Okun’s Coefficient in Expansions and Recessions

The shadow banking industry has grown to about $67 trillion, $6 trillion bigger than previously thought, leading global regulators to seek more oversight of financial transactions that fall outside traditional oversight.

Irena Then war die schönste Frau im August-Playboy. Die 27-Jährige ist Model, fett im Geschäft, ein Männertraum – und großer Japan-Bewunderer. Auf ihrer Internetseite schwärmt die Düsseldorferin vom asiatischen Staat und dessen Fußball-Nationalmannschaft. „Ich mag die Kultur des Landes. Die Menschen gehen toll miteinander um. Und ich mag Fußball. Bei der WM bin ich immer auch für die Japaner.“
Die WAZ fragte bei dem Model nach, was sie von Single Hasebe hält. „Ich finde ihn gut. Er sieht toll aus. Ich habe schon etwas über ihn gelesen und gehört. Er soll einen tollen, typisch japanischen Charakter haben. Er ist ja auch der Kapitän seiner Mannschaft“, sagt die hübsche Blondine. Und was sagt Hasebe? Der VfL-Profi zu japanischen Journalisten: „Ja, ich habe zur Zeit keine Freundin. Meine Traumfrau sollte zuverlässig und in manchen Situationen zurückhaltend sein.“



オバマキャンペーンは、もの凄い勢いで変化する現在の「マーケティング＆コミュニケーションのパラダイムシフト」に戦略的に対応して、成功した稀有な事例です。私も含めてオバマ候補者にインスパイアされた何百万というブロガーやソーシャルネットワーカーは、「彼らが気にかけているコト」を仲間と共有すべくUGCを創出し、ソーシャルメディアを通じて増幅し続けていきました。「I」ではなく「We & You」という「Peer（仲間）」の視点で、有権者1人1人に直接語りかけたオバマキャンペーン。リアルタイムで進行する大統領選の醍醐味とマーケティングの観点から見たキャンペーン分析は、他では読めないユニークなものです。

GALABA とはウズベキスタン語で勝利という意味です
良いものを提供して、喜んでいただきたい
それこそが私たちの“GALABA”です

The figure shows how Hawala works: A customer “A” approaches a broker “X” in one city and gives a sum of money (1 red) that is to be transferred to a recipient “B” in another, usually foreign, city. Along with the money, he usually specifies something like a password that will lead to the money being paid out (1 blue). The broker “X” calls another broker “M” in the recipient’s city, and informs “M” about the agreed password, or gives other disposition instructions of the funds (2b). Then, the intended recipient “B”, who also has been informed by “A” about the password (2a), now approaches “M” and tells him the agreed password (3a). If the password is correct, then “M” releases the transferred sum to “B” (3b), usually minus a small commission. “X” now basically owes “M” the money that “M” had paid out to “B”; thus “M” has to trust the promise of “X” to settle the debt at a later date.

Steve’s passing one year ago today was a sad and difficult time for all of us. I hope that today everyone will reflect on his extraordinary life and the many ways he made the world a better place.
One of the greatest gifts Steve gave to the world is Apple. No company has ever inspired such creativity or set such high standards for itself. Our values originated from Steve and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We share the great privilege and responsibility of carrying his legacy into the future.
I’m incredibly proud of the work we are doing, delivering products that our customers love and dreaming up new ones that will delight them down the road. It’s a wonderful tribute to Steve’s memory and everything he stood for.
Tim

【本日から】レジの所のメニュー表がなくなります．入口においてあるメニュー表や，レジ上部にあるメニューをご覧になり，ご注文をお決めになってから，カウンターにお進み頂ければと思います．最初は戸惑う事もあるとは思いますが，どうぞご協力よろしくお願い致します．

The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the MANUAL WORKER in manufactur- ing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of KNOWLEDGE WORK and the KNOWLEDGE WORKER.

日本年金機構では、懸案であります年金記録問題につきまして、「年金記録問題への対応の実施計画（工程表）」に基づき、記録の解明および統合を進めてまいりました。昨年は「ねんきん特別便」などの滞留分の処理を解消し、ようやく適用・徴収・相談・給付といった社会保険事業の基幹業務に注力できる体制が整いつつあります。本年は、社会保険事業の健全な運営を確保すべく、保険料収納率などの事業実績の向上に向けて一層の努力をしてまいる所存であります。
また、年金記録問題に関しましても、引き続き紙台帳や厚生年金基金の記録とオンライン記録との照合などを行い、必要な記録訂正を進めてまいることとしております。
さらに、インターネットを活用した「ねんきんネット」サービスには、昨年10月より、ライフプランに合わせた「年金見込額試算」などの新機能が追加されました。年金保険事業のインフラとして、今後も機能を充実させ、皆様のご利用の促進を図ってまいります。

In January-August 2012,

• M0 money supply (the monetary base or narrow money) rose by 53.3%.
• M1 money supply (currency in circulation/transferable deposits) expanded by 44.7%.
• M2 money supply (M1 and other deposits) increased by 43%.
• M3 money supply (the broadest type of money) expanded by 34.3%.

