With Europe deciding what to do with Greece, and with the Fed about to try their latest unconventional policy to get the economy going (or at least the markets up), what better time to (largely) look away from finance and see what’s been in Our Man’s google reader recently! As usual, I’ve put the finance ones at the top and the non-finance (more interesting?) ones at the bottom.
- Short-termism and the risk of another financial crisis
An article penned by Sheila Bair as she left the chairmanship of the FDIC, where she appears to have been one of the few people, in power, who possessed any common sense and didn’t want to bail out the banks. Her “exit” interview is well worth a read too. (Sheila Bair, Washington Post)
- Is the SEC covering up Wall Street crimes?
It would be funny, if there hadn’t been a major economic meltdown and market crash that took place while (amongst many other things) the regulators were asleep at the wheel. While it’s not apparent to all, capitalism requires good strong regulation to avoid merely turning into cronyism. (Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone)
- The Future of Light is LED
As you know, Our Man has a small exposure to Energy Efficiency which is currently focused on battery technology. However, one of the other areas that is interesting is LED technology; while LEDs have taken over in phones, computers and now TVs, the ultimate hope is that LED technology will be used in lightbulbs. Here’s a good primer on LEDs. (Dan Koeppel, Wired)
- Why Software is Eating the World
The initial leaps forward in technology were as the result of hardware (e.g. a PC you could use at home, a mobile phone, etc) but the real transformation has come from the impact of software. If you want think further on the subject, John Hempton’s (Bronte Capital) post is a great place to start. (Marc Andreesen, Wall Street Journal)
- Enter the Cyber-dragon
With software and computer technology becoming so important, it shouldn’t be a surprise that both corporate and national espionage (and warfare) is shifting to take place online. (Michael Joseph Gross, Vanity Fair)
- Getting Bin-Laden
A look behind Seal Team Six’s mission. (Nicholas Schmidle, New Yorker)
Apple Section:
- How Apple Works: Inside the world’s biggest startup
Apple has been one of the success stories of the 2000’s, with its entrepreneurial enterprise and innovation being rewarded on both Main Street and Wall Street. Here’s Fortune’s view of how the company works. (Adam Lashinsky, Fortune magazine)
- Creation Myth
It might never have been, but for the kindness (and foolishness) of others. How Xerox unwittingly (and perhaps incompetently) failed to realize what it had already created/invented, and gave Apple a glimpse of the future. “If Xerox had known what it had and had taken advantage of its real opportunities,” Jobs said, years later, “it could have been as big as I.B.M. plus Microsoft plus Xerox combined—and the largest high-technology company in the world.” (Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker)
- Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address at Stanford (2005)
Wherein he touches on a number of stories that helped mould him as a person. (Steve Jobs, YouTube)
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