Click x2 to enlarge
Source: Credit Blog [via The Big Picture]
Archive | June, 2011
2,000 Years In One Chart
29 Jun
«By this reckoning, over 28% of all the history made since the birth of Christ was made in the 20th century. Measured in years lived, the present century, which is only ten years old, is already “longer” than the whole of the 17th century. This century has made an even bigger contribution to economic history. Over 23% of all the goods and services made since 1AD were produced from 2001 to 2010.»
The Economist Has More Here.
HT: Mark J. Perry.
$1 Billion That Nobody Wants
28 Jun
//Wikipedia
From NPR’s Planet Money:
«Politicians in Washington hardly let a few minutes go by without mentioning how broke the government is. So, it’s a little surprising that they’ve created a stash of more than $1 billion that almost no one wants.
Unused dollar coins have been quietly piling up in Federal Reserve vaults in breathtaking numbers, thanks to a government program that has required their production since 2007.
And even though the neglected mountain of money recently grew past the $1 billion mark, the U.S. Mint will keep making more and more of the coins under a congressional mandate.»
History Of The British Empire
27 Jun
What Can I Say, Ferguson’s Work Is Pretty Addictive! British History Is Essential To Understand The Spread Of Capitalism.
«Niall Ferguson takes us on a fascinating journey in both time and space to explore the impact of the British empire on the modern world. From the earliest British settlers in Virginia to the decline of the empire in the aftermath of the two World Wars, positive and negative aspects of the empire are illustrated through key events and players.»
Episodes:
Gaddafi’s Gold Dinar
26 Jun
Several Sources Claim That The Intervention In Libya Is Really About Blocking Muammar Gaddafi’s Plan To Implement The Gold Dinar.
«Some believe it is about protecting civilians, others say it is about oil, but some are convinced intervention in Libya is all about Gaddafi’s plan to introduce the gold dinar, a single African currency made from gold, a true sharing of the wealth.
It’s one of these things that you have to plan almost in secret, because as soon as you say you’re going to change over from the dollar to something else, you’re going to be targeted, says Ministry of Peace founder Dr James Thring. There were two conferences on this, in 1986 and 2000, organized by Gaddafi. Everybody was interested, most countries in Africa were keen.»
Source: RT.com
World Wealth Report 2011
26 JunThe World’s Wealthiest People are now richer than before the Financial Crisis, according to the Capgemini / Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report.
Click to enlarge image
[source]
Financial Calendar – Week 26
26 Jun
Image by dok1 via Flickr.
Key Data For The Week Ahead:
Monday: Personal Income And Outlays For May.
Tuesday: Case-Shiller House Prices For April.
Wednesday: Pending Home Sales Index for May.
Thursday: The Initial Weekly Unemployment Claims Report, Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for June.
Friday: ISM Manufacturing Index, Auto Sales.
The Rest Of The Busy Economic Schedule For Week Of June 26th.
Brilliant Talents Are Overrated
25 Jun
Wall Street Taken Above Steam Stack Road Works // Wikipedia
Bill Taylor Suggests That There Is More To Long-Term Performance Than The Excellence Of Individual Players. Look To Sports – Or Wall Street:
«After examining the careers of more than 1,000 star analysts at Wall Street investment banks, and conducting more than two hundred frank interviews, Groysberg comes to a striking conclusion: star analysts who change firms suffer an immediate and lasting decline in performance. Their earlier excellence appears to have depended heavily on their former firms’ general and proprietary resources, organizational cultures, networks, and colleagues. There are a few exceptions, such as stars that move with their teams and stars that switch to better firms. Female stars also perform better after changing jobs than their male counterparts do. But most stars who switch firms turn out to be meteors, quickly losing luster in their new settings.»
Source: Groysberg, Boris (2010). Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance. Princeton University Press [via Bill Taylor, Great People Are Overrated]
The War Of The World
25 Jun
Documentary Based On Niall Ferguson’s Book «War of the World» – One Of The 100 Notable Books Of The Year (2006).
The War Of The World – Episode 2.
The War Of The World - Episode 3.
The War Of The World - Episode 4.
The War Of The World - Episode 5.
The War Of The World - Episode 6.
Fighting U.S. Recessions
23 Jun
«Since the Great Depression, presidents have frequently experimented with Keynesian economics to combat recessions. Three economists chronicle the history of government policy during past recessions and explain what worked and what didn’t.»
Transfer To The New York Times Interactive Feature.
HT: The Big Picture.
Pacific Market Virgins
23 Jun
Footage Of A Papua New Guinean Tribe That Meets White Man For The First Time. Filmed In 1976.
Privatizing Retail Alcohol Sales
22 Jun
A task force of public health experts analyzed privatization of alcohol sales in 7 states, 2 European countries, and 2 Canadian provinces. Their report found that privatization efforts increase alcohol consumption by an average of 48 percent. The executive director of the Keystone Research Center and MIT-trained economist, Stephen Herzenberg, wrote a policy brief:
On the other hand:
«A 2009 study by the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg, Pa. think tank, which examined the effects of deregulation in Iowa and West Virginia, found that per capita alcohol consumption decreased by as much as 5.9 percent. One explanation cited by the study’s authors, John Pulito and Antony Davies of Duquesne University, was that with more convenient hours and less restrictive purchasing guidelines, consumers bought less alcohol per trip.»
Vote And Read Details On The Findings Here.
Financial Calendar – Week 25
19 Jun
The Key Economic Events Of The Week:
Bernanke Dollar // Gage Skidmore, Flickr.
Tuesday: Existing Home Sales, And The Fed’s FOMC Hosts A 2 Day Meeting.
Wednesday: Ben Bernanke Holds A Press Conference Following The FOMC Announcement.
Thursday: New Home Sales.
Friday: Durable Goods, And The Final Estimate For Q1 GDP.
WSJ Markets
- Jefferson County Debt Plan Is CostlyThe plan by Jefferson County, Ala., to emerge from bankruptcy protection hinges in part on the sale of $1.9 billion of new debt this fall to refinance debt tied to its troubled sewer system. But some observers are calling terms of the new debt onerous.
- Thai Rice Aid CriticizedThailand's government took a step toward revealing the full cost of its contentious rice-price support program, saying it had lost $4.4 billion on the subsidy from fall 2011 to September 2012.
- KPMG Ex-Partner Is ArraignedFormer KPMG LLP senior partner Scott London was arraigned here Monday in federal court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, although he is expected to plead guilty once certain procedural matters are resolved.
- Co-op Bank Plans a Novel 'Bail-In'Co-operative Bank said it would ask subordinated bondholders to take heavy losses in an effort to raise £1.5 billion ($2.36 billion) in fresh capital and stave off a potential collapse.
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