Blogged in Environment by Sean Thursday March 29, 2007
Interesting bill to be introduced to the US Congress to promote commuting by bicycle:
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will join bike advocates on Thursday, March 15, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C., to introduce the Bike Commuter Act. The bill would amend a section of the IRS code to include bicycles in the definition of transportation covered by fringe benefits. If passed, it would provide strong financial incentives for employees to bike to work. Cycling is already known to be a clean, healthy and efficient mode of transportation.
Will be interesting to see how this evolves in the land of ‘Cars’.
I must admit I feel some guilt for not commuting by bicycle, my main excuses being the danger (both from traffic and pollution) inherent in cycling in central London and the (rainy/unpredictable) weather. Not sure how much I would need to overcome these factors. I guess I could consider hedging the weather risk and put a price on this component, but I’m not sure how to price the danger component.
Just finished re-reading this gem of a book by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid (of PARC fame.)
If you haven’t already, read it, and then notice it was first published in 2000 (not 2006!) and thank goodness these two didn’t patent all their ideas otherwise the lords of Web 2.0 would be giving their newly won fortunes to this pair!
What I like about this book is that is forces one to think hard about what hidden value is embedded in institutions and established paradigms. Basically to be careful about pronouncing the ‘end of’ any particular industry or institution or process. A cursory scan of the Park Paradigm might well lead one to believe that I have fallen into the trap (so eloquently described in The Social Life) of presuming the end of institutions and practices that in fact may well survive - and for good reason - the technological revolution. I would hope that a more assiduous reader however will have noticed that I try hard to heed Seely Brown and Duguid’s advice and to see beyond the obvious to understand what hidden or embedded reasons might exist to justify their continued existence. And that ultimately my vision of the future is less about the end of [insert various financial institutions and workflows] and more about their inevitable transformation. I think many (perhaps most) of today’s institutions will continue well into the future but upon close inspection will look very different to an observer 10 or 20 years from now. I forsee new entrants, emerging success stories but also believe that many of today’s organisations will persist (and some will thrive well into the future); but while institutions adapt, some individuals will find it hard to do so. Having spent 10 or 20 years learning the (existing) ropes and climbing the (existing) corporate ladder, many will resist vehemently giving up their sinecures. Or perhaps hope that they can hang on for a few more years in their existing universe and leave the change for the next guys.
Anyhow a great book for dinosaurs and meteor salesmen to discuss at their book club!
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…for a single European market in services. The Economist this week reports on Europe at 50, but doesn’t give enough column inches imo to the failure of the European project to create a truely common market in services; a failure that unless remedied sooner rather than later is an enormous opportunity missed to transform the old continent’s economy into a driver of global growth over the next 50 years.
Decisions promoting the single market from the European Court of Justice promoting a single market in services are heartening but enforcement being nine tenths of the law, what is really needed is for Europe’s national politicians to have some courage and to stop hiding behind parochial and protectionist barriers. The Telegraph reported on one such decision last week:
The UK companies said last week’s European Court of Justice (ECJ) “Placanica” ruling that Italy’s restrictions on Liverpool firm Stanley International Betting were discriminatory and out of step with EU law, will prove vital in their individual battles. The ECJ ruled that countries can write their own rules on gambling, but if they allow gambling companies to operate, they cannot discriminate against or restrict licensed competitors from abroad.
Financial services are at a similar impass - the nature of the product should drive innovation and competition accross borders - especially within the Euro zone. And yet anyone who has worked in a bank, securities firm or insurer in Europe understands that the free movement of capital within Europe is a long long way from being replicated with respect to the firms that offer financial services. In addition to hurting customers - especially retail customers (in the name of course of, ahem… ‘protecting’ them…) - it stifles innovation and favours incumbents and giants (who have the mass to absorb the duplication of regulatory and legal infrastructure accross a dozen or more different jurisdicitions within Europe.)
Given the even more parochial and fragmented nature of much regulation and practice on the other side of the Atlantic, there is a real opportunity for Europe to become the driving force behind the next paradigm in financial services - and reap the concomitant economic rewards that comes from hosting vibrant industry clusters. I hope the leaders of Europe have the vision and conviction to embrace this opportunity sooner rather than later.
