After the UK admitted last weekend that the economic outlook is unattractive, the OECD has chimed in with the observation that UK will have a recession this year. It’s healthy to adopt a realistic perspective. The UK can now begin the painful turnaround. Others should follow suit and make realistic assessments of the economic, social …
Continue reading The crowd begins to pick up the refrain – “a recession is coming”
Author:astraea
The king has taken off his clothes in the UK
The UK administration has made a politically dangerous and unusual admission: the economy is in a bad situation. Making analogy with the children’s story of The King’s New Clothes, this is equivalent to a courtier saying that those fancy new clothes that we’ve all been admiring aren’t really there. The language of the UK Chancellor …
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The population of Europe (the EU) joins the world’s poor.
The World Bank has revised its estimate of people in poverty – those living under $ 1.25 a day. It now estimates that there are 1.4 billion (1,400,000,000) people living in poverty up from its 2004 estimate of 985 million. That’s an increase of over 400 million – a number not far from the population …
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The Natural Step For Business
I was looking forward to reading this book, but was disappointed. It didn’t really expand thinking or offer a useful framework for personal and business transformation. The Natural Step may well be useful, but the book doesn’t really show how. It offers a handful of case studies of businesses that have used the Natural Step …
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Go greased lightning – car crosses Europe on cooking oil.
A converted old Peugeot has just completed a journey across Europe fuelled by waste cooking oil scavenged from restaurants along the way. The statistics of the odyssey are impressive. The distance travelled was more than 3,200 km, using about 200 litres of chip fat. The car did more than 40 miles to the gallon. And …
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Auction rate securities scandal shows we’ve learned nothing from the sub-prime mess.
The recently breaking news story about leading financial institutions selling auction rate securities with misleading marketing shows that neither financial institutions, nor investors have changed their behaviour since the financial meltdown caused by excessive credit and the sub-prime implosion. Several leading financial institutions have been fined and forced to repay investors their investments in auction …
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Numeracy is built in to the brain.
A study appearing in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that numberacy is built in to the brain, in a similar way that we have the ability to recognise colour. This finding should encourage those afraid of numbers that there is no need to fear them and embracing them will simply …
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What does the collapse of the Doha round mean for business.
Jean-Pierre Lehmann, an accomplished trade analyst and professor of public policy at IMD, analyses the situation here: The Collapse of the WTO Doha Round – What does it mean for business?
“If it was an animal you wouldn’t let it go on”
With growing understanding of the science of mind and body, people are increasingly wanting to determine the nature of their own demise, particularly in the case of debilitating injury or illness. Although we are increasingly coming to terms with recreation of ourselves, through plastic surgery, transplants and genetic engineering, it remains illegal to opt for …
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies
The nice thing about CBT is that it is all about self-help. It’s true that a coach or counsellor can help get you on your way, but for most of us, positive thinking can help. And it works. This book is worth a browse for parents and managers as well as those looking for a …
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