MetaFilter posts tagged with economist

I don't think Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright will be at all surprised.

Diablevert — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:13:34 -0800

It's good to be ~~the King~~a Micklethwait. A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but a new study of unusual surnames offers some depressing insights into the lingering impact of class on social mobility.

Northern Lights

the man of twists and turns — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:42:31 -0800

The Nordic countries are reinventing their model of capitalism

Gregor MacGregor the Cacique of Poyais

rongorongo — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 01:11:41 -0800

In 1820 Gregor MacGregor, chieftain of the Central American principality of Poyais arrived in London and explained his problem: his principality had a fine climate, friendly natives, and a democratic government, but it needed investors and settlers to help develop it and exploit its abundant natural resources. To this end his government was to issue a £200,000 bond which would pay off at a generous 6%, as well as land rights for a modest 3 shillings an acre. MacGregor would eventually raise funds worth £3.2 billion -at today's prices- for the entirely fictional principality; this makes him arguably the most successful con-men of all time. Gregor MacGregor was part of the same Scottish clan as his better known kinsmen Rob Roy. He gave Poyais a flag and coat of arms, some favourable artist's impressions as well as money and the above mentioned bonds. All this was written up in the fabulously fraudulent book "Sketch of the Mosquito Shore: including the territory of Poyais" which can be downloaded here. The colony had echoes of the real - but disastrous - Darien Scheme which had also lured in many Scots in the 1690s. This time the majority of the settlers were rescued - but about 200 died. After finding that the British were becoming wise to his con MacGregor moved to France and tried the same story there. Finally he fled to Venezuela where he persuaded the country to recognise him as a General and where he lived out the rest of his days. This paper describes the scheme and the country in more detail. Poyais had an area which roughly corresponds to Olancho region in Honduras - it is still sparsely developed.

6 marathon lengths in 36 hours

mulligan — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:47:46 -0800

The lunacy of the long-distance runner [slep]

An extraordinary coincidence?

memebake — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 07:54:41 -0800

And think about it for a second: this is bizarre. If Americans are in fact divided between two extremely different political ideologies, it would be an extraordinary coincidence if each of those philosophies were to hold the allegiance of nearly equal blocs of support. The Economist ponders how American politics can have a "divide [that] is simultaneously very narrow in numerical terms, and gaping in ideological or partisan terms."

Realistic arguments over policy take place on relatively narrow terrain: they are arguments over a top marginal tax rate of 35% or 39.6%, over a health-insurance system with guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions but with or without a mandate, and so forth. But in ideological terms, this is not what the political divide looks like. Republicans construe the Democratic positions on these questions as socialism and international decline. Democrats construe the Republican positions as social darwinism and militant imperialism. How you do end up with a populace split evenly between these radical belief structures?

"Gosh, another oversight"

adamvasco — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:44:50 -0800

Banksters this story stretches far beyond Britain. Barclays is the first bank in the spotlight because it offered to co-operate fully with regulators. It will not be the last. Investigations into the fixing of LIBOR and other rates are also under way in America, Canada and the EU. Between them, these probes cover many of the biggest names in finance: the likes of Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Deutsche Bank and HSBC. Employees, from New York to Tokyo, are implicated.
The rotten heart of finance. A scandal over key interest rates is about to go global.
Naomi Wolf: The media's 'bad apple' thesis no longer works. This global financial fraud and its gatekeepers.

My only country is six feet tall

Talkie Toaster — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:52:39 -0800

A recent article in the Economist followed up on the British cover of this week's edition with a scathing attack on the economic case for Scottish independence. The Scottish National Party, currently in power and preparing for an independence referendum, are not amused but at least they have a powerful friend that can help out these days. A hint of sweet irony is added by the fact that Alex Salmond, the nationalist First Minister of Scotland is himself an economist by training.

Security theatre theatre.

unSane — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:20:43 -0800

In the latest (ongoing) Economist debate (run Oxford-style), security expert Bruce Schneier and architect of the TSA Kip Hawley are facing off to respectively defend and attack the motion "This house believes that changes made to airport security since 9/11 have done more harm than good." Overview. Opening statements. Rebuttals. (Surprisingly cogent) comments from the floor.

I bungled things and couldn’t even fix a match

vidur — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:55:59 -0800

The Buddha tells the people he can fulfil only one of their wishes. Someone asks: "Could you lower the price of property in China so that people can afford it?" Seeing the Buddha frown in silence, the person makes another wish: "Could you make the Chinese football team qualify for a World Cup?" After a long sigh, the Buddha says: "Let's talk about property prices." And speaking of property prices in China, also see.

Red state in the red?

dubold — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:10:33 -0800

Where Federal taxes are raised and spent. "Some American states receive more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes; others receive less. Over twenty years these fiscal transfers can add up to a sizeable sum." A graph of the United States, color-coded to indicate surplus or deficit.

Pakistan and India

beisny — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:24:15 -0800

What to do about Pakistan? The Economist urges the west to focus on the Kashmir issue in order to help stabilize the region. Christopher Hitches urges the US to stand more firmly behind India.

