It may be a small village at only 400 people (though still bigger than our local village of Ardattin), but it must hurt to feel your home melting away under your feet at climate volatility erodes your home. The Alaskan village of Newtok is melting away.
Too much hot air …
A cute little statistic The 23 million residents of the US state of Texas emit more carbon dioxide than the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa, which is 720 million people.
Can you say “volatility”?
Well, the news of European bank recapitalisations by governments underpinned an optimistic rally on the stock markets. But they will not return to previous levels. Volatility like this is a trader’s paradise. Index fluctuations of 3% (and up to 8%) are extraordinary and not indicative of value. But opinions seem to have value. The real …
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The Wall Street Crash – archive 23 November 1929
From The Economist archive Reactions of the Wall Street slump, Nov 23rd 1929
The World in 2009
The Economist has started a blog on The World in 2009 in anticipation of that publication at the end of the year. To get a preview of their prognostications, or to add your own, check out the site.
Financial meltdown dwarfed by economic destruction of nature.
While the collapse of credit markets around the world is bearing on our minds, and curtailing our consumption today, the destruction of the earth’s biosphere by humanity’s footprint is so massive and immediate that its effects will compound the economic dislocation now and be felt directly within a year. The global economy is losing more …
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IMF Global Financial Stability Report
Here’s the IMF’s timely Global Financial Stability Report -Financial Stress and Deleveraging Macro-Financial Implications and Policy. And their media release warning about a failure to act decisively. This attitude may well be destructive given that the whole nature of the financial system must change fundamentally. Knee jerk reactions tend to be unproductive. This can be …
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Biomimicry wins Nobel prize
Biomimicry involves emulating nature in technology. A clever trick borrowed from jellyfish has earned two Americans and one Japanese scientist a share of the chemistry Nobel Prize. Read the report here.
New investing lingo
A fun email circulating trading desks, worthwhile as an informal measure of sentiment: CEO –Chief Embezzlement Officer. CFO– Corporate Fraud Officer. BULL MARKET — A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius. BEAR MARKET — A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife …
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Interest rates cut in desperation …
Six central banks have cut their interest rates by half a percentage point. The US Federal Reserve has cut rates from 2% to 1.5% and the European Central Bank (ECB) trimmed its rate from 4.25% to 3.75%. The UK trimmed the interest rate to 4.5% from 5%. The central banks of Canada and Sweden …
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