1985（昭和60）年当時は、G5（先進5カ国蔵相・中央銀行総裁会議）の開催すら秘密だった。
米国は財政と貿易の赤字が膨らみ、黒字を稼いでいた日本などを狙う制裁法案提出の動きが議会で強まっていた。米政府内では、ドルの切り下げと、日本など黒字国に内需拡大を求める政策協調を組み合わせて貿易赤字を減らす戦略が考えられた。為替は市場に任せる非介入政策だったが、財務長官が代わり潮目が変わった。
会合当日、焦点の介入問題は昼食をとりながら議論された。米国が配った「ノン・ペーパー」と呼ばれる文書に介入戦略が記されていた。「ドルの下落幅10―12％」の目標や、「協調介入の期間は6週間、介入規模は総額180億ドル」などがその内容だ。
市場を意識した華やかな記者会見に続き、翌日の欧州市場を皮切りに通貨当局のドル売り介入が始まる。
米国側が“約束”通り内需拡大を実行するよう求め続け、金融の蛇口は緩め続けられ、市中にお金があふれた。バブルへの助走だった。そしてバブル崩壊後の「失われた20年」へと続く。
プラザ合意は日本が「ジャパン・アズ・ナンバーワン」から転げ落ちる分水嶺だった。

Google is considered one of the most fun places to work. … So why would you leave?

• If you aren’t an engineer, get ready to be below everyone else.
• Sometimes, it’s time to move on.
• If you’re at a satellite office, you might feel disconnected.
• Some go for the bigger, better offers.
• Some are feeling the entrepreneurial itch.

Unforeseen by the intellectual architects of the revolution in economics and finance was that by delegitimating the old managerialist order and turning executives, in theory and practice, into free agents who owed their primary loyalty to a group who assumed no reciprocal obligations to them, they had cut managers loose from any moorings not just to the organizations they led or the communities in which those organizations were embedded but even, in the end, to shareholders themselves. The resulting corporate oligarchy had no role-defined obligation other than to self-interest. The unintended consequences . . . include the string of corporate scandals involving misstated earnings, backdated stock options, and various exotic variations on these themes that have as their common thread the enrichment of individual executives at the expense of shareholders, employees, and the public trust in the essential integrity of the system on which democratic capitalism itself depends.

Kauder and Struck can also feel vindicated by the fact that Anglo-Saxon capitalism was seen as a model for the rest of the world until recently, because it promised more wealth to the industrious. But it was the recklessness, the sheer savageness of this model that caused the crisis. Now German politicians can hope to shed their dull and tedious reputation worldwide, because what they have at home is the alternative to Anglo-Saxon turbo-capitalism, even as neglected as it has been: the social market economy, guided by the principles of consideration, scruples and compromise.

It seems that the British Olympic Team is not the biggest fans of the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones as it took the step of banning its athletes from wearing them late last week.
When the participants of the London 2012 games arrived in the city, boxes of the Beats headphones were delivered to the hotels and Olympic Village with the headphones inside.
… as Beats didn’t pay for the product placement, instead, the British team has a sponsorship deal with Panasonic. According to the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 40, no athlete may endorse a product they have a personal sponsorship with while at the games on or off the field, and that includes social media.

厚生労働省は、高血圧対策を重要政策の一つに掲げて専用ホームペ－ジを開設している。その中で高血圧の基準値を、上が140mmHg以上、または下が90mmHg以下と定めているが、実は15年前に旧厚生省が定めた基準は上が180で、下が100だったのだ。それを厚労省と日本高血圧学会が二度に亘って引き下げた。その結果、高血圧患者がどんどん増えている。確かに、高血圧患者は増加する一方だ。1987年には男性110万人、女性60万人だったが、現在は男性830万人、女性680万人にまで増加している。なぜ厚労省はわざわざ患者を増やすようなことをしているのだろうか。
厚労省や日本高血圧学会は、独自の判断で基準値を引き下げたわけではなく、WHO（世界保健機関）の基準値を雛形にしただけなのだ。そのＷＨＯは、1999年に高血圧の基準値を上が140mmHg、下を90mmHg以上と改定した。しかも、上の値は、従来の数値より20mmHgも引き下げたのだった。そもそも基準値の引き下げには、医学的な根拠は全くない。予算の七割が製薬会社の寄付というWＨＯが、スポンサーである製薬会社の意向を汲んで基準値を引き下げただけなのだ。
製薬会社の商売のために、本来健康な人まで高血圧患者と診断されている。患者が増えれば、血圧下げるために服用する降圧剤の需要も増えて、製薬会社の売り上げ増加に繋がる。
WHOは2012年版「世界保健統計」で、世界の２５歳以上の成人の4人に1人が高血圧と発表した。これもスポンサーへの配慮なのかもしれない。