"Kill the economy. Blame the Democrats. It's the perfect crime."

saulgoodman — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:05:38 -0800

"When a Nobel Prize Isn't Enough." With a sharply-worded rebuke of the congressional GOP, Nobel Prize-winning economist Peter Diamond has announced he is withdrawing as a candidate for the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors due to GOP obstructionism. Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, a leading critic of Diamond's appointment, welcomes the announcement and raises a predictable call for a candidate "capable of garnering bipartisan support in the Senate."

Koch-funded study confirms global warming

russilwvong — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:47:25 -0800

Koch-funded study confirms global warming. Not an April Fools joke. The study also used data from Anthony Watts. Skeptics appear to have been hoping the study would cast doubt on global warming. The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature site. Richard Muller's Congressional testimony (PDF).

The 9 billion-people question

beisny — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 10:03:49 -0800

A special report on feeding the world

For better or worse

londonmark — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:23:14 -0800

“This house believes that the global elite serve the masses.” The Economist’s latest online debate questions the role of the global elite in western society.

Entrevista Con La Bailarina

zarq — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:16:29 -0800

The Dancer and the Terrorist. When Peru’s most wanted man, Abimael Guzmán Reynoso, was captured in 1992, a young ballerina, Maritza Garrido Lecca, went to jail too, for harbouring him at her studio. The story was turned into a novel and film, “The Dancer Upstairs” (trailer). This year, the author of the novel, Nicholas Shakespeare, flew to Lima to meet the dancer at last — and to ask her whether she was guilty.

A profile of a few families who chose to cross the border and a view of agricultural work in America for migrant laborers.

ShadePlant — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:05:03 -0800

Do American citizens really want the agriculture jobs "illegals" are "taking?" Apparently not... "Only 8,600 people expressed an interest in working in the fields, says Ms Machuca. But they made demands that seem bizarre to farmworkers, such as high pay, health and pension benefits, relocation allowances and other things associated with normal American jobs. In late September only seven American applicants in the “Take our jobs” campaign were actually picking crops."

Harry Potter and the Attempted American Accent

Dim Siawns — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 06:05:29 -0800

The Economist presents the stars of Harry Potter trying to sound American. Via LL

Is it the Economy, Stupid?

bearwife — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 10:38:22 -0800

The Economist has created a rather cool interactive US map. The map allows a by state look at economic data (unemployment, GDP, personal income), demographic data, and voting in 2004 and 2008. (single link Economist)

The rise of the pensionable pop fan.

rongorongo — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:23:40 -0800

What is working for the music industry and why the top buyers of pop music albums are now those over 60.

“Larry said, ‘It sounds like bad business to me. "

R. Mutt — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:09:31 -0800

How the Bad Boy of Brit-Art Grew Rich at the Expense of His Investors From the Economist: IN 2008 just over $270m-worth of art by Damien Hirst was sold at auction, a world record for a living artist. By 2009 Mr Hirst’s annual auction sales had shrunk by 93%—to $19m—and the 2010 total is likely to be even lower. (The average auction price for a Hirst work in 2008 was $831,000. So far in 2010 it is down to $136,000, a sum that does not even take into account the many lots that failed to find buyers.)

Death and the Sea

Kattullus — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:08:28 -0800

Obituaries editors probably belong by the sea. The cries of seagulls are their music, fading into infinity, and the light-filled sky bursts open like a gateway out of the world. The elderly gravitate there, shuffling in cheerful pairs along Marine Parade or jogging in slow motion past the Sea Gull Café, intent on some distant goal. Their skin is weathered and tanned, as if they have fossilised themselves in ozone to keep death at bay. They wear bright trainers, young clothes. But they have shifted to the shore here, or in Bexhill, or in Eastbourne, as if to the edge of life, and each flapping deck-chair reserves a waiting-place.

Ann Wroe, obituaries editor of The Economist, muses on mortality and the sea in the latest correspondent's diary, a series of articles by various Economist writers. You can read the magazine's obituaries here, including a recent one of former obituaries editor Keith Colquhoun. [Ann Wroe previously]

I don't think that living through an artificial self is all that uncommon.

lapsangsouchong — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:42:47 -0800

Professional oboe player, senior economist in the UK Treasury, fellow of King's College, Cambridge, son-in-law of Jacob Epstein (and model for his statue of St Michael). Wynne Godley, who also wrote about his 'disastrous encounter' with the psychoanalyst Masud Khan in the 1960s, died last week. I read the obituary and the piece about Masud Khan (who I'd never heard of before) on Sunday, but was too lazy to write up a post. Today I was in a café somewhere on the east coast of the USA and overheard a conversation about Khan. Obviously a sign that I had to write this post. [via]

Redrawing the map, Economist-style

armage — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:27:41 -0800

The European map is outdated and illogical. Here's how it should look.

The Deflationist

nevercalm — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:06:56 -0800

The Deflationist - How Paul Krugman found politics.