Monthly Archives: March 2008

Fruit-inspired computing

Posted on March 31, 2008 by NC

A question from Askville: Have there been other computers (other than Apple) named after a fruit? Yes. A British company called Applied Computer Techniques (ACT) released a PC-compatible Apricot in 1983. Around 1995, a company called Orange Micro offered a … Continue reading →

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The new GEM report is out

Posted on March 28, 2008 by NC

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2007 Executive Report is out.  One interesting (and disappointing) finding is that in Russia, low (the lowest of 42 countries surveyed) prevalence of entrepreneurship is combined with low (second only to Serbia) share of opportunity-driven … Continue reading →

Posted in Clippings, Economics, Finance and Investments | Leave a comment

Dani Rodrik on shortcomings of financial globalization

Posted on March 26, 2008 by NC

Dani Rodrik writes: Why Did Financial Globalization not Deliver the Goods? ‘Cause let’s face it, it didn’t. It didn’t boost investment and growth in emerging market economies; it led to increased volatility; and it played an important supporting role in … Continue reading →

Posted in Clippings, Economics | Leave a comment

Brad DeLong on trade, inequality, and China

Posted on March 24, 2008 by NC

Brad DeLong makes some very interesting points: One of them, however, looks debatable: There is a good chance that China is now on the same path to world preeminence that America walked 130 years ago. Come 2047 and again in … Continue reading →

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Subprime debacle FAQ

Posted on March 21, 2008 by NC

A series of questions asked privately: – what is sub prime lending and the issues surrounding this. Generally speaking, subprime lending is lending to borrowers whose creditworthiness is doubtful. In the specific context of the recent subprime debacle, subprime lending … Continue reading →

Posted in Answers, Business, Economics, Finance and Investments | 1 Comment

Of alien life

Posted on March 20, 2008 by NC

A question from FunAdvice: Are we not advanced enough to perceive alien life? Do you think the reason we can’t find life on the moon, the sun, the 70 sextillion stars, and the decillions of moons and planets that revolve … Continue reading →

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Life after the IPO

Posted on March 20, 2008 by NC

Between 1980 and 2005, 7,454 American companies went public. Of these, 2,019 have gone out of business 5,048 have not reached $1 billion annual revenue threshold 387 have reached $1 billion annual revenue threshold and as of 2005, accounted for … Continue reading →

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TED spread data from Bloomberg

Posted on March 18, 2008 by NC

Bloomberg has some very interesting data about the spread between 3-month LIBOR and 3-month Treasury bills (known to the initiated as the TED spread).  Basically, this is a measure of banks’ confidence in each other, with higher spread corresponding to … Continue reading →

Posted in Clippings, Economics, Finance and Investments | 2 Comments

Hedge funds: bigger vs. better

Posted on March 17, 2008 by NC

From Institutional Investor‘s Hedge Fund Daily: * * * * * Why Bigger HFs Not Always Better While investors flock to bigger and better established hedge funds because of the imagined sense of security, they may be taking risks of … Continue reading →

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Upgrading (or not) to Vista

Posted on March 16, 2008 by NC

A question from Askville: Do you think upgrading from XP to Vista is a bad idea? I have an upgrade disc and I wonder if its worth it. I want to get Vista on my computer but with all the … Continue reading →

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