jra's thoughts

Category: Economy

  • The power of debt

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    jra
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    Here’s a quote that turns everything you think you know on it’s head: When the debt is big enough, it’s the debtor who has the power, not the creditor. That’s Niall Ferguson talking in Vanity Fair. It’s for stuff like that I read Vanity Fair. Well, the photos don’t hurt either…

  • An Interview with a DVD-man

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    Rare is the dinner in an expat restaurant in Africa which is not (politely and quietly) interrupted by a DVD-man. They have a stock of DVD’s in their backpacks, and work their way through the restaurant giving you a chance to peruse their wares. You have to see the DVDs to believe them, they are…

  • A message…

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    …from America, reaching out to every corner of the globe, into the hearts of those who have watched us struggle and fail to meet our potential over the last 8 years: Yes We Can! Like a drug-addled celebrity, we’ve hit rock bottom, and now we’re ready to turn our lives around and meet our potential.…

  • Economic Meltdown in Iceland

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    Read this thread on a local geek social group in Leeds. That’s the voice of one scared girl, and perhaps the reality is not so bad. But just the fact that there is one Icelander who’s feeling that freaked out makes my heart go out to her. I’ve suggested to her that one problem is…

  • Why doesn’t this already exist?

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    Yesterday, I was walking in town and there was a nice guy playing a clarinet in front of North Face. I intentionally fumbled with my coins for a while so as to enjoy his music a bit. Then I paid him a tip and walked along, enjoying the clarinet as it faded behind me. Why…

  • Big Mining Machines

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    The Long Now foundation took a field trip recently. The pictures are cool, as is the irony that they went to a trade show held once every four years. Miners have a time scale closer to the Long Now’s. What does it mean that mining is a slowly changing industry? The economics of extractive industries push…

  • The Market Goes “Underground”

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    Here’s a lesson about social policies, politics and economics. In Gaza, tunnels used for smuggling goods have become the major supply line, and an industry in themselves. The market will provide, it will always provide. The question is, how do you use the power of the market to get the other results you want? In…

  • Banks: You’re Under New Management… Listen Up!

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    A wonderful open letter from a fellow stockholder to our new investment’s board of directors. If only it were so easy… This is what justice would look like in a society that craved social justice and capitalism in equal parts.

  • 21 words that should change your life (but probably won’t)

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    jra
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    Clarity on what’s wrong with our economy and our society, and advice on how to correct it, all in just 3 lines, and 21 words: You buy things and you don’t need. With money that you don’t have. To impress people that you don’t even like. From Aaron Stewart, “Our economic woes in three lines“.