Suba de aranceles de Impos, alla van, ellos y despues nosotros

New York 'iPod tax' incites media bleating

It's a sign of the digital times: New York's governor proposes a state budget that slashes spending on education and healthcare, lays off hundreds of workers, and increases taxes on everything from cigars to beer to luxury yachts, and most media reports focus on the proposal's misleadingly monikered "iPod tax."

Think we're exaggerating? Check out this partial list:

• The Business Review of Albany, New York: "NY governor proposes 'iPod tax'"
• Business First of Buffalo, New York: "Have you heard about NY's iPod tax?"
• Silicon Alley Insider of New York City: "New York Governor Proposes iPod Tax"
• The Guardian of London: "New York hits iPod users with tax on downloads"
• Time: "New York Gov. Proposes 'iPod Tax'"
• The Times of London: "Gov David Paterson calls for 'iPod tax' to close state's budget deficit"
• The Houston Examiner: "New York to tax your iPod, Coke and Pepsi"
• Scientific American: "New York proposes iPod tax"

The blogosphere dutifully followed the mainstream-media herd:

• Fountainhead Zero: New York State Budget Crisis: iPod Tax"
• CrunchGear: "NY governor proposes iPod tax (among others) to make up budget shortfall"
• Modern Conservative: "New York State Budget Crisis: iPod Tax?"
• Newsvine: "Gov. David Paterson unveils dire New York State budget that includes... the iPod Tax"
• osmoothie: "New York blasted with 88 new taxes, including an 'iPod tax'"

People, people, people...

There are three reasons to be miffed at the iPodification of the proposed New York State budget by the media. First - and least important - the iPod is being singled out by lazy headline writers as the target of the tax. Not so. Those who have actually read the budget proposal will note that it refers to "digitally delivered entertainment services" and not merely wares from the iTunes Store. We're talking everything from instantly downloadable Netflix gratification to porn-by-the-pound from GigaGrope.tv.

Second, taxing downloadable digital content is not news. Over two-and-a-half years ago,Cnet reported that "15 states and the District of Columbia now tax downloads of music, movies and electronic books." A follow-up article this year added that "In 2008 alone, at least nine states have considered digital download taxes, and at least five of those states have enacted them into law." Taxing the download stream has become a mainstream revenue stream.

Third, and finally, is simple fairness. Financially, New York State is in the toilet. Tax revenue from Wall Street? Gone. Tax revenue from tourism? Crippled. Local real-estate taxes? Evaporating. Paterson's proposed budget tears a bloody $3.5bn chunk out of the state's healthcare budget and sharply increases tuition at the State University of New York and City University of New York systems at a time when students can't even find jobs asking "Do you want fries with that?" because fewer and fewer New Yorkers can afford those tasty artery-cloggers. It lays off 521 state workers while unemployment skyrockets and cuts nearly $700m from aid to schools.

And the discussion centers on the part of the proposal that levies a four-cent tax on a 99-cent tune from the iTunes Store? Puh-leeze...

A little perspective would be welcome. 

alla vamos, por favor, ver la fecha

pero, antes un solo parrafo

Protection, meant to be a good servant, becomes a dominant and costly master.

The new American tariff

Jun 21st 1930
From The Economist print edition

The signature by President Hoover of the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Bill at Washington is the tragi-comic finale to one of the most amazing chapters in world tariff history, and it is one that protectionist enthusiasts the world over would do well to study. The reason for tariff revision was a desire to restore a balance of protection which had been tilted to the disadvantage of the agriculturalist. But so soon as ever the tariff schedules were cast into the melting-pot of revision, log-rollers and politicians set to work stirring with all their might, and a measure which started with the single object of giving satisfaction to the farmer emerges as a full-fledged high tariff act in which nearly 900 duties have been raised, some extravagantly. Such is the inevitable result of vested interests working through political influence, ending in signature by a president, antagonistic to the bill, under compulsion of political necessities. No one, except the interests who fancy their own pockets may benefit, wanted the tariff; big business in the East is against it; the economists of America have condemned it in unison; the motor manufacturers have implored Mr Hoover to use his veto; and the fear of its economic consequences at home and abroad was mainly responsible for the heaviest slump of the year in Wall Street. Yet it is now the law of that land, and we have the spectacle of a great country, at a moment of severe trade depression, and faced with a growing necessity to export her manufactures, deliberately erecting barriers against trade with the rest of the world. Here, indeed, is a classic example of what happens to a country which once starts on the slope of protection. Protection, meant to be a good servant, becomes a dominant and costly master. President Hoover, we see, endeavours to coat the pill by suggesting that the "flexible" provisions will be used to mitigate the effects of the tariff, where it may be found to be irksome. This hope is surely illusory, as similar hopes held out in the past have proved to lie. In the first two years of President Coolidge's administration a number of duties were raised, but only two reduced—namely, on the vital items of bran and live bobwhite quail. We are compelled to accept the view expressed some years ago by Dr Taussig that "the interests involved in tariff-making are so powerful, and can exert such influence on the party in power, that disinterested and non-partisan administration of the flexible provisions is a vain dream." If there is any comfort to be derived from this latest chapter in tariff folly, it is the belief that American eyes will be forcibly opened to the fact that they are faced by areductio ad absurdum. Incidentally, every week brings new evidence of the realisation by American business leaders of the dangers of the fiscal path which America is treading. In a contribution to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Mr Edward A. Filene, while disavowing Free Trade convictions, argues powerfully that a lowering of American tariffs is essential for the stimulation both of world trade in general and American exports in particular.Magna est veritas et prevalebit.

Islandia

Para salir de lo diario (y los chinos), esta Islandia, donde filmaron una pelicula de Bond, y, creo van a enviar a alguno de aca muy rapido, no se si para calmar a los Islandeses o a los Ingleses
el articulo es largo, vale la pena practicar el ingles, hasta dice, donde dice que debemos pagar las deudas?

un par de exceprts del mismo, por favor, no se rian, lo dicen los Islandeses, no yo

On the chilly afternoon of December 1st a few hundred of them, shouting “David out, David out”, gathered at the Arnarson statue and marched down the hill to the central bank. In the lobby, they were met by riot police, who eventually defused the situation.

