Thursday, March 30, 2017

The driver for ridiculous left and right politics.

The lack of focus and sound judgement and decisions is driving people in other countries towards unrealistic possibilities which will permeate the EU if not take it over. The risk of far right influence on the EU long term or far left, is exactly why getting out now is going to prove crucial. Lets revisit this in 10 and 20yrs time.

https://www.ft.com/content/acc937c2-13c5-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Another day in history 29/03/2017!


https://www.ft.com/content/22c0d426-1466-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-39424391

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39434293


No club is so great that members cannot chose to leave. How much harder in the future!

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Neural Lace

Stepping the human brain up a gear to keep up with future AI!

https://www.inverse.com/article/29568-elon-musk-neural-lace-five-years

ECB & Transparency International

Gets interesting when transparency Intl gets involved with the ECB and EU issues!

https://www.ft.com/content/6ec278de-1399-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76

Monday, March 27, 2017

Ubers business looking driverless

Uber on the backfoot again after yet another incedent. They are suffering on so many levels, while growing, that its more than just a tech issues for them now!

Success and attention brings this focus, ask MSFT, Facebook and Google.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/03/25/uber-accident-raises-question-how-do-self-driving-cars-deal-with-the-other-guys-on-the-road/?utm_term=.e0691781989e

Driverless cars are going to face many metaphorical road crashs before more people think its anything other than a fad. Give it another 10 yrs at least then who knows! 2027 look back to here!

Venture capital and/or Philanthropy!

Silicon valley in going after some of the human and social issues is unrolling a carpet for new narratives about appropriate focus, investment and innovations:

https://www.wired.com/2017/03/silicon-valley-rather-cure-death-make-life-worth-living

While this is always to be expected in the world of the "battle of discourse(s)" it illustrates a few issues which include the subtlety of market failure where the question of who in silicon valley will invest in poverty eradication "theres no money in it" verse life extensions where plenty of rich people, not ultra rich but north of the brandt line rich people will buy a little more!

Ultimately the case is not as suggested in that www.globalgoals.org and dealing with disease is in everyones interest, even TB now has some focus even though its a disease mainly of the poor world, fortunately london and the UK having to step up to the mark and it is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39376641

and it needs to go further faster:

https://www.wired.com/2017/03/peer-post-apocalyptic-future-antimicrobial-resistance/?mbid=social_fb_onsiteshare

Ultimately its the progress in science and technology that has aided the full improvement of humanity but the focus on the developing world and poorest people can easily get lost in the priories and excitement. for that not to happen people need more understanding of the realities everywhere:

http://www.gapminder.org/videos

Market failures, places where need exist but there is no monetary incentive to solve!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Safari life of corporate finance and M&A!

Having just got back from a safari and seen these animals up close in their own environment, this artical made a good read especially as it features Paul Polman and true 21st century leader:

https://www.ft.com/content/ff99754a-fa91-11e6-9516-2d969e0d3b65

And as cute and cuddly as it is the true picture is that if you are living on investors money you have to be very careful with it, which makes change tricky but in the long term if you under promise and over deliver and not the other way round you might just lead real change.

The other side of this is that those not dependent on others money, is the small business and community business owner and worker, then being able to survive the nonsense of the big boys is even more of a challenge. A bit like observing the impala's and especially the dung beetles on safari, they deliver so much into the every recycling economy.

These animal in the game reserves live and act with such dignity, the ecosystem works because of them and inspite of us!

Countries telling the EU: Central command and control truth flowing out at last.

https://www.ft.com/content/b7018d6c-0fc8-11e7-b030-768954394623


Any decent business mind and people who care about community know that if only they had been smart enough to say what everyone knew 5 years ago, It should have read:

  "The longstanding ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview that the EU needed flexibility ..... to avoid the transfer of more powers from national capitals to Brussels. In an interview ..... Mr Schäuble denied that he was disappointed with the fading of European federalist ideas, which the 74-year-old has espoused for decades and are enshrined in the EU’s commitment to “ever closer union” adopted in 1983." instead of adding the padding above as per the "....." deletions!

 Then they would have been able to avoid the further padding (see article for the padding instead) of "....." today:

 " In all or in most European states there are no broad majorities to give additional shares of national sovereignty to Brussels. “So we have to improve . . . our intergovernmental methods......." 

Small is beautiful, heavy weights at the centre of anything is a disaster for all, good business people and communities knows that too well!

Gibralter and Scotland

Another angle to watch:

https://www.ft.com/content/46f93a3e-0eeb-11e7-b030-768954394623

Both in terms of original voter intentions as well as longer term outcomes and alignments.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Italy and the EU!

