Vince Cable: footballers deserve lavish pay, bankers don’t
Posted on January 21st, 2012
The Business Secretary set out plans to reform the pay of top executives in the City, whose pay has soared by 12 per cent while most employees are seeing real term cuts in their pay.
Mr Cable said he was often asked “why I don’t make the same fuss about footballers”, while claiming that pay for bankers is too high.
“There is a difference,” he said. “Failure is severely punished. Rewards for the few are lavish but quality is recognised. Nor do we have fundamental objection from the fan base. But they do expect rewards to reflect merits.”
Mr Cable said he wanted a change in business culture to make sure there were no longer “rewards for failure and mediocrity”.
The Business Secretary said he would like to see fewer lords on the board and more new directors whose “achievements are before them rather than behind them”.
“I’d like to see a couple of directors on every board who are new and haven’t served on boards before,” he said.
Tags: Lavish Pay, Pay
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Penetration Pricing Strategy
Posted on January 6th, 2012
The mention of penetration pricing strategy always manages to raise eyebrows. Admirable in some cases; cheeky and underhand, otherwise. The intent of penetration pricing is honorable, of course. It simply aims at boosting the market share of an established product or capturing customers in case of a new launch by underpricing it. Implementing this strategy is akin to playing with fire, as a few dubious qualities associated with it can create unnecessary problems for any company. Advantages of Penetration Pricing Does penetration pricing work? It definitely does, and it succeeds in taking your rivals completely by surprise, giving them no time to recover from your onslaught. If your sales pick up, thanks to word-of-mouth publicity, nothing else could be better.
- Penetration price strategy is implemented with the sole intention of spreading your presence in the market.
Tags: Penetration Pricing, Penetration Pricing Strategy, Pricing Strategy, Strategy
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Why Is “I Don’t Know” So Hard to Say? A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast
Posted on December 30th, 2011
This week’s podcast is a new installment of “FREAK-quently Asked Questions,” in which Levitt and I respond to queries you submitted on the blog. (You can download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen live via the media player above, or read the transcript below; earlier FAQ podcasts can be found here and here.)
You had so many excellent questions! Sadly, we only had time to field a handful. Ty Spalding asked one of the most interesting: “Why do people feel compelled to answer questions that they do not know the answer to?” Levitt replies:
What I’ve found in business is that almost no one will ever admit to not knowing the answer to a question. So even if they absolutely have no idea what the answer is, if it’s within their realm of expertise, faking is just an important part. I really have come to believe teaching MBAs that one of the most important things you learn as an MBA is how to pretend you know the answer to any question even though you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. And I’ve found i
New Hampshire governor vetoes title loan bill
Posted on December 12th, 2011
New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch vetoed a bill Wednesday that would raise the ceiling title loan lenders can charge. The bill would have allowed up to 25 percent interest charged monthly. The state joins 31 others in disallowing these kinds of loans.
Title loans are short term loans secured by vehicle titles. The current rate allowable, adopted by the state in 2008, is 36 percent annually. That is the same cap allowed nationally on loans made to members of the military and their families. That federal bill was passed by Congress in 2006 and signed into law by President George W. Bush.
New Hampshire State Bill 57 would have allowed lenders to charge up to 300 percent annually. It also would have increased the percentage of the principal a borrower would have paid to renew the loan from 5 percent to 10.
Lynch supported the veto by saying the bill was opposed by many legislators in both parties, as well as the Local Welfare Administrator’s Association, AARP, the Banking Department, the Department of Justice, the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund and New Hampshire Legal Assistance.
The bill, Lynch said in a press release, would be detrimental to families, the community and to the economy. T
Tags: Bill, New Hampshire, Title Loan
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EU treaty and debt crisis: live
Posted on December 11th, 2011
90000 2011-12-09 17:00:45.0 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/debt-crisis-live/8944990/EU-treaty-and-debt-crisis-live.html?service=artBody This page will automatically update every 90 secondsOn Off
• EU treaty: Cameron blocks crucial changes • EU 27 fail to agree Europe-wide treaty changes • 26 nations pressing ahead with separate ‘fiscal pact’ • Cameron: ‘What was on offer was not in Britain’s interest’ • Sarkozy: Britain made ‘unacceptable’ demands • Merkel: ‘I really don’t believe Cameron was ever with us’
17.03 If we take the FTSE 100 on its own we can notice more detail, showing that the upturn after yesterday’s summit is nothing compared to the volatility seen over the last month.
Tags: Crisis Live, Live
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Jets get Pat down from Brady, New England
Posted on December 2nd, 2011
New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski (l.) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of New York Jets’ defesive backs Eric Smith (bottom) and Marquice Cole during the second quarter.
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PATRIOTS 37, JETS 16
For all the lessons that the Jets learned about themselves in the past month, they uncovered the most sobering one under the bright lights on Sunday night:
The AFC East still belongs to the Patriots.
Or as Rex Ryan put it: “We think we’re as good as them, but clearly we’re not.”
PHOTOS: PATRIOTS MANHANDLE JETS
That much was clear as Gang Green’s eternal nemesis delivered an emphatic message with a 37-16 win at MetLife Stadium that smacked Ryan’s team down to earth and severely hampered its chances at winning the division.
The Jets’ path to the Super Bowl also became infinitely more difficult with a loss that could sting for a long time. The Patriots
Tags: England, New England
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How Does Monetary Policy Affect the Economic Growth
Posted on November 20th, 2011
At the helm of all economic activities in a country, lies the governance of its central bank. The Federal Reserve System, central banking system of United States of America was established on December 23, 1913, with the formulation of the Federal Reserve Act. The need of a central bank was realized by policy makers in the wake of erratic financial chaos in the days of the yore. (The financial mess in 1907 led the US policy makers to think of better policies to create a stable economy). It was realized quite early, especially by the US government that international participation in economic activities would form the main component of global economy. To manage the economy, that is to create more jobs and increase the national income, it was mandatory for an expert body to oversee the nation’s economic policy. Read more…
Tags: Economic, Economic Growth
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