Ordinary citizens instead borrowed from their banks in cheaper currencies such as yen and Swiss francs to buy even the most modest homes and cars.

She blames the country’s reckless bankers for the ruin of the economy. “If I met a banker,” she says, “I’d kick his ass so hard, my shoes would be stuck inside.”

In Iceland there are still many misgivings about repaying the huge debts incurred, as there are about other aspects of the IMF programme.

In his unassuming whitewashed offices near the central bank, Geir Haarde, the prime minister, appears sympathetic to some of these concerns. “There is still a lot of legal argumentation saying we should not pay” the debt to Icesave depositors, he says, though he stresses that his government has agreed to reimburse them.

He suggests that the government also thought long and hard before turning to the IMF.

Para que se sigan ilustrando, si quieren

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12762027&source=hptextfeature

enjoy

quienes no leen la historia, etc (o algo asi)

Podre o no molestar con China, pero creo que en los proximos 10 años comeremos arroz, nos guste o no

para muestra, algo de historia

China in History — From 200 to 2005

By The Globalist

For all the raging debates about China’s future, what about the country’s past as a guidepost? Especially if one looks back further than the past 60 years, amazing perspectives emerge. And then, there are all the historic achievements of China right in our own time — from reducing poverty to achieving stellar economic growth.

How did ancient China view the world? Ancient Chinese claimed to hold a “Mandate of Heaven”, according to which they had a valid claim to preside over everyone else by virtue of their unequivocal political, cultural and moral authority. (University of Southern California) The world's earliest surviving large-scale census was undertaken in China's Han Empire in A.D. 2 — and counted 57,771,400 people.  (Joanna Waley-Cohen, "Sextants of Beijing") For how many centuries did China have the world’s largest economy? China has been the world’s largest economy for 18 of the past 20 centuries. (Financial Times) What else distinguished China? China was not only the largest economy for much of recorded history. Until the 15th century, it also had the highest income per capita — and was the world’s technological leader. (The Economist) What is but one example of China’s technological leadership? Around the year 1000, the Chinese made a series of major technical advances related to their improved knowledge of geography, astronomy, mapmaking and shipbuilding. Among other advances, they invented the compass — which radically improved their ability to navigate. (Franklin Institute) Which effect did that have on world commerce? China became a leading maritime power around the year 1000, when Chinese shipbuilders began to build massive oceangoing junks. These ships were up to 300 feet long, had a capacity of 1,250 tons and were capable of undertaking long-distance voyages. (Joanna Waley-Cohen, "Sextants of Beijing") China was not only the largest economy for much of recorded history. Until the 15th century, it also had the highest income per capita — and was the world’s technological leader. (The Economist) Did the state play a major role in commerce even back then? Customs duties on imports ran at about 10%.The central government maintained monopolies on the most profitable goods, such as ivory, coral, rhinoceros horn and crocodile skins. It banned any private traffic in a number of luxury commodities — and retained an option for preferential purchase of anything imported. (Joanna Waley-Cohen, "Sextants of Beijing") When did China’s economic might reach its high point? China's share of world output peaked in 1820 at about one-third of the global total — a share that had fallen to only 4.5% by 1950. (OECD) What has happened since then? China’s share of world GDP had rebounded to 11.5% by 1998 — well above its 1913 share of 8.9% — largely as a consequence of economic reforms enacted in the 1980s. (OECD) How many Chinese have been lifted out of absolute poverty since 1981? From 1981 to 2001, 422 million Chinese people moved out of absolute poverty. (Columbia University) China became a leading maritime power around the year 1000, when it began to build massive oceangoing junks that were capable of undertaking long-distance voyages.  (Joanna Waley-Cohen, "Sextants of Beijing") How much did an average Chinese plant worker earn a month in 2004? As of 2004, the average Chinese plant worker earns around $80 a month, less than an American on minimum wage makes in two days. (Wall Street Journal) Are China’s economy and export sector expected to continue booming in 2005? In 2005, China is expected to run a trade surplus well in excess of $100 billion — compared to just $32 billion in 2004. (World Bank) And finally, how administratively advanced was China over 2,000 years ago? The world's earliest surviving large-scale census was undertaken in China's Han Empire in A.D. 2 — and counted 57,771,400 people. (Joanna Waley-Cohen, "Sextants of Beijing")

Ideas

La verdad, no se ni siquiera como titular el post, lo que sin duda me imagino es que en un

 

año esta aca

Smart CCTV could put criminals in the frame even before they strike

The Smart CCTV system – shown here in use in Washington DC – tracks movement, and is programmed to alert operators to certain activities – such as in this case, when the two men are about to meet on a street corner known for drug-dealing

ADVERTISEMENT

A new generation of 'intelligent' cameras is being pioneered in Portsmouth

The technology is programmed to watch out for certain suspect behaviour or incidents – such as a car going too fast, someone loitering for longer than normal in a car park, or people coming together in known drug-dealing areas – and sends out an alert if it records something suspicious.

The footage can then be monitored by a CCTV operator, who can decide if an offence is being committed.

In the first set-up of its kind in the UK, Portsmouth City Council has installed a system based on behaviour-recognition software to increase the effectiveness of its camera monitoring.

The Perceptrak system, produced by Smart CCTV Ltd of Havant, has been set up to watch quiet areas such as car parks, stairwells or corridors in buildings and streets at night-time.

It effectively allows CCTV staff to monitor more cameras than before because they do not have be constantly watching each screen to see crimes taking place.

Nick Hewitson, managing director of the Havant firm, said: 'When it sees something untoward happening, the system sends an alert to the control room.

'This allows the security officer to make a human decision on whether to monitor the scene and make an appropriate response. It also ensures that many more scenes are being watched than is normally possible.' The system is being provided to the city council for free. The council control rooms have 142 cameras with live monitoring, watched 24 hours a day.

Ray Stead, CCTV manager at the city council, said the decision to install the software followed a successful trial period in 2006.

'The software is an analytical package which you pass information through.

'It analyses what's on it, and throws up an alarm to say "come and look at me".'

