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Category Archives: Economics
What did Jérôme Kerviel do wrong?
Today, an Appeals Court in France upheld the conviction of Jérôme Kerviel, a former trader with the French bank Société Générale, sentenced him to serve time in prison and ordered him – rather symbolically I assume – to pay 4.9 billion … Continue reading
Shrinking Lithuania
Now I understand why it was so easy to find a beautiful and affordable apartment when I moved to Lithuania: The population of Lithuania is shrinking. It has fallen below 3 million, meaning that this cute little country has lost … Continue reading
“Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
Since 2008 or 2009, I have heard the expression “worst recession since the Great Depression” more times than banks have asked for another bailout. I got tired and fed up by that constantly repeated statement because as little as I know … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Economics, USA
15 Comments
You don’t understand how banks work? Watch this!
Monty Python explain the business of banking. Surprisingly topical.
Most Important Investment Advice # 3
After the success of the first and second part of my investment advice series, here is the third most important investment advice: Don’t save anything for retirement. You have no idea if your now will even like the kind of … Continue reading
Milton Friedman, 1912-2006
If there was a market for Milton Friedman, he would still be around. To be fair, he actually influenced my economic and political thinking a bit, especially in my younger years. I liked the general liberal outlook and the idea … Continue reading
Spain’s Banking Crisis is no Surprise
If a bank cannot even build a straight office tower, how can you expect it to keep a straight balance sheet? The headquarters of Bankia in Madrid, Spain:
Posted in Economics, Spain
3 Comments
The Second Most Important Investment Advice
My second most important investment advice: Don’t save anything while you are married. When you get divorced, your wife will take half of it. Most of the rest will go to lawyers. Don’t forget to have a look at my … Continue reading
Equality versus Sufficiency
The second paper in my second-year module Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy as part of my MA in Philosophy had to discuss the conflict between egalitarianism and the sufficiency criterion. Here are my thoughts on this, as always confined by the strict limit of … Continue reading
Don’t buy Facebook shares!
A few friends of mine in California calling themselves “Facebook” asked me if I want to buy 421 million of their shares at 38 $ a pop. I did a quick calculation and noticed that I don’t have enough money. Because … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 