The Closer
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ROUND UP Markets continued to rally on Monday, as Friday’s relatively upbeat jobs report continued to lift spirits. Yields on Italian and Spanish bonds fell, and the FTSE...
Akerlof's lemons were rejected 3 times...before getting the Nobel
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Akerlof's article excerpt:"By June of 1967 the paper was ready and I sent it to The American Economic Review for publication. I was spending the academic year 1967-68 in India. Fairly shortly into my stay there, I received my first rejection letter f...
Some @npthinking follower stats
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The following stats are based on tweepsmap.com raw data per country (Aug 6, 2012): Based on 2256 followers 1) The Eurozone followers are (only %s 0.05% (corresponds to 1.128 follower) and above listed) 13 of 17 Euro countries yield 0.05% or hi...
Mars, the bringer of ... calories. But will he land a PGI?
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The world is celebrating today the news that NASA's rover Curiosity has successfully landed on Mars -- no, not the The Bringer of War but the planet hitherto known to be inhabited only by spiders. This landing is another major step i...
Equities still seen as most compelling asset class, latest European industry survey reveals
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More than a third of the European investment industry’s leading figures see equities as offering the most compelling investment returns over the next year, according to MHP Communications’ annual survey on the future of the European pensions &...
Switzerland: the European state that refuses to join the European Union
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On 17th April, Camilla Barbezat and Søren Henrichsen visited the EU Delegation in Berne. It is one of the Union's smallest delegations in a non-Member State. Amidst seemingly increasing tension between Switzerland and the EU, the two made the most o...
In search of liquid water (investment vehicles)
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This guest post was submitted by Jason Abbruzzese of FT.com.A little more than a year ago, Citi chief economist Willem Buiter said water was on its way to becoming “the single...
Brussels again – and some facts and statistics
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At the baggage retrieval carousel we said our farewells to our wonderful guide, Roger Marsden, and the other members of our thirty strong group (most of whom, realistically considering, we probably will never see again) and then set off to the long-...
Good EU News For a Change
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The euro may be going down the tubes, but the EU is running away with Olympic gold.
From First to Second Republic: The Leopard Changes Its Spots
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The adoption of a new electoral law, based in part on the ‘first past the post’ system used in most English-speaking countries, did succeed in addressing one of Italy’s secular problems: its high government turnover. The new electoral system fo...
Shooting in Sikh temple: Hate crime? Domestic terrorism?
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Read few comments. J. M. Berger, Investigative Journalist, Specialist on Homegrown Extremism, Author of Jihad Joe Page was definitely an ideological white supremacist. He was deeply involved in the movement and performed with at least three “w...
Shooting in Sikh temple: Hate crime? Domestic terrorism?
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Read few comments. J. M. Berger, Investigative Journalist, Specialist on Homegrown Extremism, Author of Jihad Joe Page was definitely an ideological white supremacist. He was deeply involved in the movement and performed with at least three “w...
J. Edgar
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On the flight back I watched Clint Eastwood’s 2011 J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role as the FBI’s founding father. The script portrays Hoover as an inwardly tormented and sexually confused man whose driving ambition...
Flying home
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We took off from San Francisco at 17.30 local time, with almost an hour’s delay. The pilot expressed the hope that he could make up most of the delay during the flight and he, doubtless aware of where he could pick up a good tail wind, was as...
Ultravox populi, vox debita
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Eye-catching charts, for a type of risk that should catch investor eyes:But what does it all mean?Citi analysts reckon it means another eurozone political season of NEAPs (New,...
Carla Bruni statue – a tale of modern France | Nabila Ramdani
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The monumental deceit of portraying France's former first lady as a labourer chimes with the accusations of sleaze hounding her and Nicolas SarkozyAs a tribute to the vanity and sleaze inherent in France's political class, a solid bronze statue of su...
Spot the difference
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Mark English, Head of Media and the European Commission in the UK explains what happened when he wrote a letter of complaint to the Mail:In The Daily Mail of July 24th, 2012, journalist Christopher Booker wrote an article titled “The real migrant s...
Eight Fallacies about Growth
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"Our decision-making elites may tacitly understand that growth has become uneconomic. But they have also figured out how to keep the dwindling extra benefits for themselves, while “sharing” the exploding extra costs with the poor, the future,...
Google’s Privacy Laws and Europe Controversy
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Google has been going through many changes lately as anyone who runs a website or who uses the web a lot will note. There’s Google Plus of course, there’s the ‘Panda’ and ‘Penguin’ algorithm updates and there’...
Jacqueline Rose dishonours Shafilea’s memory
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“What should we learn from the case of Shafilea Ahmed? At first glance, it might seem simple. A young girl is murdered by by her father because she refuses to submit her sexuality to his law.” So begins a piece in today’s (print) G...
StanChart, Iran, and a Swift allegation
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Standard Chartered’s New York branch operated a “front for prohibited dealings with Iran – dealings that indisputably helped sustain a global threat to peace and stability,”...
The Veepstakes
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The media has been full of what, in an example of American linguistic wit, has been dubbed the ‘Veepstakes’. Romney’s choice of running mate – and the timing of his announcement – are being seen as his first Presidential...
The ramifications of ocean acidification - a warning
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The coming changes in ocean pH may well occur too rapidly for some marine species to adapt to and survive - warns Professor Lloyd Peck...
A (euro)crisis of nationalism
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I have repeatedly stated that the systemic crisis in the Euro area is not about economics, debt, markets, the balance of payments, the role of credit rating agencies, the austerity measures, the independence of the ECB etc. The crisis we see unfoldin...
A (euro)crisis of nationalism
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I have repeatedly stated that the systemic crisis in the Euro area is not about economics, debt, markets, the balance of payments, the role of credit rating agencies, the austerity measures, the independence of the ECB etc. The crisis we see unfoldin...
The darker side of the London 2012 Olympics - an activist's view
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Everybody has enjoyed the sporting excellence and feel-good factor of London 2012, but there is a more gloomy undercurrent to the Olympics – claims Steve Rushton...
Bundesbank and German Government: No Strangers to Conflict
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In the euro-zone debt crisis, Germany is often observed speaking in one clear voice and with one clear answer: “Nein, nein, nein.” No to joint liability euro-zone bonds, no to encouraging higher salaries to encourage domestic consumption, no to l...
Team GB's Super Saturday at London 2012 Olympics
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After a slow start at the Olympic Games in London, on Saturday 4 August, the host nation's team (popularly known as #TeamGB) achieved some of its greatest victories in a single day.
Liar: Clegg told MPs Lords reform was not linked to boundary changes
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Conceding defeat to Tory backbenchers on Lords reform this afternoon, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg immediately announced his intention to exact revenge — by spiking boundary changes which would benefit the Conservatives in 2015. So why did he tell...