今までは、コーポレート・ガバナンスが語られてきました。これからは、リレーションシップ・ガバナンスが語られなければなりません。顧客や他 の企業、地域社会や行政、ジャーナリズムとの関係をどのようにガバナンスするかという問題なのです。
そのような新しい流れのなかで、新たなビジネス理論の可能性を示唆するコンセプトが次々と生まれてきました。たとえば、コ・オペティションということば があります。これは、ネイルバフとブランデンバーガーが唱えたものですが、コーペレーション(協力）とコンペティション（競争）という二つのことばを合成 した造語です。今までなら、競争のあるところに協力はなかったし、逆も同じでした。ところが現在は、協力と競争が同時に起こっているのです。今までは、同 時に成立しないものを表すことばはありませんでした。それが、現在はごく当たり前になってきているのです。
また、単に仕様書を書いて外注するスタイルのアウトソーシングもすでに終っているのです。自組織のなかに資源もノウハウも人材もないから、外部に全部任せることをアウトソーシングというのに対して、双方で学び合いながら、互いの資源を 上手に使って協同でビジネスをやっていくことを、コ・ソーシングといいます。

In a major covert operation of the cold war, the Central Intelligence Agency spent millions of dollars to support the conservative party that dominated Japan’s politics for a generation.
The C.I.A. gave money to the Liberal Democratic Party and its members in the 1950’s and the 1960’s, to gather intelligence on Japan, make the country a bulwark against Communism in Asia and undermine the Japanese left.
Though the C.I.A.’s financial role in Japanese politics has long been suspected by historians and journalists, the Liberal Democrats have always denied it existed, and the breadth and depth of the support has never been detailed publicly. Disclosure of the covert aid could open old wounds and harm the Liberal Democrats’ credibility as an independent voice for Japanese interests. The subject of spying between allies has always been sensitive.
Bits and pieces of the story are revealed in United States Government records slowly being declassified. A State Department document in the National Archives describes a secret meeting in a Tokyo hotel at which Eisaku Sato, a former Prime Minister of Japan, sought under-the-table contributions from the United States for the 1958 parliamentary election. A newly declassified C.I.A. history also discusses covert support sent that year.

The Global Macro Investor is a highly original, thought-provoking and completely independent research publication, which maintains a very restricted paid membership to avoid diluting its value to the members.
In addition to the economic and market analysis and trade recommendations, Raoul also draws from his unique experience of running a successful global macro fund, combining it with his many years spent advising some of the world’s most pre-eminent hedge funds. This gives GMI members unique insights into issues facing the macro investment industry, and assists in the development of a framework from which to plan for the future.
Additionally, GMI offers separate consultancy advice to family offices in strategy, investment implementation, risk analysis and wealth management that is truly independent.

Computational finance, also called financial engineering, is a cross-disciplinary field which relies on computational intelligence, mathematical finance, numerical methods and computer simulations to make trading, hedging and investment decisions, as well as facilitating the risk management of those decisions. Utilising various methods, practitioners of computational finance aim to precisely determine the financial risk that certain financial instruments create.
Generally, individuals who fill positions in computational finance are known as “quants”, referring to the quantitative skills necessary to perform the job. Specifically, knowledge of the C++ programming language, as well as of the mathematical subfields of stochastic calculus, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, probability theory and statistical inference are often entry level requisites for such a position. C++ has become the dominant language for two main reasons: the computationally intensive nature of many algorithms, and the focus on libraries rather than applications. More recently, however, python is starting to emerge as a high-level alternative due to its readable syntax and advanced scientific libraries.