Councillor Jason Fazackarley, cabinet member for community safety, said: 'This is a fantastic development. It's the 21st century equivalent of a nightwatchman, but unlike a nightwatchman it never blinks, it never takes a break and it never gets bored. 

'It's an eye in the night. The darkness is no longer a place where criminals can hide.'

A pedido de la audiencia

Bah, uno solo, pero hayq ue mantener contento al cliente

los links de Bayes para SPAM y un par de programas free para eso.

As usual en este negocio, no hay garantias

Saludos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_spam_filtering

http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_assassin

http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml#spamaware

Se viene la noche

Se viene la noche, y, mas rapido de lo que se pensaba, de paso, los terminos de intercambio?

el ultimo parrafo lo repito para que quede muy claro

“Next year is going to be far tougher for everyone than anything we’re seeing now.”

Cobalt fall reflects slowdown in China

Industrial activity in China has slowed so quickly that demand for cobalt has ground to a halt, according to one of the biggest cobalt miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s largest source of the metal.

Camec, the London-listed junior miner, last week mothballed its Mukondo mine, one of the world’s richest cobalt mines, saying it might resume production in early 2009 if prices recover. “It is almost as if there is a buyers’ strike,” said Andrew Groves, chief executive of Camec, referring to Chinese buyers who were buying record quantities of the metal six months ago and sending it to China’s factories to be processed into batteries, propeller blades, magnets and chemicals, among a range of applications so varied that cobalt demand can be seen as a rough proxy of industrial activity.

Cobalt, mined mainly in Congo, has so many uses that demand for it is seen as a proxy of global industrial activity

Economists are scrutinising China’s downturn to gauge the extent of a possible global recession but official statistics do not yet paint a clear picture. The cobalt market’s collapse offers one indication. The market has two poles – Congo and China. Cobalt is mostly mined in Congo’s Katanga province and 64 per cent was processed in China in 2007.

The freezing effect of the end market on the source market was further confirmed last week when Katanga Mining, a copper-cobalt miner in Congo, suspended its cobalt operations. Like Camec, it will meet reduced demand by selling from current stocks.

Mr Groves described Camec’s cobalt mine as only one victim in a global production chain that is seizing up. Companies such as Samsung have cut production of mobile phones in China, he said, causing a “massive drop-off” in orders for phone batteries that use lithium cobalt oxide, in turn halting metal orders from Chinese buyers in Congo.

Cobalt stockpiles are building up in China and further depressing the price, he said. Trading in cobalt concentrate is opaque but, according to Reuters, the import price in eastern China fell 16 per cent in the week to November 14 and has halved since March. In the week to November 21 it plunged further to about $12 per pound, Metal Bulletin reported.

The cobalt price’s collapse is in line with other industrial metals such as aluminium, zinc, nickel and copper. Miners of these metals daily face crises similar to Camec’s and mothballing mines around the world to save cash as they wait for a price recovery.

A crash in Congo’s cobalt and copper mining industry, however, has as many political as commercial implications. The extraordinarily high grades of copper and cobalt ore in Katanga province have attracted scores of foreign mining companies.

Mining revenues help fund the Kinshasa government, which faces an escalating insurgency in the east of the country. The award of mining licences has been a key negotiating chip in attracting investors to the country and extracting a higher cut of their profits.

Drawn by Congo’s abundance of industrial metals, China was the newest and potentially largest of the country’s foreign investors. In January, the Chinese government signed a resources deal with Kinshasa, valued then at $9bn (€7bn, £6bn), that would grant Chinese companies rights to vast quantities of copper and cobalt in exchange for infrastructure.

But the future of the deal is uncertain in the low-price commodity environment. Also uncertain is the viability of established foreign mining companies in Congo such as Camec.

Shares in these mostly junior miners have “taken a Stuka dive out of the clear skies of the commodities boom”, as a South African mining commentator put it. Camec has fallen 95 per cent to 2.50p over the past six months and First Quantum Minerals has fallen 82 per cent in the same period, while Katanga Mining has fallen 97 per cent.

Camec’s suspension of copper and cobalt mining, Mr Groves said, was simply a prudent business decision. The company would run a scaled-down operation centred on a trucking business that is doing work for the World Food Programme. The Mukondo mine would restart within a week after Camec determines prices have recovered.

“We are monitoring on a weekly basis demand from China,” he said. “Early next year seems like a good guess of when we’ll see demand recovering.” But he cautioned, “Next year is going to be far tougher for everyone than anything we’re seeing now.”

de Ft de hoy

Bayes 2

Teorema de Bayes

El teorema de Bayes, enunciado por Thomas Bayes, en la teoría de la probabilidad, es el resultado que da la distribución de probabilidad condicional de una variable aleatoria A dada Ben términos de la distribución de probabilidad condicional de la variable B dada A y la distribución de probabilidad marginal de sólo A.

Sea {A₁,A₂,...,A_i,...,A_n} un conjunto de sucesos mutuamente excluyentes y exhaustivos, y tales que la probabilidad de cada uno de ellos es distinta de cero. Sea B un suceso cualquiera del que se conocen las probabilidades condicionales P(B | A_i). Entonces, la probabilidad P(A_i | B) viene dada por la expresión:

donde:

P(A_i) son las probabilidades a priori.

P(B | A_i) es la probabilidad de B en la hipótesis A_i.

P(A_i | B) son las probabilidades a posteriori.

Esto se cumple 

El teorema de Bayes es válido en todas las aplicaciones de la teoría de la probabilidad. Sin embargo, hay una controversia sobre el tipo de probabilidades que emplea. En esencia, los seguidores de la estadística tradicional sólo admiten probabilidades basadas en experimentos repetibles y que tengan una confirmación empírica mientras que los llamados estadísticos bayesianos permiten probabilidades subjetivas. El teorema puede servir entonces para indicar cómo debemos modificar nuestras probabilidades subjetivas cuando recibimos información adicional de un experimento. La estadística bayesiana está demostrando su utilidad en ciertas estimaciones basadas en el conocimiento subjetivo a priori y permitir revisar esas estimaciones en función de la evidencia es lo que está abriendo nuevas formas de hacer conocimiento. Una aplicación de ésto son los clasificadores bayesianos que son frecuentemente usados en implementaciones de filtros de correo basura o spam, que se adaptan con el uso.

