- America’s Slippery Slope into Britishisms!
Can I take credit for this? Did Goldman Sachs’ (allegedly) prevalent use
of the word ‘muppet’ to describe clients in London lead to this article? Or are American’s finally accepting that Brits
just do the whole colloquialism/slang thing vastly better! (Alex Williams, New York Times)
- The Birth of Bond
- The Birth of Bond
Continuing our British-theme, what could be more
British than James Bond? Well, excluding
some of Daniel Craig’s dubious pronunciation in Skyfall - no doubt it was for the
benefit of a US audience – didn’t they read the above NY Times article! On that note, Our Man saw SkyFall last week,
loved it and heartily recommends it if you liked Casino Royale (but somewhat
less so if you preferred anything Roger Moore/Pierce Brosnan! There’s no accounting for taste!). (David Kamp, Vanity Fair)
- Show Me The Money
- Show Me The Money
After long being the red-headed stepchild of
economics, behavioural economics is now being used more than every (especially
in the US and UK) to shape policy and bend its impact. Here, Professor Cass Sunstein’s talks about
its development and impact on policy (especially consumer protection). (Cass Sunstein, The New Republic)
NB: You may want to try the experiment in this video, before
reading the article!
- The Hunt for “Geronimo”
- The Hunt for “Geronimo”
Mark Bowden’s adaption from his forthcoming book,
detailing the process, research, preparation and decisions behind the Administration’s
decision to green-light the raid on Osama bin Laden. (Mark Bowden, Vanity Fair)
- When The Growth Model Changes, Abandon theCorrelations
- When The Growth Model Changes, Abandon theCorrelations
Professor Pettis describes why he thinks a lot of
the current research on China’s GDP growth over the coming decade is
flawed. He also considers why Japan in
the late 80’s is a better comparable to the China of today, than the more often
mooted Japan in the 70’s.
Things that amused and interested me about this year’s US
Presidential election.
- That (as Mark Cuban noted, post election) the multi-millionaire CEO who was running built an organization that was technologically inept (and had no back-up plan), was inefficient in its expenditures (purchase of ads) and never tested its core assumptions.
- Sasha Issenberg being right beforehand, and Alexis Madrigal subsequently adding much more colour, about how the President’s team was creating the first truly 21st century campaign, and utilizing data efficiently and effectively (i.e. like they do in the private sector).
- That systematically using data (whether it was 538, RCP, Pollster, or my personal favourite Votamatic) was more helpful than using your “gut” and paying little attention to the data (Karl Rove, George Will, DickMorris, etc). And that people were then shocked by this!
- That the ‘auto bailout’ was deemed a major factor in helping the President win re-election. That's fair enough, but it's strange how nobody points out how universally unpopular the bailout was, even in Michigan, back in 2009 when the decision was made!
- That Democrats think that demographics and data mean the future is theirs. As ErickEricksson noted within a pretty thoughtful and insightful piece (especially given it was barely a couple of hours after the Republicans had lost the White House) on the election and the conservative movement, it’s yet to be proven that Obama’s coalition is a Democratic one (as opposed to just an Obama one).
- That (as Mark Cuban noted, post election) the multi-millionaire CEO who was running built an organization that was technologically inept (and had no back-up plan), was inefficient in its expenditures (purchase of ads) and never tested its core assumptions.
- Sasha Issenberg being right beforehand, and Alexis Madrigal subsequently adding much more colour, about how the President’s team was creating the first truly 21st century campaign, and utilizing data efficiently and effectively (i.e. like they do in the private sector).
- That systematically using data (whether it was 538, RCP, Pollster, or my personal favourite Votamatic) was more helpful than using your “gut” and paying little attention to the data (Karl Rove, George Will, DickMorris, etc). And that people were then shocked by this!
- That the ‘auto bailout’ was deemed a major factor in helping the President win re-election. That's fair enough, but it's strange how nobody points out how universally unpopular the bailout was, even in Michigan, back in 2009 when the decision was made!
- That Democrats think that demographics and data mean the future is theirs. As ErickEricksson noted within a pretty thoughtful and insightful piece (especially given it was barely a couple of hours after the Republicans had lost the White House) on the election and the conservative movement, it’s yet to be proven that Obama’s coalition is a Democratic one (as opposed to just an Obama one).
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