Leipzig where Amazon staff have found their voice
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/20/amazon-grey-box-leipzig-found-voice
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Two-tier workforce condemning millions to low-paid jobs, study warns
Gap between high- and low-paid jobs in UK is growing despite signs of economic recovery, according to new report
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/aug/31/two-tier-workforce-low-paid-jobs
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/aug/31/two-tier-workforce-low-paid-jobs
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Women poker players, and finance
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/25/women-poker-players-financial-crisis
Victoria Coren:
The millions of new young players, many with maths degrees, brought a revolution in technical strategy. Belligerent old Texans, still relying on primitive ideas of aggression and bluster, have been left in the dust. You do not succeed by being more "competitive" than your opponent, but by being cleverer.
In other words, Mr Wheeler's poker point proves that he overestimates the value of muscle. We have all realised this in poker, but the business world is glacially slow to catch on.
It is the masculine prejudices of the stock market, towards big-hat aggression and high-pressure manoeuvres, that led to the financial mess where we currently find ourselves. Macho competition on trading floors led to over-reaching, borrowed money, crashes – and subsequent demands for huge bonuses from the men who triggered them, on the grounds that this bull-headed approach is a rare and special skill.
If Stuart Wheeler approached me for poker advice, I would tell him what I tell all aspiring players: the first rule is not to go skint. The second rule is to make a profit, however small. Those who are blinded by ego, interested only in vast wins and huge adrenaline rushes, end up trapped in the escalating debt scenario that currently threatens the entire western economy.
Victoria Coren:
The millions of new young players, many with maths degrees, brought a revolution in technical strategy. Belligerent old Texans, still relying on primitive ideas of aggression and bluster, have been left in the dust. You do not succeed by being more "competitive" than your opponent, but by being cleverer.
In other words, Mr Wheeler's poker point proves that he overestimates the value of muscle. We have all realised this in poker, but the business world is glacially slow to catch on.
It is the masculine prejudices of the stock market, towards big-hat aggression and high-pressure manoeuvres, that led to the financial mess where we currently find ourselves. Macho competition on trading floors led to over-reaching, borrowed money, crashes – and subsequent demands for huge bonuses from the men who triggered them, on the grounds that this bull-headed approach is a rare and special skill.
If Stuart Wheeler approached me for poker advice, I would tell him what I tell all aspiring players: the first rule is not to go skint. The second rule is to make a profit, however small. Those who are blinded by ego, interested only in vast wins and huge adrenaline rushes, end up trapped in the escalating debt scenario that currently threatens the entire western economy.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Economist: Where do you stand? (June 2013) | Benedict Pringle
The Economist: Where do you stand? (June 2013) | Benedict Pringle
"One poster questions whether government investment is best directed at the old or at the young in society. A second looks at whether booming Chinese investment in Africa is good or bad for the lives of ordinary Africans. And a third asks whether Germany’s de-facto leadership of the EU is sinking or saving it."
"One poster questions whether government investment is best directed at the old or at the young in society. A second looks at whether booming Chinese investment in Africa is good or bad for the lives of ordinary Africans. And a third asks whether Germany’s de-facto leadership of the EU is sinking or saving it."
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Friday, September 7, 2012
Draghi pins hopes of saving euro on plan to buy struggling countries' bonds | Business | The Guardian
Draghi pins hopes of saving euro on plan to buy struggling countries' bonds | Business | The Guardian
Could this be one of the last kicks of the can? the 'big bazooka' that finally brings some calm and order? Even if not, it certainly does seem to be momentous, not least because if overrode German opposition, Also, and this I find patricularly noteworthy, the bond buying would be 'sterilized' - which means any money used to buy bonds, will be taken from somewhere else, which in effect would be a transfer of money from the wealthier areas, to the poorer, or at least, to those who are going bust (which is slighlty less fair!). Given how such sharing of wealth is a crucial part of any cohesive 'nation' (i.e. a society bound together enough to consider sharing amongst itself), could this be another tiny step on the road to European integration? Hearts may yet be away behind, but maybe they will inevitably also, follow the money?
BUT - while from grand EU strategy this might seem logical, a very nasty devil could lurk in the detail. While I'm glad to see the ECB doing something major, I am still firm in the belief that one can't cut one's way out of recession. Perhaps inflation is the only way to get rid of the debt effectively, without creating more, and this would mean the 'sterilization' is exactly what's not wanted, since it is this which is supposed to prevent inflation. The problem of course is that for every inflation might destroy debt, but it destroys savings too, so maybe even more than sterilization this road would require a society prepared to take the hit for its (possibly wasteful) brother. Looked at it that way, things don't look quite so bright
other comment pieces :
Impression left by announcement on unlimited bond buying is that it is technically sound ? but based on flawed economics : Mario Draghi rescue plan with more misery at its core will not save euro
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/06/mario-draghi-rescue-plan-euro
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/06/ecb-bond-buying-what-the-economists-say
Could this be one of the last kicks of the can? the 'big bazooka' that finally brings some calm and order? Even if not, it certainly does seem to be momentous, not least because if overrode German opposition, Also, and this I find patricularly noteworthy, the bond buying would be 'sterilized' - which means any money used to buy bonds, will be taken from somewhere else, which in effect would be a transfer of money from the wealthier areas, to the poorer, or at least, to those who are going bust (which is slighlty less fair!). Given how such sharing of wealth is a crucial part of any cohesive 'nation' (i.e. a society bound together enough to consider sharing amongst itself), could this be another tiny step on the road to European integration? Hearts may yet be away behind, but maybe they will inevitably also, follow the money?
