I think Paul Fussel at the Univ of Pennsylvania had the firmest grip on
this. Essentially he said it was a social phenomena, where lower socio
economic groups saw fat as a sign that they could afford to eat out. In my
trips to the states I never cease to be shocked by the size of the portions
The International Telecoms Union in Geneva did a study as to how much
telephones are used country by country, it seems that usage had little to do
with how much you charged (Latin countries tended to chat a lot, chilly
North Europeans were pretty stum).
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Misery, it seems, loves company. How much less depressing life is if
everyone is having a hard time, indeed, look no further than Communism to
see how everyone being miserable together is still seen by some as
preferable to people getting on and succeeding as a result of their own
efforts.
The
I appreciate that in theory and in the vast majority of cases in practice,
you are both right. But I am I suppose defending people who say 'there were
more buyers than sellers'. What is a price? a bid price may have no one
willing to buy (traders adjust bids up or down with no reference to the
Economists (and I am one) can smirk at commentators saying 'that there are
more buyers than sellers', but from a market practioners point of view, that
is certainly how it feels at times.
Financial markets have traders who maintain large stocks of whatever they
are trading. When a piece of
My recommendation would not be to simply measure distance from equator, but
average of median annual temperature, for many places with the same
latitude have widely differing temperatures. (For instance, London, where
I am, is parallel to the Maritimes in Canada, but the temperature is
Why does a currency crisis develop? Usually it is a markets way of express
significant doubt about the macro economic policies of a country. Does
fixing the exchange rate change any of this? No, what tends to happen is
those in power continue to get their money out, at the fixed exchange
No, its more confusing than that.
The government has raised taxes on fuel, this was sly when the oil price
was falling, but now with oil above $30 a barrel, gas here costs 80p
($1.20) a litre. The British are copying the French, who have a long
tradition of protesting when they disagree with