Como observación, se tiene  y su demostración resulta trivial.

robado de wiki

y de aca que jodo tanto con Bayes, al tener datos neuvos se mide de nuevo, al faltar datos, se debe decir donde y ver donde medir, BTW para el Spam funciona muy bien el teorema

Bayes 1

Thomas Bayes  fue un matematico britanico . Su padre fue ministro presbiteriano. Posiblemente De Moivre, autor del afamado libro La doctrina de las probabilidades, fue su maestro particular, pues se sabe que por ese entonces ejercía como profesor en Londres. Bayes fue ordenado, al igual que su padre, como ministro disidente, y en 1731 se convirtió en reverendo de la iglesia presbiteriana en Tunbridge Wells; aparentemente trató de retirarse en 1749, pero continuó ejerciendo hasta 1752, y permaneció en ese lugar hasta su muerte.

Estudió el problema de la determinación de la probabilidad de las causas a través de los efectos observados. El teorema con su nombre se refiere a la probabilidad de un suceso condicionado por la ocurrencia de otro suceso. Más específicamente, con su teorema se resuelve el problema conocido como "de la probabilidad inversa". Esto es, valorar probabilísiticamente las posibles condiciones que rigen supuesto que se ha observado cierto suceso. Se trata de probabilidad "inversa" en el sentido de que la "directa" sería la probabilidad de observar algo supuesto que rigen ciertas condiciones. Los cultores de la inferencia bayesiana (basada en dicho teorema) afirman que la trascendencia de la probabilidad inversa reside en que es ella la que realmente interesa a la ciencia, dado que procura sacar conclusiones generales (enunciar leyes) a partir de lo objetivamente observado, y no viceversa

sigue

robado de Wiki

Sokal et altri o Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi?

Mucho hablamos, nos divertimos y usamos para denostar a los sociales con Sokal y su paper, pero, como no podia dejar de fallar, existe un programa automatic para generar papers cientificos en ciencias duras.

Pero, para que tambien lo usen los estimados

 SCIgen is a program that generates random Computer Science research papers, including graphs, figures, and citations. It uses a hand-written context-free grammar to form all elements of the papers. Our aim here is to maximize amusement, rather than coherence.

 El link?

 http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/

 el ejemplo que sigue fue publicado

 www.sciencedirect.com

 Cooperative, compact algorithms for randomized algorithms

 Rohollah Mosallahnezhad

 Iran Institute of Technology, Department of Mathematics, Hafez, Tehran, Iran

  Abstract

 Experts agree that encrypted methodologies are an interesting new topic in the field of theory, and information theorists

In this paper, we argue the appropriate unification of web browsers and Internet QoS. Our focus in this paper is not on whether information retrieval systems can be made reliable, linear-time, and Bayesian, but rather on describing new  wireless archetypes (Bots).

2007 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Keywords: Compact algorithms; Randomized algorithms; Encrypted methodologies; Internet

Y fue sacado

REMOVED: Cooperative, compact algorithms for randomized algorithms

Rohollah Mosallahnezhada,

Iran Institute of Technology, Department of Mathematics, Hafez, Tehran, Iran

Available online 19 March 2007.

This article has been removed consistent with Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).

En fin

Lo habia leido hace mucho mucho, pero me hizo acordar

http://demairena.blogspot.com/ via Illuminatios

que se diviertan

No solo somos nosotros

Discusiones de AFJP, ANSESS etc etc ad nauseam, en fin, veamos que pasa en, digamos un paradigma, el inicial, de liberalismo y free trade, Old Albion

Regular readers will know that S2P is nothing more than a glorified Ponzi scheme or pyramid scam, where this week's National Insurance Contributions paid by employees and employers are used to pay next week's benefits to pensioners. Half a century ago, no less an authority than Aneurin Bevan - one of the founders of the welfare state - let the cat out of the bag when he said: "The great secret about the National Insurance fund is that there ain't no fund."

The reason that such an approach to providing pensions is illegal in the private sector is that it is inherently unstable. What happens, for example, if the number of contributors falls and the number of claimants rises? You don't need to be an actuary to see that the pay-as-you-go merry-go-round must grind to a juddering halt.

Nor is there anything hypothetical about that risk; it is already happening.

S2P es una especie de jubilacion estatal

Bevan es uno de los padres del Welfare State, que fue una de las causas de la derrota de Churchill en las elecciones de 1945

en fin, ya n se puede creer en nada, ah, las AFJP son piores, si, piores

Proceres

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el Proyecto Pigeon (o Proyecto Orcon, por "organic control") fue .una idea de  B.F Skinner en su intento de desarrollar un misil guiado, en rigor un misil-paloma 

Del sistema de control participan una lente en la parte delantera del misil que proyecta una imagen del objetivo a una pantalla interior, mientras que una paloma entrenada al reconocer el objetivo iria hacia el. 

Mientras el objetivo estuviera en el centro de la pantalla, el misil volaria recto, pero si saliera del centro, el control del misil cambiaria el rumbo para que volviera el objetivo al centro del la pantalla. 

Se podian usar tres palomas para usar control por mayoria en el control del misil.

 

Aunque escéptico de la idea,, el Comité de Investigación contribuyo con 25.000 dólares a la investigación. 

Sin embargo, los planes de Skinner para utilizar palomas en misiles se consideraba demasiado excéntrica y poco práctico.

El programa fue cancelado el 8 de octubre de 1944, debido a razones de prioridad

Orcon fue reactivado por la Marina en 1948 y fue cancelada en 1953.

De finanzas y de Imperios - 1

Un aspecto poco conocido de la historia, o al menos para mi, son las sucesivas quiebras del primer imperio globlal, la España de Felipe II.

