See alternate version here.
Jul 15, 2009
John Stuart Mill and poetry
Just in case you feel represented:
"This intensive study however had injurious effects on Mill's mental health, and state of mind. At the age of twenty he suffered a nervous breakdown. As explained in chapter V of his Autobiography, this was caused by the great physical and mental arduousness of his studies which had suppressed any feelings he might have developed normally in childhood. Nevertheless, this depression eventually began to dissipate, as he began to find solace in the Mémoires of Jean-François Marmontel and the poetry of William Wordsworth."
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill
"This intensive study however had injurious effects on Mill's mental health, and state of mind. At the age of twenty he suffered a nervous breakdown. As explained in chapter V of his Autobiography, this was caused by the great physical and mental arduousness of his studies which had suppressed any feelings he might have developed normally in childhood. Nevertheless, this depression eventually began to dissipate, as he began to find solace in the Mémoires of Jean-François Marmontel and the poetry of William Wordsworth."
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill
Jul 13, 2009
Greece
Just came back from holiday in Greece where I was impressed by the wealth level... I just came across this graph and it's been doing well indeed: 
The question is, after Spain, has Greece really overtaken Italy? The IMF thinks so!
Can SuperObama save Africa?
Obama's recent visit to Ghana added fresh woods to the bonfire of the discussion about "western" policies for Africa.
Obama is a superhero in most African countries. In Gambia the truck and bus drivers usually have three stickers in the front window: Bob Marley, Madonna and Obama. For many he is the new hope, so what he says and does toward Africa matters.
First, why did he decides to go to Ghana and not to another country?
some thoughts here and here
What did he say?
Reactions to the speech?
"Bill" The Watchdog couldn't be outside the discussion. He grades the speech, and gives one of the worse scores to the idea of support an African Green Revolution. But other people seems to be more optimistic about this.
UPDATE: The grades from a second reader.
Will Obama's superpowers be the definitive answer to failures of Western policies?
Obama is a superhero in most African countries. In Gambia the truck and bus drivers usually have three stickers in the front window: Bob Marley, Madonna and Obama. For many he is the new hope, so what he says and does toward Africa matters.
First, why did he decides to go to Ghana and not to another country?
some thoughts here and here
What did he say?
Reactions to the speech?
"Bill" The Watchdog couldn't be outside the discussion. He grades the speech, and gives one of the worse scores to the idea of support an African Green Revolution. But other people seems to be more optimistic about this.
UPDATE: The grades from a second reader.
Will Obama's superpowers be the definitive answer to failures of Western policies?
Return to profits for Goldman
The story is taken from the New York Times. It turns out that, while signs of economic recovery are weak, Goldman Sachs is already making profits. Not only the Bank has already repaid the bailout money received from the Treasury (approximately 10 Billion $), but it is also said to have registered a profit of around 2 Billion $ between March and June. Part of these revenues will probably be returned as bonuses to its employees. So people wonder, how do they do that?
As the article reports, Risk Management is the key. It means that, while people are scared to take risks, Goldmand does it, and it pays off very well. I heard once a London banker describing Goldman's approach to Risk management as "either they blow up, or they swim in cash". So far they did not blow up (with the Trasury's help), and now they swim again in cash. The question is then: are we back to the pre-crisis level in terms of risk taking? Are the lessons from the crisis un-learnt? People are waiting to see what the most successful bank is going to do next.
As the article reports, Risk Management is the key. It means that, while people are scared to take risks, Goldmand does it, and it pays off very well. I heard once a London banker describing Goldman's approach to Risk management as "either they blow up, or they swim in cash". So far they did not blow up (with the Trasury's help), and now they swim again in cash. The question is then: are we back to the pre-crisis level in terms of risk taking? Are the lessons from the crisis un-learnt? People are waiting to see what the most successful bank is going to do next.
Jul 10, 2009
Tell me what I am eating, please
Apparently, according to this poll, people are becoming more concerned about what they are eating; or better, more concerned about what they buy. Being "environmentally" concerned in our decisions is becoming part of our everyday life. There are reasons to be cheerful about this, and reasons to be worried. The fact that there is a higher demand for goods which have lower carbon footprints may be in fact a welcome event, but the risk of a resurrection of protectionism becomes extremely likely. What people are asking for is information, so who' s gonna provide it? It is very likely that this taks is going to be performed by people with vested interests, able to convey their "right" information. As we reported here and here, there are common misperceptions about the environmental impact of what we eat and do. Information is a public good, and I think, even more in this case. Some form of intervention or cooperation here must happen if we want to be serious about climate change.
Jul 9, 2009
Opportunity Cost
Apparently, according to this fundamental study "women spend nearly one year deciding what to wear". Is this because women do not optimize or because their partners are not convincing when they say "honey, you do look beautiful with that"?
