Buddhist economics: oxymoron or idea whose time has come? UC Berkeley economist Clair Brown acknowledges that “Buddhist economics” may seem like an oxymoron. Nevertheless, she’s teaching a sophomore seminar on the topic this semester — the campus’s second such offering over the past year. Brown said she created the one-unit Buddhist Economics course after students in her Introductory Economics (Econ 1) class expressed frustration with the relentless Madison Avenue message that more is better, economic growth paves the path to a better life and “retail therapy” is a quick trip to nirvana. Nicholas Austin, an economics major from Laguna Beach, Calif., and a student this spring in Brown’s Buddhist Economics class, said he was hungry for some fresh ideas about economics after seeing so many students in the field pursue finance careers and “moving money rather than creating a product that will help the world.” What would Buddha do? ‘Economics as if people mattered’ The term Buddhist economics first appeared in E.F. Don’t spend, be happy Right livelihood
ethical_consumer_guide_ictu Unemployment, and product and labour-market tightness | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal High US unemployment rates following the crisis are a primary policy concern, but are poorly explained by existing models. This column introduces a new model of frictional labour and product markets. Price rigidities yield testable predictions pointing to the source of unemployment and product market tightness. Evidence suggests that unemployment fluctuations are driven mostly by aggregate demand shocks. For the five years from December 2008 to November 2013, the US unemployment rate remained above 7%, peaking at 10% in October 2009. High mismatch caused by major shocks to the financial and housing sectors, Low search effort from unemployed workers triggered by long extensions of unemployment insurance benefits, and Low aggregate demand caused by a sudden need to repay debts or pessimism, but no consensus has been reached. In Michaillat and Saez (2014), we develop a new model of unemployment fluctuations to inspect the mechanisms behind unemployment fluctuations. Figure 1. Figure 2.
Ireland reaches 25th place in Global Competitiveness Report - Irelands business and technology news service Siliconrepublic.com Ireland has crawled up three places to the No 25 spot in the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, which reveals Switzerland, Singapore and the US as the top 3 most competitive economies. Ireland made its best showing in the report since 2009, having ranked 28th just last year. The annual survey by the World Economic Forum assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity, the World Economic Forum said. These 12 drivers – or pillars of competitiveness - include Institutions, Infrastructure, Macroeconomic Environment, Health and Primary Education, Higher Education and Training, Goods Market Efficiency, Labour Market Efficiency, Financial Market Development, Technological Readiness, Market Size, Business Sophistication and Innovation. A rank of 1-7 in each pillar is considered among the best in the world. A rank of 1-7 is considered among best in the world. Competitive Ireland image via Shutterstock Tina Costanza
06-read Reprinted by permission of Dow Jones, Inc. via Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. Copyright © 1995 Dow Jones and Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Was Sam simply smarter? The forced resignation Tuesday of Joseph Antonini represents an official verdict. The competition, however, is over: Sam Walton’s Wal-Mart Stores Inc. won. So bleak are the prospects for Kmart Corp. that in February an advertising agency bidding for its business, N.W. Fickle Fortunes Though a savvy new leader could spark high hopes for ringing cash registers, Kmart still has "major operational and managerial issues to deal with," says Marilyn Weinstein of the College Retirement Equities Fund, a Kmart shareholder. While an air of inevitable defeat had recently settled over Kmart, a short look back finds many observers believing deeply in Kmart and Mr. Considering the similarity of their stores and missions, analysts attribute the different fates of Kmart and Wal-Mart primarily to management. When Mr. Mr. Mr.
Unemployed parents to keep benefits when they get jobs A DOUBLE whammy of incentives is planned to make it worthwhile for parents to get off the dole and into work. Unemployed parents who get a job will be able to retain two key social welfare payments to support families for up to a year, under proposals being finalised. The Government is looking at so-called poverty traps, which prevent people from taking up low-paying jobs because they will lose welfare benefits. Movement is expected on allowances paid to parents to help cover the cost of raising their children, which are worth more than €3,000 for a family of two adults and two children. Changes to rent supplement, which is worth an average of €4,500 a year, are also aimed at supporting parents trying to get back to work. The plan is to allow people who go back to work to retain some of the key welfare top-ups they receive while on the dole and gradually wean them off the payments over time. The payments are viewed as being essential in safeguarding against child poverty. Irish Independent
BOOK REVIEW / Science lesson for managers: Foundations of Corporate success - Business - News What makes a successful business? Many people want to know the answer: directors and top managers trying to make, or keep, their business prosperous; politicians wanting to know whether they can help; investors; investment analysts; financial journalists; business school academics; and even members of the public, curious to know why companies seem suddenly to flourish or go under. John Kay's book is the latest to try to satisfy this interest. A spectacular earlier success was Peters and Waterman's In Search of Excellence, which appeared in 1982 and stressed corporate culture as a key ingredient of success. A by-product of management consulting, that book appealed to managers for its vivid stories and pithy prescriptions. Kay's approach is very different, as his title and his publisher suggest. One of these is the well-known prisoner's dilemma. The solution to the prisoner's dilemma is part of Kay's answer to what makes for business success. Strategic assets are the final ingredient.
Transient Advantage Photography: Courtesy of Pace Gallery Artwork: Tara Donovan, Untitled (Styrofoam Cups), 2008, Styrofoam cups and glue, installation dimensions variable Strategy is stuck. For too long the business world has been obsessed with the notion of building a sustainable competitive advantage. That idea is at the core of most strategy textbooks; it forms the basis of Warren Buffett’s investment strategy; it’s central to the success of companies on the “most admired” lists. I’m not arguing that it’s a bad idea—obviously, it’s marvelous to compete in a way that others can’t imitate. Strategy is still useful in turbulent industries like consumer electronics, fast-moving consumer goods, television, publishing, photography, and…well, you get the idea. The Anatomy of a Transient Advantage Any competitive advantage—whether it lasts two seasons or two decades—goes through the same life cycle. In the next phase, ramp up, the business idea is brought to scale. Facing the Brutal Truth The first-mover trap.
Drivers of supply chain vulnerability • Supply Chain Risk | Business Continuity | Transport Vulnerability In 2005, the topic of supply chain vulnerability was still a relatively unexplored territory, though it was already in its ascendancy to becoming one of the major areas of management research. In her article Drivers of supply chain vulnerability: an integrated framework, Helen Peck identifies four drivers of supply chain vulnerability, based on an exploratory and empirically grounded case study of commercial supply chains. A multi-level framework for analysis The case study, which is minutely detailed in the paper referenced below, suggests that the sources and rivers of supply chain vulnerability, and conversely, supply chain resilience, are found at four different and interlinked levels within the supply chain: Intertwined and connected In assessing the vulnerability of a supply chain, all levels should be investigated in how their characteristics influence the supply chain. Conclusion References Peck, H. (2005). Links cranfield.ac.uk: Dr. Related More from husdal.com: