Monthly Archives: December 2008

Microfinance or Enterprises

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What is the solution to poverty? Niranjan Rajadhyaksha in the Mint:

Many have asked why Bangladesh continues to be mired in terrible poverty when it has such a large microfinance sector. The good ol’ basics matter more — property rights, open markets, human capital, innovation etc.

A new policy research paper, Who Gets Credit?, published by the World Bank shows that economies benefit more when money is lent to firms rather than households. India is one of the 45 countries the economists have covered in their study.

He quotes Milford Bateman who writes from his research in Bosnia and Serbia.

The East Asian countries managed to develop brilliantly through channelling much, if not most, of their savings into serious growth-oriented sustainable business projects. This is why many East Asian countries may have started at similar GDP levels as Bangladesh in the 1970s but have since massively outpaced Bangladesh in terms of growth and development. Economics 101 shows conclusively how critical savings are to development, but only if intermediated into growth and productivity enhancing projects. If it goes into rickshaws, kisoks, chicken farms, traders and so on, then the country simply will not develop and sustainably reduce poverty.

Abhijit Banerjee on Poverty in India

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From The Mint:

But the fact is we have not been able to reduce poverty at a faster rate. Does it show the poor quality of execution of various developmental schemes in India?
Almost surely. Many things that could have reduced poverty—better education, better health, better access to public distribution system—all those things have failed miserably. There is no surprise why poverty is not falling faster. Most of the reason why poverty is falling, is not because of public expenditure, but because (of) these people joining temporarily some urban workforce… that is how poverty is falling.

Long tail or not

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New research on music sales has proved that the concept of long tail does not work in that industry. Is it true for other industries too?

“I think people believed in a fat, fertile long tail because they wanted it to be true,” said Mr Bud. “The statistical theories used to justify that theory were intelligent and plausible. But they turned out to be wrong. The data tells a quite different story. For the first time, we know what the true demand for digital music looks like.”

Why Netbooks Are Greener Than Laptops

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Celeste LeCompte in GigaOm:

But perhaps netbooks’ greenest feature is their whole approach to personal computing. They don’t offer monster performance, but most of us don’t need monster performance. Netbooks are good enough for most of what I want to do most of the time, among them email, web browsing (including blogging), music, and some occasional online video. I suspect the same is true for many consumers, and because of their low price, they’re likely to become the computer of choice for consumers looking for nothing more than light-duty Internet machines.

Obama’s pick to solve the energy crisis

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Environmentalists and climate change activists are understandably delighted. Consider this: For eight years the United States has boasted an Energy Department that for all intents and purposes was a subsidiary of the U.S. oil industry. Now, should he be confirmed, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who specializes in climate change and renewable energy and already knows how to run a decent-size bureaucracy is going to be in charge of realizing Obama’s bold promises to lead the United States toward an energy-sustainable future. Symbolically speaking, one would be hard put to draw a sharper contrast between the Bush and Obama eras than what is achieved by this single appointment.

via Obama’s pick to solve the energy crisis – How the World Works – Salon.com.

IBM’s plans for Solar

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Energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, paint and windows.

Ever wonder how much energy could be created by having solar technology embedded in our sidewalks, driveways, siding, paint, rooftops, and windows?

The list includes ‘thin-film’ solar cells, which are 100 times thinner than silicon-wafer cells used today, are cost-efficient and can be ‘printed’ and arranged on a flexible backing, on the sides of buildings, tinted windows, cell phones, laptops, cars, and even clothing.

In the next five years, solar energy will be an affordable option for you and your neighbors. Until now, the materials and the process of producing solar cells to convert into solar energy have been too costly for widespread adoption.

via rediff.com: The 5 amazing IBM innovations to come.

Why the Big Three Should Fly Corporate Jets – Simple Arithmetic

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Those complaining about the extravagant cost of winging CEOs around the world are also forgetting about the extravagant cost of CEOs. My own company, Time-Warner, at one time owned five G-5s, a couple of which were used to haul movie stars wherever it was they needed to be hauled to. They certainly were not for journalists; I’ve been on a company jet exactly once in the last 10 years. The shareholders paid Time-Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes $19.6 million last year. Based on a 40-hour week (and he’d better be working more than that), his hourly cost is about $9,400 — I’m guessing that’s beyond the hourly run rate of a G-5. Bewkes has actually been known to fly commercial to Los Angeles. If he takes United Flight 29, he’s on time 70% of the time. If he’s not on time, he’s cooling his heels at JFK, burning the shareholders’ money. My money. So take the corporate jet, Jeff. We’re not paying you to sit around airports reading People.

via Why the Big Three Should Fly Corporate Jets – TIME