July 30th, 2012 → 8:05 am
“Thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.” – Hamlet
Last week there were more rumblings from Europe that the Euro will be saved! (This time from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi). All well and good, but to be honest, I kind of doubt it. I’ve already written a few blog posts about the poor handling of the Greek debt situation. Along with that goes a poor understanding of what it takes to really make the Euro work. If the singe currency doesn’t break apart in the next couple of years – and no reforms are done to better unify the European economies – then there will be more troubles in the years ahead and eventually the Euro will break down. Repeated “announcements” with no firm action are worse than useless.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Politics/Politicians
July 14th, 2012 → 8:16 am
“This is the time that the unjust man doth thrive.” – Winter’s Tale
The scandals concerning bankers and Wall Street just keep coming. From Enron to Madoff and now to Barclay’s and the LIBOR manipulations. To be honest, Wall Street messing up and doing stupid things now and again doesn’t bother me as much as the rewards that these people continue to get. Inequality is a real problem in the U.S., in a way it hasn’t been since the 1920s. Extreme inequality isn’t just unjust, as I’ve stated in earlier posts, it is actually harmful to overall economic health. Bankers, who do not produce much of fundamental value and who keep making mistakes to boot, in particular simply get paid too much (i.e. “inefficient amounts” of) money. It does appear that this is the time that the unjust man (for let’s face it, they are also mostly men) doth thrive.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Stupid/Evil People
July 6th, 2012 → 6:21 am
“There’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned.” – Antony and Cleopatra
This time it is my husband who gets the Happy Birthday wish! I chose the quote above because it’s probably the greatest lesson my husband has taught me over the years – not to reckon love. When I first met him I was much more concerned with “evenness” – I cleaned the bathrooms this week, your turn next week, I bought dinner last time, now it’s your turn, etc. It took me awhile, but I finally gave all that up. And in so doing it did change my perspective to be less about “him” and “me”, and more about simply “us.” Happy Birthday baby.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Self/My Life
May 16th, 2012 → 8:01 am
“The naked truth of it is, I have no shirt.” – Love’s Labor’s Lost
Shakespeare couldn’t have more poetically set up the most outspoken critic of banking regulation, to subsequently suffer a $2-$4 billion loss from lack of banking regulation. Thank goodness this happened before the federal banking rules were finalized; perhaps now they won’t be completely gutted.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money
May 4th, 2012 → 8:10 am
“The jewel that we find, we stoop and take it
Because we see it; but what we do not see
We tread upon, and never think of it.” – Measure for Measure
If you haven’t heard yet, Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream” sold for $119.9 million this past Wednesday at Sotheby’s in New York. That’s certainly a fabulous price but I disagree with art critic Holland Cotter who said that it was too much – if I had an extra $119.9 million lying around I’d totally have bid on it. But I do agree with the common complaint that everyday art isn’t appreciated enough. I have a neighbor across the street who is an artist (primarily) and a bookkeeper (to pay the rent). She isn’t famous, as far as I know, but her work really is very good. Too bad it’s so hard for such “unknowns” to make a living.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Other
March 13th, 2012 → 7:17 am
“That’s the wavering commons, for their love
Lies in their purses, and whoso empties them,
By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate.” – Richard II
I’ve been doing our taxes the last couple of days. It’s exhausting! But this year it looks like we’re getting a refund (thank you adoption credit), so my purse isn’t empty and my heart is not filled with deadly hate!
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money
February 18th, 2012 → 6:07 am
“The miserable have no other medicine, but only hope.” – Measure for Measure
I say this to the people of Greece, who are rioting in protest against greater austerity measures. I say this to the people of Syria, who are fighting for basic liberty and freedom. I say this to the citizens of the United States, who are desperate for a third party presidential candidate. I say this to myself, whenever things are bleak, because it is true.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Politics/Politicians & Self/My Life
February 9th, 2012 → 7:35 am
“I’ll so offend to make offense a skill,
Redeeeming time when men think least I will.” – Henry IV
In my day job I’m an economics professor, with a specialty in environmental and energy economics. My love of Shakespeare hardly ever crosses into this domain, so I was quite surprised when, sitting at my desk in my office yesterday, reading a technical industry publication, I came across the above quote used in reference to the Solyndra debacle and the federal government’s loan guarantee program for renewable energy. I actually don’t think this was the best use of a Shakespeare quote, because it requires knowing a bit about Prince Harry (think: wild child) and the context of his ascent to king as Henry V (think: reformed wild child) to fully understand the meaning here (and how many people reading technical energy publications know that??). But for me at least, this was fun to come across.
If anyone out there sees other uses of Shakespeare in odd contexts in their daily lives, please pass the quotes along! I’d love to hear them, and I may even start posting some of these “guest” quotes now and again on the website.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Politics/Politicians
February 3rd, 2012 → 6:53 am
“The game’s afoot!” – Henry V
There is so much hype going around right now about Facebook’s upcoming IPO that I can only grin and see it as a big game. I’ve heard potential valuations for the company ranging from 5 billion to 100 billion dollars. $100 billion! That’s more than the GDP of many countries (including Syria, Ecuador, Lebanon, and more than 100 others). I wish I had some popcorn to eat while I sit back and watch all this craziness play out…
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money
January 20th, 2012 → 5:46 am
“Whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say there is no vice but beggary.” – King John
Why must it ever be so?
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money