This article in the Washington Post presents 40 maps that explain the world. They are all interesting and easy to digest. The three maps below are examples which illustrate key issues the world grapples with now. This map shows where the wealth is. It shows national wealth and density of people, but not individual income. …
Continue reading Maps that explain the world
Category:Economy
The work climate, like the weather, is changing .
The world is changing. Not just volatile weather – snow in Florida, tempest in Ireland – but in the socio-economic dynamic that has borne humanity to this position in civilisation. We are running out of jobs. Technology is taking over all employment, except the lowest paid, menial tasks and the highest paid, bespoke services. Even …
Continue reading The work climate, like the weather, is changing .
Obama: The idea that so many children are born into poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth is heartbreaking
Barack Obama gave a speech in Washington DC which described economic themes for the rest of his term. “The combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American Dream, our way of life, and what we stand for around the globe,” he said. “The idea that so many children …
Continue reading Obama: The idea that so many children are born into poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth is heartbreaking
Genuine Progress Indicator etc vs GDP, and the outlook for society.
Economic statistics are a critical tool for managing the complex world we live in. The principal indicator has been a measure of national income, “Gross Domestic Product” or “Gross National Product”, and both are reported as aggregate and per person data. There are complexities to GDP calculation, but it is the number politicians, investors and …
Continue reading Genuine Progress Indicator etc vs GDP, and the outlook for society.
Global finance is creaking. Maybe it needs a few more women to prop it up.
The chart below (The unsteady march of diversity) from The Economist tells the story that finance made a brief move towards balance a couple of decades ago, but has since reverted to a masculine dominance. Coincidentally, there have been signs of increasing permissiveness, even corruption, and a backlash of patchy regulations which have harmed efficiency …
Continue reading Global finance is creaking. Maybe it needs a few more women to prop it up.
Can we face reality? Can we do the right thing?
Some have said for a long time that the management of Ireland has been corrupt, collusive and self-destructive. The solutions have been evident, but require action by those that are party to the inefficiencies. The track record is not good – even the priests never owned up about their corruption. Perhaps enough people will wake-up …
Continue reading Can we face reality? Can we do the right thing?
Sustainable development portal, Wikipedia
A good place to learn about balancing economics, environment and ethics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Sustainable_development
EU austerity drive by country
EU austerity drive by country by BBC A succinct picture. In Ireland’s case, a good start would be to cut the interest rate on the loans. They must be soft or the numbers don’t work. But moral hazard must be expunged and transaction cots reduced.
Why is oil so expensive?
Oil probably should be as expensive as it is, whether you buy gasoline, petrol or diesel. But the price should be paying for the pollution and opportunity cost, not profits of executives working for big oil. So, this article from REpedia caught my eye: The Oil Industry’s Monopoly on Transportation Once again, high gas prices …
Continue reading Why is oil so expensive?
Irish House Prices
In a wander around the internet I came across Irish government statistics on house prices. When did the hallucination begin? And hubris was so un-Irish. Not anymore.