It is all too easy to assume that individuals in positions of power know what they are doing. I recently saw an anonymous quote which opined that when you are young, you assume the world is generally organised along sensible lines. However, as you get older, you realise just how random and chaotic it truly…
It has been a miserable few weeks. Education riots, VAT at 20%, while to cap it all, Russia snaffled the World Cup. While we fielded Beckham, Cameron and Prince William for the big push, Vladimir Putin didn’t even feel the need to attend the final schmooze fest. To add insult to injury, they then sent…
When I was a boy, QE2 was the acronym used to describe a ship owned by Cunard. Now, it’s the next chapter of U.S. monetary policy. The QE2 of today refers to the second part of the U.S.’s programme of quantitative easing. For the next few months, the Federal Reserve intends to buy another $600…
In Oscar Wilde’s ‘The importance of being earnest’, Lady Bracknell tells us “… to lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.” Today, such bluntness would be called bullying and if done in the workplace, might give HR something to do for the entire week – or even…
It is a persistent problem. In the middle of the night, you are rudely awakened by a knock at your hotel door. Is the building on fire? Has your car been stolen? No; nothing so dramatic. It’s just a couple of strangers offering you a bag of diamonds. It happens to me all the time.…
There are well over half a million words in the English language. You might have thought that with all that choice, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a decent stab at accurate description. Yet, curiously, modern life appears to struggle increasingly when it comes to conveying the essence of reality. Of course, there are…
Wise words from Bob Dylan. While I’m hardly an expert on 1960s counterculture, he meant (I think) that the answers are often there but, you must have the wisdom to notice them. It’s akin to reading between the lines rather than what is written on them. Investing can be similar. It is all too easy…
It has often been said of economics that while the questions remain the same, it is only the answers that change. The obscure Victorian economist, Thomas Carlyle, described economics as a ‘dismal science’. We venture he was wrong; it’s not a science at all. While I have a degree in the subject, I realised long…
In Hotel California, the Eagles tell us “we are all just prisoners here of our own device ……. you can check out any time you like but you can never leave”. While it’s not impossible Messrs Felder, Frey and Henley were referring to the reality of 1970’s Californian hedonistic indulgement, it reminded us of the…
Things aren’t always what they seem. A thought no doubt not lost on Accenture and Gillette. Both firms had promoted themselves on the back of Tiger Woods’ squeaky clean image. After paying him millions, it probably came as a shock when it became clear that his idea of playing a round didn’t always involve a…