Quiebras?, con todo el oro y plata que venia de America?, si, al menos 3, pero, era el Imperio Global, asi que mucho no se podia hacer no? (Suena conocido?)

debajo esta la primera de la serie, uno de los financistas de Felipe, que, quemado por una de las quiebras juro no hacer nunca mas negocios con America (esta pelicula ya la vimos, pero, esta es la primera de uno global, no desesperen, hubo otros que terminaron peor)

Un detalle de color, asi como Waren Buffet vive en Omaha y no sale demasiado de su casa, que no es de demasiado lujo, este vivia en Avila y tampoco salia demasiado

Simón Ruiz Embito

Simón Ruiz Embito (Belorado, 1525 - Medina del Campo, 1597) fue un comerciante dedicado al comercio al por mayor, que también se dedicó a las finanzas internacionales convirtiéndose en un mercader-banquero con agentes en toda Europa, entre cuyos clientes se contaba Felipe II.

En Medina del Campo se encuentra su archivo, propiedad de la Fundación Simón Ruiz, y depositado desde 1947 en el Archivo Histórico Provincial de Valladolid. Es el único archivo completo de un financiero español del siglo XVI y está compuesto por 56.721 cartas comerciales datadas entre los años 1553 y 1630.

Nació en la villa de Belorado, al final de 1525 o comienzos de 1526. Era hijo de Simón Ruiz y Juana González de Miranda, hidalgos sin grandes bienes dedicados al comercio de la lana. A los 20 años entabla por su cuenta una relación comercial con Ivon Rocaz, un rico comerciante de Nantes, que le enviaba telas de Bretaña para su venta en las ferias de Castilla. El éxito del producto en Medina del Campo le animó a trasladarse a esa localidad en 1550, mientras su hermano Andrés se instalaba en Nantes.

Más tarde se asoció con Juan de Orbea, tesorero de Aragón. Afianzó las relaciones anteriores con Nantes, y desde Medina del Campo comenzó a tener relaciones con corresponsales en distintas ciudades europeas (Lisboa, Valencia, Génova, Ruán.), no dudando en desplazar enviados especiales a otros puntos que le interesasen.

En 1561, tras conseguir una gran fortuna, contajo matrimonio con una dama de la nobleza, María de Montalvo. Enviudó, y casó de nuevo en 1574 con Mariana de Paz, que tenía familiares en altos cargos de la corte,4 por lo que se trasladan a Valladolid, donde consiguió los contactos necesarios para convertirse en el banquero del rey, siendo probable que fuera recibido en algunas ocasiones por el monarca.

Regresó a Medina del Campo en 1576, falleciendo el 1 de marzo de 1597. En su testamento, otorgado con fecha 1 de abril de 1596, dejó sus bienes a María de Montalvo, con dos condiciones: que no contrajera nuevo matrimonio y que no saliera de Medina del Campo más de dos meses al año; arraigado a fondo en su ciudad de adopción, vivía en la calle de Ávila, actualmente dedicada a su nombre, en un caserón sobrio y decorado con objetos traídos de diversos puntos: mobiliario de Francia, Holanda o Alemania, y objetos procedentes de la India, enviados por su corresponsal portugués Hernando de Morales.

Negocios 

Trataba con toda clase de mercaderías: empezó con los lienzos, pero también trató con especias, aceites, cochinilla, índigo, sal, trigo, etc. En 1586 constan importaciones procedentes de Hamburgo, entre las que figuraba cobre de Suecia y Hungría.

La ascensión social de Simón Ruiz le lleva desde la actividad de revendedor al papel de financiero de algunos de sus clientes, como Felipe II. Esta faceta se debió al uso que hacía del sistema de las letras de cambio, lo que puso en sus manos al rey que no disponía de oficinas de la Hacienda Real en los Países Bajos ni en Italia, y le necesitaba para realizar pagos y anticipos. De éstos, unos eran ordenados en España por el Consejero de Hacienda, y otros lo eran en los Países Bajos y llevaban la firma de su Gobernador. Simón Ruiz actuó como banquero de la Corona entre 1576 y 1588.

Llegó a ser un mercader-banquero, categoría financiera diferenciada de los cambistas, quienes realizaban el trueque de diversas monedas contantes y sonantes y admitían depósitos para guarda y custodia, y de los usureros, que prestaban a altos intereses. Un mercader - banquero no sólo hacía esas funciones en caso necesario, también tenían capacidad para negociar monetariamente mediante transaciones de divisas utilizando la letra de cambio.

Constituyó un sociedad mercantil en Sevilla para extender negocios a gran escala con América, por lo que las quiebras en cadena ocurridas en la ciudad durante 1567 y 1568 afectaron a sus negocios, aunque un rápido viaje a la ciudad hispalense consiguió reducir pérdidas: a partir de esta crisis limitó el tráfico de su compañía con Sevilla, olvidándose de los negocios americanos. Centralizó el comercio con Francia y Flandes en el puerto de Bilbao, y en Alicante el de Italia.

Tuvo también problemas: con las aduanas, en 1559 y 1564, en que se le incautó dinero en efectivo y se abrió un proceso penal. El embajador ante la corte francesa, Juan de Vargas Mexía, le acusó de espionaje: Felipe II anotó en el documento: Lo que se dice de Simón Ruiz no me convence. Tanto a él como a su hermano se les tiene por hombres de bien., dando por zanjado el asunto.

El año 1564, Simón Ruiz era regidor de Medina del Campo, lo que le permitía intervenir en todo lo relativo a ferias con vistas a sus negocios y or otro lado, a actividades de beneficencia. Los últimos años de su vida los dedicó a la fundación de un Hospital bajo las advocaciones de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción y San Diego de Alcalá. Lo llamó Hospital General, y fue destinado a la atención de todo tipo de enfermos y heridos y a la recogida de peregrinos, desamparados y contagiosos, dejándo destinada a él una importante cantidad en su testamento.

El Hospital es de estilo herreriano, con muros de ladrillo y piedra. Está construído alrededor de un patio clasicista y comprende una iglesia de estilo jesuítico. El retablo mayor y tres estatuas existentes de la familia Ruiz son obra de Francisco del Rincón y Pedro de la Cuadra. Cierra el crucero una extraordinaria reja de estilo renacentista.

