Category Archives: Economics
Random Thoughts (8)
I don’t understand why supermarkets, all around the world, by the way, are trying to force me to use a metal instrument when I want to buy some bread. You remember my article about the longest possible train journey and … Continue reading
Easily Confused (62) GDP
Donald Trump on GDP: I already understood more about GDP in 9th grade. But then, I just went to a regular public school. Robert Kennedy on GDP:
When people complain about my fees
I guess you can see that I was hungry when I replied to that comment. Sometimes people say: “I understand that you charge so much. After all, you had to study for 4 or 5 years to become a lawyer.” … Continue reading
Mixed Signals
When you adorn your house with $-signs, but put up a note that it’s not for sale. Photographed in Avenida 6 de Agosto in La Paz, Bolivia.
Delinquent Debtors
This wouldn’t fly in Germany because someone would scream “violation of privacy” and lawsuits would ensue, but in Bolivia and in Romania, there are lists in the entrance hall of apartment complexes showing the tenants’ names and what they respectively owe … Continue reading
Random Thoughts (7)
Don’t blame me for looking at your ( . )( . ) when you wear sunglasses and I can’t look at your eyes. In Venezuela, the richest country in South America between the 1950s and the 1980s, and still the … Continue reading
Copyright law in Bolivia
Bolivia must have negotiated the best intellectual property treaties of any country in the world (only Iran comes close, but that country is not a party to the Berne Convention). Respect to the hot-shot lawyers who did that! In Bolivia, you … Continue reading
The man who predicted the financial crisis
We should have listened to Brazil. Ferndando Henrique Cardoso, the country’s president from 1995 to 2002, warned as early as 1995 and numerous times thereafter that the IMF and the World bank were no longer equipped to deal with the … Continue reading
How to measure Progress
Apart from the general criticism of the GDP expressed so eloquently here by Robert F Kennedy, I always wonder about the usefulness of international comparisons. I doubt that the GDP numbers for Nigeria are collected/calculated the same way as those for … Continue reading
Paypal is hyper-sensitive
As you know, I offer to send postcards from spectacular places for a small donation. This helps to keep this blog going, and it brightens up your life when one evening after a long day at the office you find … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 