… Bankruptcy codes assume that creditors always attempt to keep solvent firms out of bankruptcy. Six Flags and others are finding that financial innovation has undermined that premise. … Some investors take an even more predatory approach. By purchasing a material amount of a firm’s debt in conjunction with a disproportionately large number of CDS contracts, rapacious lenders (mostly hedge funds) can render bankruptcy more attractive than solvency.
Henry Hu of the University of Texas calls this phenomenon the “empty creditor” problem. About two years ago Mr Hu began noticing odd behaviour in bankruptcy proceedings—one bemused courtroom witnessed a junior creditor argue that the valuation placed on a firm was too high. With default rates climbing, he sees such perverse incentives as a looming threat to financial stability. Already the bankruptcies of AbitibiBowater, a paper manufacturer, and General Growth Properties, a property investor, in mid-April have been blamed on bondholders with unusual economic exposures. Some also suspect that CDS contracts played a role in General Motors’ filing earlier this month.
Solutions to the problem are, so far, purely theoretical. …

Equity decoupling refers to the unbundling of the rights and obligations normally associated with shares. Debt decoupling refers to the unbundling of the economic and governance rights normally associated with debt, often through credit derivatives or securitization. Hybrid decoupling involves combined debt and equity positions. All forms appear to be growing in importance. Debt and hybrid decoupling pose risks for debt governance – the relationship between creditors and debtors, including creditors’ exercise of their contractual and legal governance rights. Widespread debt decoupling can also involve externalities and contribute to systemic financial risks.

The world’s largest supertanker was built in 1979 at the Oppama shipyard by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. as the Seawise Giant. This ship was built with a capacity of 564,763 DWT, a length overall of 458.45 metres (1,504.1 ft) and a draft of 24.611 metres (80.74 ft). She had 46 tanks, 31,541 square metres (339,500 sq ft) of deck, and at her full load draft, could not navigate the English Channel.
Seawise Giant was renamed Happy Giant in 1989, Jahre Viking in 1991, and Knock Nevis in 1999 (when she was converted into a permanently moored storage tanker). In 2009 she was sold for the last time, renamed Mont, and scrapped.

That’s one small step for man, and one less really big barge full of fuel for mankind.
That’s basically what General Motors’ Chevrolet division is saying in its latest effort to pitch the Volt extended-range plug-in as a way for prospective drivers to save both money and the earth.
Chevrolet estimates that Volt drivers have saved more than 2.1 million gallons of gas – or one supertanker – by driving their vehicles in electric mode. Since the model launched in late 2010, Volt drivers, who, on average, use electricity 60 percent of the time and fuel from the car’s on-board generator the rest of the time, have put on 40 million electric-only miles on the car, saving a combined $8 million in unused gasoline the process.
While the Volt fell about 2,300 units short of Chevy’s goal to sell 10,000 units last year, 2012 sales through April tripled from a year earlier to 5,377 units. We anxiously await Nissan’s own claim on how many fleets worth of gas its Leaf drivers have saved…

>Innovation is “the Way of Haier”, which means: create values for customer on the basis of world-class systems and platforms, so as to establish a win-win culture. Meanwhile, Haier is committed to long term success, which depends to a large extent on our values.
Core Values of Haier:

• Customer Oriented – Think what consumers think
• Development Focused – Entrepreneurial spirit and creativity
• Interest Driven – Win-Win Culture

>AfriGadget is a website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity. A team of bloggers and readers contribute their pictures, videos and stories from around the continent. The stories of innovation are inspiring. It is a testament to Africans bending the little they have to their will, using creativity to overcome life’s challenges.

>Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.

>Eastman Kodak built one of the first digital cameras in 1975.
Strange to recall, Kodak was the Google of its day. Founded in 1880, it was known for its pioneering technology and innovative marketing. “You press the button, we do the rest,” was its slogan in 1888.
By 1976 Kodak accounted for 90% of film and 85% of camera sales in America. Until the 1990s it was regularly rated one of the world’s five most valuable brands.
Then came digital photography to replace film, and smartphones to replace cameras. Kodak’s revenues peaked at nearly $16 billion in 1996 and its profits at $2.5 billion in 1999.
For weeks, rumours have swirled around Rochester, the company town that Kodak still dominates, that unless the firm quickly sells its portfolio of intellectual property, it will go bust.
Could Kodak have avoided its current misfortunes?
Unlike people, companies can in theory live for ever. But most die young, because the corporate world, unlike society at large, is a fight to the death. … After 132 years it is poised, like an old photo, to fade away.

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>A Hierarchy of Company Statements
Organizational direction comes in several forms. The mission statement is your loftiest guiding light—and your least specific. As you work your way down the hierarchy, the statements become more concrete, practical, and ultimately unique. No other company will have the same strategy statement, which defines your competitive advantage, or balanced scorecard, which tracks how you implement your particular strategy.