Ruiz no tuvo una buena biblioteca, apenas algunos libros de contenido religioso, ciertas narraciones populares y la obra Espejo de Príncipes, junto a los miles de cartas recibidas y copias de parte de las enviadas. Una correspondencia que superó las 50.000 epístolas en 20 años: el récord lo marcó en 1579: 2.620 cartas, siete por día.

El archivo está considerado único en su género, ya que guarda datos de la actividad particular de su empresa y otros de importancia histórica, sobre comercio interior y exterior, con datos sobre las políticas mercantiles de los gobernantes, banca y cambios, y «hasta los acontecimientos políticos».9

Para un mercader como Ruiz era imprescindible contar con la información facilitada por sus corresponsales sobre la situación del mercado, el patrimonio de sus roveedores y clientes, y todo tipo de datos económicos y políticos necesarios de conocer para tomar decisiones. Usaba tanto el correo oficial ( en manos de la familia De Taxis) como mensajeros.

En el archivo coexisten las cartas generales, con asuntos corrientes de la compañía y otras reservadas a él personalmente, con noticias confidenciales sobre política, solvencias, etc.

Hay algunas en portugués, italiano y francés, pero la mayoría está en castellano, lengua comercial del momento conocida tanto por los comerciantes franceses como por los italianos.

Su contabilidad está siendo estudiada.

Corresponsales 

Mantuvo correspondencia, además de con sus agentes, con importantes financieros como Lomellini, Spínola y Fugger (Fúcar): estos últimos, mercaderes de Augsburgo, con amplia información política; Jerónimo Scorza, Felipe y Jacobo Cattaneo, Bernardino Negrone y Castelvi Pinelli en Génova; desde Milán le informaban el capitán Juan de Muñatones y el banquero Cesare Negrollo; desde Florencia, Simón Ruiz y Baltasar Suárez.

Y, como dice algun cantor, paso los ultimos dias casi en olor a santidad

Nihil novum sub sole

Estuve buscando bastante, pero esta es una breve reseña que encontre en Forbes, suena conocido no?

The Medici Meltdown
Marcello Simonetta 10.31.08, 12:01 AM ET

In these times of financial woe, some journalists have been timidly exploring the past for precedents, pushing the horizon as far as the 1929 Great Depression. Very few have looked beyond that traumatic event, assuming that capitalism in its current form has no earlier historical roots. But this is hardly true--earlier history might indeed teach us valuable lessons.

Raymond De Roover, a Harvard historian, published in 1963 his classic The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank (1397-1494), which opens with the statement that "modern capitalism based on private ownership" was invented by Italian merchants and bankers, by far the most active businessmen in the Middle Ages. Joint stock companies did not exist until the 1600s, "but the Medici Bank had foreshadowed the holding companies in certain respects."

In its heyday, the Florentine banking conglomerate was the largest in Europe. It had branches in Geneva, Avignon, Bruges and London as well as in Rome, Naples, Venice and Milan. Founded in 1397 by Giovanni di Bicci, the bank's fortune reached its peak under the wise management of Cosimo de' Medici, the famous patron of the arts.

The expansion of the banking activities continued at an extraordinary pace until his death in 1464. Gold and cash deposits along with commercial ventures and merchandise exchanges guaranteed a continuous flow for high-interest lending, which was wisely supervised. But the Bank soon began to overstretch itself.

Now, as then, the coordination between different branches or departments continues to be a major issue confronting administrators in business as well as in governments. Choosing the right person as a manager is no less difficult than finding the right heir to the business or the reign.

After Cosimo's death, his son, Piero, and his grandson, Lorenzo, had a much less steady hand on the branch managers and gradually lost their grip on the banking empire. Diminished economic power brought about troubles at home, where in 1478 the so-called Pazzi Conspiracy--an attempted coup organized by a rival banking family secretly helped by the Roman Catholic Church--brought Lorenzo to his knees.

By the time Cosimo's grandson tried to recover control over Florence, the Medici Bank was near collapse, which led to many irregularities. One disgruntled citizen commented after a two-year bout of warfare: "Cosimo and Piero (grandfather and father), with half of the money you have spent on this war, would have gained much more than you have lost."

This might remind us of other recent disastrous military and monetary enterprises. Then, as now, too much money badly accounted often damages the purpose for which it is spent. Lorenzo, desperately in need for monies, turned business into a matter of state and took money from his own relatives to defend himself and the city, and also diverted public funds for his own use.

The fear of being annihilated by foreign powers, combined with the lack of transparency, allowed the ruler of the Republic to turn it into an effective tyranny. With the declared purpose of defending Florentine freedom and its way of life, Lorenzo raised taxes for the war and embezzled banking funds with the result (does this sound familiar, anyone?) of creating a huge credit crunch.

The Medici Bank--as De Roover argued--had tenuous cash reserves that were usually well below 10% of total assets. Lack of liquidity was an issue for banking since its origins. Of course, in the Renaissance they dealt with thousands or millions of florins--billions were yet unthinkable. But would a bailout have been thinkable at the time? Lorenzo certainly bailed himself and his family out of a political and financial mess with public funds. He eventually gained for himself the superlative epithet of "The Magnificent" by obtaining foreign military support and by compromising his city's liberty.

However, shortly after his death in 1492, his weak son Piero was thrown out of Florence. Perhaps that was an early instance of what we would now call kicking the debt problem onto the next generation.

State and money matters have always been deeply intertwined--the idea that the market would regulate itself rose no sooner than the 18th century with Adam Smith's "invisible hand." We can learn from the past that people on the top were always keen on hiding and washing their hands while appropriating funds in the name of the country, sharing the debts with people at the bottom and privatizing the profits.

The enlightened policies of public artistic patronage like those of Cosimo and Lorenzo were a magnificent facade for their political success and survival--and ultimately for their financial failure.

Speedy y la Web 2.0

En pro de ser honesto, el amigo Cassia lo puso antes, asi que borro esto

Graciass

todo depende de la antiguedad del libro

si es un libro romano, los griegos eran malos, si es un libro barbaro, los romanos eran malos, si es un libro español, los arabes eran malos, y asi siguiendo

y si de pueblos originarios se trata, cual fue originario?