Nothing new here!

https://www.ft.com/content/91443ffe-028d-11e7-ace0-1ce02ef0def9

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

revisit in 2027

I will put a note in the diary to re read this and take a careful look at London, Paris and Frankfurt and the rest.

https://www.ft.com/content/fc39820c-05a2-11e7-ace0-1ce02ef0def9


" The big players
Frankfurt
Pro: Could benefit from banks choosing to be close to the ECB
Con: Lacks the flair of Paris

Paris
Pro: Much the most aggressive campaign, offers cultural attractions
Con: May struggle with France’s reputation for hostility towards finance

Dublin
Pro: Similar legal system to UK, also shares language and timezone
Con: Lack of infrastructure and regulatory capacity     "

UK productivity - margin or jobs!!??

Interesting take on the on going confusion of UK productivity!

https://www.ft.com/content/7bbc54f0-0d96-11e7-a88c-50ba212dce4d

By this measure any business having to tighten its belt due to austerity, cuts and consumers holding back ie price pressures from supply:demand, means that without cutting headcount then productivity falls, to me thats a good thing, we need our staff and are prepared to pay the price to keep jobs!!


Monday, March 20, 2017

EU and the Euro - plenty of idea's very little action!


https://www.ft.com/content/d536a26c-0a3d-11e7-97d1-5e720a26771b


“Full-blown monetary union demands full-blown political union — I’m not sure that’s realistic,” Mr Van Overtveldt says. “But we can make a valuable positive contribution by developing a second-best solution, and we can do that better than we have done so far.”



Steam rolling and or sweeping things under the carpet looked like the tactics of the past, allowing everyone to be lured in and implicated in a process they thought would never need a reverse gear.
Tragic and dangerous if not resolved soon!

It was often said that the Euro would be a political trap that could even lead to war if it wrecks one or two of the key economies in the EU without the people being able to control it!

Brexit deal not an issue


A sensible Brexit deal is more probable than you think

The EU should not seek to earn a quick buck, nor the UK to dodge direct costs

https://www.ft.com/content/5b7690ce-0b08-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43

"Every political process is prone to accidents. But I am really struggling to identify a single insurmountable obstacle to a deal. My advice, especially for angry Remain supporters, is to take a deep breath, accept that Brexit will happen and focus on how to reconnect with the EU after Brexit. There is much to play for."

Friday, March 17, 2017

To GDP or not to GDP, that is the question.

Interesting piece related to a new book of course, well why not, world always needs another book to two!

https://www.ft.com/content/a9c7b6d8-08cc-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43

"For Greenspan, the point was that one must not confuse GDP with welfare, something that has increasingly occurred. But for sceptics such as Lorenzo Fioramonti, a professor of political economy at the University of Pretoria, this kind of mild criticism only scratches the surface. In The World After GDP, he argues that the measure is not only a distorted mirror in which to view our increasingly complex economies, but also an impediment to building better societies."

Not forgetting the famous Robert Kennedy speech which you can search for on my blog from a previous post!

It is said that Einstein kept a sign in his office that read, "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

Anywhere and Somewhere world views!

I come at this from a different angle but I understand the points he makes.

https://www.ft.com/content/39a0867a-0974-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43

I like the idea about how many octaves up and down does your politics allow you to hear!

Thursday, March 02, 2017

EU waking up to common sense


Too late for Junker, too late for ordinary people, but better late than never!

https://www.ft.com/content/630c5b6c-fe87-11e6-96f8-3700c5664d30

You just wonder at how these echo chambers work, how they design their narrative to fit their world view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9qlW2ZZ_Y Hardtalk!

FUD!!

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Women and girls in science, for the developed and developing world

Some useful resources on gender equality and gender opportunity as well as the importance of women and girls in STEM - science, tech, eng and math.

https://news.microsoft.com/europe/features/dont-european-girls-like-science-technology/#sm.0001z0r0meu2je7pyrv1th5zzegqz#Re0DH4akXdPBjxWI.97

http://stemettes.org/

http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/index.shtml

#MDG3 #SDG5

Paul Polman - sustainability is everything

He does a good job leading the pack, wonder if the pack are after him, as Ive blogged before he's the one to watch IMHO

https://www.ft.com/content/e7293e0e-fddf-11e6-8d8e-a5e3738f9ae4


Nothings new under the sun!

Times now, times past!

Can you put a date and a name to this quote: 

"........... "We can succeed only by concert. It is not 'can any of us imagine better?' but, 'can we all do better?' The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, act anew."........... "

https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-global-community/10154544292806634

The nepotism and narcissism is what makes us and breaks us yet again:

https://www.ft.com/content/234ebf52-e351-11e6-8405-9e5580d6e5fb

https://www.ft.com/content/3316daa2-fd44-11e6-96f8-3700c5664d30

#Truth #FakeNews #SocialMedia #2017