Friday, October 23, 2015

Sustainable and near zero

Moral: Wherein we acknowledge Fallows' look at Gore's view.

Yes, we're still here, though a little quiet. So, Janet and company are stiffing the savers. I could (would) say theft, actually. We are being pilfered so that the markets can run their crooked games.

Al Gore does not like all greed. Only the short-viewed type. No, he likes long-term greed. That is nice, Mr Gore. I like your emphasis on sustainability, but with your being so close to the players you may not be able to be aware of things that are amiss.

Listen to the little guys. Not those who can belly up with the $3M that you want for your investors.

So, this is about Fallow's article: The Planet-Saving, Capitalism-Subverting, Surprisingly Lucrative Investment Secrets of Al Gore (there are plenty notes, to boot).

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What Al and friends do is broaden the scope. We all know that the quarter-reporting view is just too limited. Or, rather, it reinforces the gaming. And, little people, like the savers, lose out (we can go on about this but won't, now).

So, they add in environmental and social issues to the equations. Nice guys/gals. You do not take it far enough. And, that is where near-zero comes in. I want to see a proper/in-depth accounting (yes, I know, tilting like the Don). And, I know that I have a long way to go to make this more clear.

In the meantime, congratulations, Mr. Gore, on your success (huge accumulations). Your work, at least, was a little light added to the darkness of the greedy times. Did you really have to use that concept?

Did Al Gore 'invent ' Sustainable Capitalism?
What we see from this newsflash is that Blood and Gore have their critics. Look at the notes associated with The Atlantic's article.

Remarks:  Modified: 03/12/2020

10/23/2015 --


Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Billions and billions

Moral: Wherein we mention that Ben has his book and that Janet still does not see a bubble.

Yet, we see this story. That is, the financial firms (according to an article on Yahoo) had profits amounting to multiples of billions in 1/2 of the year.


Now, juxtapose that with the latest that I saw from a bank visit. Savers are getting 0.08% for their money. That is less that 0.1% which is as close to zero that you can get.

Remarks:  Modified: 10/06/2015

10/06/2015 -- Now, remember our put on "Beyond your wildest dreams" from earlier this year. Yes, those who run the financial realm rake off of the top. In essence, they de-cream so that we all get less of the fat.


Thursday, October 1, 2015

Quora quarter

Moral: Wherein we pay attention to passing time.

After all, today starts the 4th quarter of 2015. What happened yesterday, with the 3rd's close? Was not paying attention. Why? Well, was doing some Quora work. I had run across the site earlier; but, this summer, I paid closer attention. And, got pulled in. Below, I'll sketch out some thoughts related to this blog.

The first entry for me was in the latter part of July, so that makes it about 10 weeks. I could get the specific date in order to have the quarter by that. But, on second thought, July was the first month of the 3rd. So, I'll just say that I did two months and a week (or so) on Quora. Or, I could say that I got started a little over three weeks into the 3rd quarter.

Aside: I'll to a recap on all blogs, but, in general, Quora stimulates the brain in a different way than does blogging or other types of social media that I have used so far. We will look at that. There are the usual trivia questions; or, students try to get you to help them with their homework; or, inane topics and responses entrap the unwary. But, overall, it is a good experience.

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In terms of Janet and money (why not use water as a basis?), a recent WSJ book review motivates the following bit of contemplation.
  • Markets, et al, are game based. How this evolved needs some explanation, but we're not going down that path, presently. 
  • As such, these markets reinforce the male-dominance pattern, as if we need this. Look, guys, and gals, we do not need that metaphor realized; as in, ideas procreate. 
  • So, prior to the advent of the computer, things got to some balanced point that was directly related to ability to dominate, as well as the agility in screwing over others (which is subterfuge, not domination). 
  • Since the computer, technology has been exploited to fill the pockets of those who run the game (which Ben and Janet support). 
  • Technical approaches, such as linear methods, made great way in this scheme of things. 
  • Then, techniques out of AI research came to fore. The book was touting backward propagation in the situation of neural networks as a means to implement inductive processes. 
So, as said earlier, none of this was foreseen by Adam Smith, our friend, who is rolling over in his grave due to the claims being put upon his name.

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All along, the markets could make use of technology as it because available. In some cases, they may have driven the improvements. Not usually, though, as their whole thing is maximizing gains from the intake (as in, profit). And, the old guys paid and benefited. It was the younger set that brought in the stuff. The book reviewer said that he lost a student (machine learning) to a well-paying job. Turns out that pattern recognition has come quite far. Has its limits, though (to be discussed).

One thing the reviewer wrote was that the back-propagating neural network had lots of data to work with. Yet, from the underbelly up, the whole things stinks. This big daddy data could not tell you.

Remarks:  Modified: 11/21/2015

11/16/2015 -- Question: What are the most shocking truths about macro economics at the global level?

11/21/15 -- Why-does-the-Islamic-banking-system-not-charge-interest-on-loans-and-advances-What-are-their-alternative-sources-of-revenue?