El jefe mapuche Calfucurá había llegado desde Chile hacia 1830 formando parte del grupo del cacique Martín Toriano llamados por Rosas para combatir a los boroanos que previamente le habían precedido en su llegada desde la Araucanía hacia 1820, cuando fueron llamados por estancieros para custodiar la frontera y se asentaron en la zona de Guaminí y Carhué. Luego de ser derrotado Toriano por los boroanos, Calfucurá se estableció en las Salinas Grandes. El 9 de setiembre de 1834 Calfucurá logró eliminar a los principales caciques adversarios cuando los emboscó en una reunión comercial en Masallé (cerca de la laguna Epecuén), muriendo mil borogas, entre ellos Rondeau, Melin, Venancio Coñoepán, Alun y Callvuquirque, aunque logró escapar Ignacio Coliqueo. A partir de entonces los boroanos desaparecieron de la escena, dispersandose entre Tapalqué, 25 de Mayo y Masallé. Yanquetruz murió en 1836. Calfucurá en 1837 derrotó y mató al cacique araucano Railef junto a 500 de sus guerreros en el lugar llamado Quentuco sobre el río Colorado, después de que éste había realizado un malón sobre la provincia de Buenos Aires y regresaba a la Araucanía.

Road Warrior

hice un comment en un blog que no encuentro, no se por que, pero, me preguntaron por road warrior hablando de crackberry

In computer networking, a mobile user who connects to a VPN from an unspecified remote location

In business, a person who spends a great deal of their job traveling.

 (idiomatic) (slang) A person who carries a mobile device such as a laptop or PDA and uses wireless internet connections to work.

 

Todo eso son definiciones, pero, para empezar alcanza, te das cuenta de un personaje es un road warrior en un aeropuerto cuando ves a alguien tecleando furiosamente una laptop con cara de perdidos en Tokio

 

Obviamente la tecnologia ha ido mejorando la cosa, desde un road warrior en digamos, 1999 buscando un enchufe para su cable de telefono para la laptop, a un tipo que busca una señal de celular decente para conectarse en el 2001 a otro buscando wifi en el 2004 o entre esos años, si pertencia a la aristocracia de los road warriors (o millas suficientes) en las salas VIP, en los aeropuertos que hay, y si hay PCs

 

Pero, todos comparten la cara de perdidos en Tokio, la cerveza si estan pocas horas entre vuelo y vuelo, la desesperacion por conseguir un enchufe para recargar el celular, la blackberry o el Iphone, y la busqueda de un sillon comodo para dormitar si son varias horas. Eso, si llegan a tiempo al vuelo

 

Son los que antes del vuelo, o los vuelos, saben exactamente que asiento ocupar, como discutir por los atrasos, como negociar las cancelaciones, y cuando gritar en el mostrador para que le den un hotel decente (a veces sale bien, a veces mal)

 

Por eso la adiccion por la Blackberry, es mas o menos como la adiccion a los telefonos con mail, o al Iphone, pero, la realidad es que luego salen corriendo a ver las laptops

o, ver aca

http://www.enriquedans.com/2004/10/manual-del-perfecto-road-warrior-para.html

que recien lo encontre, e ilustra desde lo  tecnologico

 

 

 

Al final, llamaron a los ingenieros

Mucha economia,mucha economia y fundamentalismo, pero, al final, para 2 + 2 llamaron alos ingenieros.

NEEL KASHKARI, 35 AÑOS, INDIO Y EX GOLDMAN SACHS
Un ingeniero espacial pilotea la tormenta

Bush y Paulson lo designaron jefe de la oficina que conducirá el salvataje. Es cuestionado por su carrera meteórica y su pasado financiero. 
 

Un hombre de treinta y cinco años de origen indio, que de ingeniero aeroespacial se transformó en economista al saltar de la NASA a Wall Street, será el encargado de administrar los 700 mil millones de dólares que deben salvar a las finanzas norteamericanas del descalabro.

Se llama Neel Kashkari, es subsecretario del Tesoro para los Asuntos Internacionales y el Desarrollo Económico, y, pronto, tendrá el título de director de la Oficina de la Estabilidad Financiera, con el que tendrá a su cargo el subsidio estatal más grande de la historia, aquel que la administración Bush quiere utilizar para frenar la estampida financiera.

El ascenso del joven Kashkari ha sido vertiginoso, y en esa subida ha batido a competidores formidables, con la mitad de años que ellos, como Michael Bloomberg, ex alcalde de Nueva York y padre fundador de la homónima sociedad multimediática, y Bill Gross, el mago de los bonos.

La designación de Kashkari parece ser momentánea, ya que deberá irse en enero si el candidato demócrata Barack Obama es elegido presidente. No obstante, su nominación ha estado rodeada de polémicas. Muchos alzaron la voz y dijeron que hubieran preferido a un gurú de las finanzas.

Los vínculos de Kashkari con la administración republicana no son nuevos, ya que fue un pequeño financiador electoral del presidente Bush y un dirigente del gigante banco de inversiones Goldman Sachs, al igual que su mentor, el ministro del Tesoro Paulson. Su nominación aún debe ser aprobada en el congreso, pero con la elección presidencial tan próxima los analistas sostienen que no será rechazada.

Bush y Paulson –que lo tiene bajo su órbita– lo han puesto en ese lugar porque, según indicaron voceros de la Casa Blanca, es uno de los arquitectos del salvataje y será un leal ejecutor del plan. También su edad y su relativa inexperiencia han despertado objeciones, ya que el indio está en el Tesoro hace sólo dos años.

El recorrido del subsecretario es un nuevo ejemplo utilizado para mostrar que el “sueño americano” no ha muerto –al menos para algunos–. Neel Kashkari nació en una familia india de Ohio, se casó con una mujer de su misma etnia y vive en Maryland, al lado de Washington. Luego de sus estudios secundarios, Kashkari se recibió como ingeniero en la Universidad de Illinois. Después trabajó en una empresa proveedora de alta tecnología de la NASA, en California, donde estuvo cuatro años. No obstante, el flamante superhombre del subsidio se transformó –junto con el boom económico– en un conocedor de las finanzas: se recibió en la famosa Wharton School de Pittsburg, en Pennsylvania, y luego se incorporó a Goldman Sachs en San Francisco.

