If you’re a woman coming into the workforce in Britain, the best advice seems to be to join the police and make it to chief constable, go into IT, or drive a train. There you have a chance of being paid more than a man. Otherwise though, it seems you can expect to earn lessContinue reading “Gender Pay Gap: Still Holding Britain Back”
Tag Archives: economy
“To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus …” Loss aversion and the human cost of economic cycles
Those with a passing familiarity with behavioural economics will have heard of “loss aversion”: as described by Tversky and Kahneman, it’s the idea that losses have twice as powerful an effect psychologically as gains. No surprise then to come across an article, Out Of The Loop, while leafing through the ESRC’s “Britain in 2015” magazine, with theContinue reading ““To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus …” Loss aversion and the human cost of economic cycles”
Start The Week: on “big data”
Start The Week (Radio 4): Big Data Here’s a link to this morning’s Start The Week, discussing “big data” and mathematical modelling of data. Well worth a listen. Contributions are from James Owen Weatherall on physicists in finance, Marcus du Sautoy, Kenneth Cukier and sociologist Tiffany Jenkins. While there is an unstoppable logic to gatheringContinue reading “Start The Week: on “big data””
“Sign On” Of The Tynes
A sign of the high unemployment times we find ourselves in, from the terraces of St. James’s Park. Newcastle Utd, at the time of writing, are beating Liverpool and the Geordie faithful are starting to indulge in some taunting of the travelling Liverpool support. Their choice of taunt is the old pastiche of Liverpool’s ‘You’llContinue reading ““Sign On” Of The Tynes”
Motivating performance: Dan Pink and some thoughts on “bonus culture”
The debate about earnings, bonuses and fairness rumbles on and isn’t going to end soon. With the financial squeeze most of us are feeling, it is inevitable we look at the City in particular and wonder why they are still paying themselves so much, after all we now know about their endemic failures. Yet thereContinue reading “Motivating performance: Dan Pink and some thoughts on “bonus culture””
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
One of my favourite song titles (from Half Man Half Biscuit‘s Cammell Laird Social Club album) seems appropriate today, given the economic news. As an individual micro-business, the bigger patterns of the economy kind of don’t matter – and kind of do. It can be hard to make the connection sometimes. At one level,Continue reading “The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)”
Choice as a barrier to change – from RSA Animate
Just passing this one on, really: it’s one of those lovely RSA Animate illustrated talks, with Prof Renata Saleci’s views on how the proliferation of individual choice keeps us all from asking bigger questions (or at least, from doing anything about the answers). It’s the other side of the coin of personal empowerment – personalContinue reading “Choice as a barrier to change – from RSA Animate”
What’s It All For? More Happiness …
Steve Richards: \”Will Cameron\’s Idea of Happiness Last?\” It seems David Cameron was serious about bringing well-being into the heart of government decision-making – he’s still speechifying like a man possessed on the topic. Some interesting musings as ever by Steve Richards of The Independent on the politics of this. Whatever my thoughts about Cameron,Continue reading “What’s It All For? More Happiness …”
“Fairness is about how happiness is distributed”
This discussion at the RSA is well worth a listen, for anyone interested in, well, having a good life – but more specifically, it’s about the idea David Cameron seems to have embraced, that government should be focussed on the well-being and “happiness” of its citizens, not just in growing GDP: Richard Layard with AndrewContinue reading ““Fairness is about how happiness is distributed””
Marketing budget optimists
Is there something irrepressibly optimistic about marketers? Careful with the slightly misleading headline in Marketing Week about low confidence ( Marketing Week on Bellweather Report – Confidence.), because the budgets that have been set are more bullish than ursine. The article goes on to say that, yes, they are spending less – again – but:Continue reading “Marketing budget optimists”
Strangers on the Shore 