Blogged in Miscellany by Sean Sunday March 18, 2007
A few weeks back I took a risk and called my shot for the 10th (annual) ‘Challenge des Entreprises’ - a week long series of FFS (French Ski Federation) races for (mainly) corporate ski clubs:
In early March I have another week of racing (a competition I’ve entered every year for the last 10 years) and my stretch goal is to aim for at least one top ten finish, and consistently finish in the top 15. I’ll need to work hard over the next 3 weeks if I’m going to have a chance to fulfill this goal as the competition will most likely be tougher than at last week’s races.
The week consisted of 2 races in each of the alpine disciplines: downhill, super-g, giant slalom and slalom. So how’d I do? Almost as well as I would have liked / had hoped for (in chronological order):
(*)These races counted for the combined trophy in which I finished in 13th place.
The highlight (as usual) for me was the downhill - my favorite event - in which I managed my first top 10 finish ever and registered the second fastest speed of all the competitors at 109.50 kph (c. 68 mph for those of you in America!); the fastest - and the guy who won the race pipped me at 110.07 kph… I also managed to get my (FFS) points down to around 134 (from 181 at the start of the year.) For those of you unfamiliar with the arcana of ski racing, this is similar to a golf handicap with the best racers in the world at 0.00 points, ie the lower the better with your points representing a normalized representation of the time behind the best in the country or the world. The formula varies by discipline (based on a historical observation of dispersion of results) but as a very rough/conceptual idea, points of 134 mean that - at my best - I should be approximately 13-14% slower than the best skier(s) in France. (Good explanation of how points work here for anybody interested.)
The competition was indeed tough - with the top 15 seeds all having points below 100 (I was seeded around 40th) - so although I didn’t manage to break into the top 15 as often as I had hoped for, all in all I’m pretty happy with how it went. Have a look:
There were approximately 120 competitors (30 women and 90 men), a number than has been slowly but surely coming down over the past several years, mainly due to lack of marketing / publicity (all the people who organize this fantastic event do so as volunteers.) Speaking about this last night with the founder of the event, I thought about the idea of forming a ski club for (London/City-based) people with the main objective being to participate in this week of racing and social events (there are races throughout the winter on most weekends as well.) If anyone is potentially interested (or knows someone who might be), let me know. Just to be clear - while the top level of competition is pretty good, there are many competitors who come to compete on a purely recreational basis and enjoy the sun, snow and competitive spirit. The oldest competitor was 60 (the youngest 16) with probably the largest contingent between 35 and 45. Next year it will be from the 9th to the 14th of March. Mark your diaries!
Buttonwood reports on the emergence of new, exotic asset classes such as…the football transfer market. Ie essentially providing venture capital for the development of new football players:
The football idea involves providing money to second-tier clubs (not Chelsea or Arsenal) to buy stakes in younger players. The fund then reaps a share of the rewards when the player is sold later in his career (footballers generally become more valuable as they approach their mid-20s). Why should clubs agree to this? Because they are usually short of money and can buy new players only by selling existing ones. By creating shares in their footballers, clubs can realise some of the equity in their human assets, without damaging the prospects of the team.
Blogged in Markets, Climate by Sean Monday March 5, 2007
Have been catching up on my reading the past few days, not much fun skiing in the rain. (Anybody spending this ski season in the Alps is bound to become a climate change zealot…) Anyhow it was nice to see weather risk legitimized so to speak by the Economist:
WEATHER has toyed with mankind ever since the first caveman blinked into the baking sun. Some of his descendants eventually became insurance underwriters, offering to ease the sting of droughts and storms for a fee. But only recently has the species worked out how to turn nature—with all its vagaries—into a tradable asset in its own right.
As the world’s weather grows more volatile (see article), interest in trading it is likely to grow, too. Hedge funds, in particular, favour three sorts of instruments linked to the changeable climate: weather derivatives, catastrophe bonds and sidecars. All are welcome innovations in risk management as insurance and banking increasingly overlap. And all are in growing demand (see chart).
Nothing new here for regular Park Paradigm readers, but nice to see a good summary in such an esteemed publication (with - ahem - a slightly larger, more mainstream audience!) Too bad however they didn’t mention Weatherbill…
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