Jul 8, 2009
Recession and Health: once again
In a previous post we surveyed some studies which claimed that the effects of recessions on health are positive. The logic behind these results is that people are induced to change their lifestyle during a recession, and this goes often in favour of healthier choices (walking or biking instead of driving their cars).
These results have been re-assessed in a comprehensive study on 26 European countries from
1970 to 2006 and are reported today on the FT and published online on the Lancet Medical Journal (although the version is available only to subscribers).
As the figure to the left reports, a 3% rise in unemployment leads to 28% rise in deaths from alcohol abuse, 6% from homicide and 4% from suicide; it does instead lead to a reduction in transport accidents by 4%. Overall, there is no effect of unemployment on all causes mortality rates.
An interesting picture that emerges from the study is, that the impact of unemployment on death rates vary substantially across countries. For example, suicides rates are substantially mitigated by government-sponsored programmes to keep people employed: if the amount spent on active-labour market participation exceeds 190$ per capita, suicides rates do not rise.
From my understanding, the use of death rates does not allow a full comparison with previous studies, which use more micro data looking at specific habits (like smoking) or health measure (like weight), but it's still informative with regards to the striking policy implications.
These results have been re-assessed in a comprehensive study on 26 European countries from
1970 to 2006 and are reported today on the FT and published online on the Lancet Medical Journal (although the version is available only to subscribers).As the figure to the left reports, a 3% rise in unemployment leads to 28% rise in deaths from alcohol abuse, 6% from homicide and 4% from suicide; it does instead lead to a reduction in transport accidents by 4%. Overall, there is no effect of unemployment on all causes mortality rates.
An interesting picture that emerges from the study is, that the impact of unemployment on death rates vary substantially across countries. For example, suicides rates are substantially mitigated by government-sponsored programmes to keep people employed: if the amount spent on active-labour market participation exceeds 190$ per capita, suicides rates do not rise.
From my understanding, the use of death rates does not allow a full comparison with previous studies, which use more micro data looking at specific habits (like smoking) or health measure (like weight), but it's still informative with regards to the striking policy implications.
Jul 5, 2009
Latin America, the place to be
Another Index of Happiness was released this week, with potential to raise much controversy as developed nations score very badly. In this one, Costa Rica, and not Denmark, tops first.
"That the top 10 in the list of “greenest and happiest” nations is dominated by Latin America might raise a few eyebrows, as the region is better known in the western imagination for its slums, inequality and coups. But the Latin Americans score highly, the report suggests, due to non-material aspirations and strong social capital among friends and relatives. The grim performance of the developed world might also prompt some westerners to cast doubt over the value of the report. Among the rich nations, the highest placed country is the Netherlands – but it manages only 43rd... The challenge for the west, the report says, is not to keep increasing incomes but to aim for more meaningful lives and stronger social ties." (Switzerland, by the way, scores relatively well among developed nations, 52. Maybe because of la fete des voisins!)
Despite all problems with such Indexes, I find it valuable to add measures of social capital and ecological footprint to go beyond gpd pc. I can definetly see how some people may prefer Costa Rica over Denmark.
On the other hand, I believe violence indicators could enter such an Index more directly than trough Life expectancy only - having good true friends around, nature, some income, relatively high life expectancy etc mean much less when people have to face violence all the time - which is the case of Kingston, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota or San Salvador, whose countries all rank top 10 in this index. Most of them have drug trafficking as background.
Calculate your own score on the Happy Planet Index if you want to find out "how happy you are and at what price to the environment!"
"That the top 10 in the list of “greenest and happiest” nations is dominated by Latin America might raise a few eyebrows, as the region is better known in the western imagination for its slums, inequality and coups. But the Latin Americans score highly, the report suggests, due to non-material aspirations and strong social capital among friends and relatives. The grim performance of the developed world might also prompt some westerners to cast doubt over the value of the report. Among the rich nations, the highest placed country is the Netherlands – but it manages only 43rd... The challenge for the west, the report says, is not to keep increasing incomes but to aim for more meaningful lives and stronger social ties." (Switzerland, by the way, scores relatively well among developed nations, 52. Maybe because of la fete des voisins!)
Despite all problems with such Indexes, I find it valuable to add measures of social capital and ecological footprint to go beyond gpd pc. I can definetly see how some people may prefer Costa Rica over Denmark.
On the other hand, I believe violence indicators could enter such an Index more directly than trough Life expectancy only - having good true friends around, nature, some income, relatively high life expectancy etc mean much less when people have to face violence all the time - which is the case of Kingston, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota or San Salvador, whose countries all rank top 10 in this index. Most of them have drug trafficking as background.
Calculate your own score on the Happy Planet Index if you want to find out "how happy you are and at what price to the environment!"
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