jump to navigation

governing for the corporations May 10, 2011

Posted by Bradley in : markets , add a comment

In the debate over selling extra university places to the rich there seems to be some (but not enough) embarrassment (Guardian again). Vince Cable thinks it is OK if you only sell the to corporate sponsors:

The business secretary, Vince Cable, said he was willing to look at how to expand off-quota places through company sponsorships, but he did not support children of the rich being given priority access to university.

If Daddy’s company, or daddy’s friend’s company, pays then it is OK.

governing for the rich May 9, 2011

Posted by Bradley in : markets , 1 comment so far

For a moment reading this story in the Guardian I thought it must be April Fools Day:

Teenagers from the wealthiest families would be able to pay for extra places at the most competitive universities under government proposals that could allow institutions to charge some British students the same high fees as overseas undergraduates.

The more you have, the more you get.

australia to prohibit the acquisition of asx by the singapore exchange April 7, 2011

Posted by Bradley in : markets , add a comment

Although the press release cites Australia’s history of welcoming foreign investment it also looks as though it may be an example of the sort of focus on domestic markets that AFME and SIFMA have been worrying about.

how to save money on healthcare March 1, 2011

Posted by Bradley in : markets , add a comment

A news story discusses a plan to save money on healthcare in the UK by turning underspends on patient care into profits which might be distributed to investors. Think how much the shareholders could get if the doctors gave up spending money on patient care altogether.

speculation: more con September 25, 2010

Posted by Bradley in : markets , add a comment

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, writes:

a significant portion of the increases in price and volatility of essential food commodities can only be explained by the emergence of a speculative bubble.
In particular, there is a reason to believe that a significant role was played by the entry into markets for derivatives based on food commodities of large, powerful institutional investors such as hedge funds, pension funds and investment banks, all of
which are generally unconcerned with agricultural market fundamentals. Such entry was made possible because of deregulation in important commodity derivatives markets beginning in 2000.

libor twitters May 22, 2009

Posted by Bradley in : markets , comments closed

Or, the BBA is now publishing Libor via twitter (and there’s a new libor website). The title of the press release describes libor as “the world’s most important number.” Others would disagree, arguing that the number is 350.