Stand aside Freakonomics, here is a very real, very current, very practical application of economics, incentives and game theory to a universal city development problem. Provide fewer parking spaces to help manage the car and parking problem in congested downtown areas. Bit by bit, for the past 40 years, the city of Copenhagen has done…
South Africa’s unemployment is a different creature from that in the US and in the developed world’s papers at the moment. We don’t have a cyclical lack of demand (although demand isn’t as robust as I’d like). We have massive, unmanaged structural unemployment in large sectors of the economy. I say “in large sectors of…
Found these views on teamwork interesting, and largely in line with my own experiences. In particular, I’ve gone from thinking videoconferencing is all we need to the realisation that in-person interaction is important. I’d add to the point about stable, long-standing teams performing better by suggesting this is at least partly through better understanding each…
There is much to recommend in purchasing an annuity at retirement to manage the risks and uncertainty of longevity. It’s well known though that surprisingly few people who have the option to purchase an annuity do so. Richard Thaler presents some of the common perception problems with annuities in this article in the NY Times.…
I heard someone talking on Classic Business tonight. Pity I didn’t catch his name so I can avoid his advice in future. He was saying that he doesn’t see the point in investing in debt instruments. He explained that the return is low and the risk high since if the company gets into trouble, you’ll…
A speed-camera that automatically enters those driving below the speed limit into a lottery? Interesting idea, more carrot than stick so to speak. Have they considered that this attracts people to drive by it slowly rather than attract people driving past it to drive slowly? Instant congestion. Economics is all about incentives and often about…
Junk Bonds are debt instruments issued by corporates that have relatively low credit ratings. They pay interest at high rates as a result. Typically viewed as risky investments, the junk bonds boom of the 80s showed that there is more to junk than just a risky investment. Locally, our pension funds and other retirement savings…
I have to multi-task. I am the bottle-neck for too many problems already and my team needs input from me before they can continue in many areas. But I know it doesn’t make me efficient. Switching between tasks takes time. You forget important details, and struggle to get the depth of understanding and focus required…