BUT - while from grand EU strategy this might seem logical, a very nasty devil could lurk in the detail. While I'm glad to see the ECB doing something major, I am still firm in the belief that one can't cut one's way out of recession. Perhaps inflation is the only way to get rid of the debt effectively, without creating more, and this would mean the 'sterilization' is exactly what's not wanted, since it is this which is supposed to prevent inflation. The problem of course is that for every inflation might destroy debt, but it destroys savings too, so maybe even more than sterilization this road would require a society prepared to take the hit for its (possibly wasteful) brother. Looked at it that way, things don't look quite so bright
other comment pieces :
Impression left by announcement on unlimited bond buying is that it is technically sound ? but based on flawed economics : Mario Draghi rescue plan with more misery at its core will not save euro
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/06/mario-draghi-rescue-plan-euro
- The "rescue" plan involves governments in Rome and Italy driving
their economies deeper into depression to reduce the interest rates they
pay on their borrowing. The ECB seems to think that the reason
investors are giving Italy and Spain the cold shoulder is that they are
not cutting hard enough, fast enough. Steeped in economic orthodoxy,
Draghi makes George Osborne look like a paid-up member of the Maynard
Keynes appreciation society.
The reason investors demand high interest rates when they lend to Italy and Spain is their concern about the impact of permanent recession on public finances and banks. A rescue plan that has at its core more demand-destroying measures will do more harm than good.
To sum up, Draghi has bought Europe a bit more time. The can has been kicked a few metres down the road. He has done so by incurring the wrath of the Bundesbank and will know that if this fails, there is little more the ECB can do.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/06/ecb-bond-buying-what-the-economists-say
- As expected, the ECB will buy short-term bonds
provided that there is accompanying pressure on politicians to maintain
structural changes. I believe it is essential that such conditions are
applied, not just for discipline but also because the actions taken by
the ECB are not without cost.
Opposition to the ECB action is usually made on the ground of monetary financing or inflation. In fact, one of the costs is not so much inflation of consumer prices but long-term lowering of returns to most pensioners and savers, as well as increasing the cost of pension contributions for the working age population.
This can, in turn, also negatively affect business competitiveness. These sectors of society are of course already affected as a result of the cycle of stimulus, lowering of interest rates, and quantitative-easing-type measures that have been taken in the US and Europe.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
21st century words - the euro crisis
Uncommon words and terms that now seem all too familliar :
Bailout, Tranche, Troika, Yield, 7%, Bonds, Can (to kick, down road), Austerity, moral hazard....
Bailout, Tranche, Troika, Yield, 7%, Bonds, Can (to kick, down road), Austerity, moral hazard....
Monday, July 9, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Bankers and the neuroscience of greed | Ian Robertson | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Bankers and the neuroscience of greed | Ian Robertson | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
- power is one of the most potent brain-changing drugs known to humankind, unconstrained power has enormously distorting effects on behaviour, emotions and thinking.
- Researchers at Tilburg University showed that people made to feel more powerful cheated more when they believed themselves to be unobserved. Power also made ordinary people more hypocritical when making judgments about moral dilemmas, being much more strict in applying rules to others, but much more lax in applying them to themselves. Even tiny amounts of artificial power, in other words, increased both immorality and hypocrisy.
- Paul Piff of the University of Berkeley found in a US-based study that, compared with lower class people, upper class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, to show unethical tendencies in decision-making, to take valued goods from others, to lie in a negotiation, to cheat in order to improve their chances of winning a prize, and to endorse unethical behaviour in a work situation.
- It has become a cliche to explain the behaviour of bankers in terms of greed, but cliches are not always wrong. Power and money both act on the brain's reward system, which if over-stimulated for long periods develops appetites that are difficult to satisfy, just as is the case for drug addiction. We call these appetites greed and greedy people are never satisfied. That is the challenge for politicians and regulators.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
inequality and privitization - how very Tory...
Two elements that annoy me most in politics are actions that further inequality, and an ideological commitment to privatization. While not necessarily related, these issues often are, since inequality is often a result of excessive market forces without sufficient state involvement, and privatization (if done inappropriately) often fuels this.
So depressing to read two articles in the Guardian today on each of these topics. Though, I suppose one would hardly expect anything else from the Tory party.
Polly Toynbee on how Osborne's budget will accentuate inequality : here
Aditya Chakrabortty on the folly of privatizing roads : here
So depressing to read two articles in the Guardian today on each of these topics. Though, I suppose one would hardly expect anything else from the Tory party.
Polly Toynbee on how Osborne's budget will accentuate inequality : here
Aditya Chakrabortty on the folly of privatizing roads : here
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
If not a borrower a lender be...
very surprised to hear on the BBC this morning the answer to the question 'what's the next Eurozone country causing most concern' - Austria!
Had smugly thought to be more insulated here than most places, but problem seems to be Hungary is going down the tubes, and the Austrian banks lent there massively. Just shows, even if a country itself isn't doing reckless borrowing, it's banks can still manage to do reckless lending. Though I predict again the top sport of 2012 to be can-down-road(or strasse) kicking. Maybe culminating in a final round of bucket kicking.
Though relevant to point out that all Eurozone countries are judged to have benefitted from the common currency (at least until the crisis) and Austria itself was one of the biggest winners
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1684804.php/Austria-and-Finland-biggest-winners-from-euro-study-shows
Had smugly thought to be more insulated here than most places, but problem seems to be Hungary is going down the tubes, and the Austrian banks lent there massively. Just shows, even if a country itself isn't doing reckless borrowing, it's banks can still manage to do reckless lending. Though I predict again the top sport of 2012 to be can-down-road(or strasse) kicking. Maybe culminating in a final round of bucket kicking.
Though relevant to point out that all Eurozone countries are judged to have benefitted from the common currency (at least until the crisis) and Austria itself was one of the biggest winners
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1684804.php/Austria-and-Finland-biggest-winners-from-euro-study-shows
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