En el 2006, Paulson lo llevó como primer asesor en el Tesoro. Según The Wall Street Journal, el indio fue un estrecho colaborador de la Reserva Federal para frenar el desplome, después de haber preparado la intervención del Estado en el mercado.

El plan es conocido de manera irónica como “quiebre de vidrio”, porque rompe la conservadora estructura ideológica de la administración Bush. Prevé que el Tesoro adquiera préstamos –y otros papeles– de difícil cobro o prácticamente incobrables. Una decisión que puso a Paulson, a Bush y a Kashkari en el centro de las críticas de los neoconservadores que incluso llegan a acusarlos de haberse convertido al socialismo.

Robado de Critica

Potemkin

A veces leo otros lugares, mucho, y, la verdad, en gente que se supone tenga 2 dedos de frente leer que algunos trenes funcionan bien, cuando saben positivamente que son de juguete, diria, molesta, o pareceria que viven el mundo a traves de

Pueblo Potemkin

La expresión Pueblo Potemkin o Pueblo de Potemkin o Pueblos Potemkin [del ruso Потёмкинские деревни, pa’tjɔmkɪn, más correcto sería la forma Pueblo Potjomkin] se debe al mariscal duque Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin (1739-1791) para designar aldeas, pueblos, villas inexistentes en Crimea. Algo se define como Pueblo de Potemkin cuando se quiere describir una cosa muy bien presentada para disimular su desastroso estado real. A primera vista parece muy bien acabado y deja a todos impresionados, sin embargo le falta la substancia principal. Es más común la forma plural pueblos Potemkin.

Según una leyenda moderna, en 1787 antes de una visita de su soberana la zarina Catalina II de Rusia, la Grande, Potemkin, el favorito, hizo edificar bastidores/fachadas pintadas a lo largo de la ruta de visita de Catalina la Grande, para presentar pueblos idílicos en la recién conquistada Crimea, pero para encubrir la verdadera situación catastrófica de la región. Esta leyenda fue dada a conocer en la corte por parte de los adversarios de Potemkin, que le envidiaban su buena relación con la zarina.

Potemkin mostraba desde lo alto de una colina a la zarina una aldea de nueva construcción en la que supuestamente vivía gente. El pueblo visto desde cierta distancia tenía un aspecto idílico e impecable. El verlo desde la lejanía se hacía para que la zarina no se mezclara con la gente o también por cuestiones de seguridad. La realidad era que el supuesto pueblo no era más que un bastidor (como los que se emplean en la filmación muchas películas), nada se había hecho para las gentes del pueblo, que además vivían en la más completa miseria. Así pues, durante la visita de Catalina la Grande, visitaron varios de estos pueblos de ficción y que además siempre era el mismo, pues al terminar la visita el pueblo ficticio era desmontado y se volvía a montar en otro emplazamiento distinto que sería visitado después.

La zarina regresó engañada y convencida de que se estaban haciendo políticas correctas para llevar bienestar a su pueblo.

Realmente Potemkin fue un gobernador capaz que hizo mucho por el desarrollo de Crimea. Pero también se dice que Potemkin escaló a los sitios más altos del poder por sus habilidades de amante y no por otros méritos.

de wikipdia

China

Yo se que quizas no es un tema del dia, aca o afuera, pero, es quizas el bosque detras del arbol
textual de ft de hoy

America’s chance to kick its Asian addiction

By David Pilling

Published: October 1 2008 18:43 | Last updated: October 1 2008 18:43

Did America hang itself with Asian rope? I put this to a Chinese official last week and, quick as a flash, he responded: “No. It drowned itself in Asian liquidity.”

Asia’s part in America’s financial downfall has been two-fold. First, shiploads of cheap goods from China and other low-cost producers helped keep a lid on US prices. That lulled the Fed, with its tight focus on the consumer price index, into thinking it could have it both ways: high growth with low inflation.

Second, Asian bank reserves of $4,300bn (£2,400bn, €3,000bn) – enough to fund Treasury secretary Hank Paulson’s bail-out six times over – combined with petrodollars to provide the US with almost endless liquidity. This poured into US Treasuries and Fannie and Freddie bonds, suppressing US interest rates, inflating the housing bubble and funding buy-now pay-later consumption.

Western banks and hedge funds used Asia, particularly Japan, as an enchanted pool of money. Through the so-called carry trade, they dipped their ladles into its ultra-low interest rate waters and splashed the proceeds around on exotic, high-yield instruments. For a while it all worked beautifully. You know the rest.

In one sense, this is a story of Asian prudence versus US recklessness. By accumulating vast savings – China and Japan alone boast 40 per cent of global central bank reserves – Asians have lived below their means so that Americans could live beyond theirs. Asia bankrolled US budget and trade deficits and provided the cash for banks and individuals to go on a spending spree and for Washington to fight wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Arguably, the US overextended itself in international relations and in the management of its domestic situation. It spent way beyond its means,” says Fang Xinghai, director general of Shanghai’s Financial Services Office. “For a while, the US thought this was great and that this trade could go on forever.”

While it lasted, China and others were able to grow at supercharged rates by lending to Americans so that they could import its products. Now that wheeze is over, Asia will suffer too. But even if China, which grew at 12 per cent last year, loses 4 percentage points of growth, it will still be clipping along at 8 per cent. If the US or Europe loses the same amount, it will be deep in recession.

Wall Street’s 9/11 could thus turn out to be an important milestone on the road to Asia’s century. US presidential candidates invoked that possibility last week in their debate. Barack Obama referred to China’s recent space walk as a sign that it was catching up while America floundered. John McCain, attacking waste in Washington, said: “We owe China $500bn.” Mr Obama went one better, saying (more accurately) China “now holds $1,000bn of our national debt”. Linking finance with power, he added: “There has never been a country on earth that saw its economy decline and yet maintained its military superiority.”

There has been a cautious reappraisal in parts of Asia too. “More people understand that America is not as great as it was 10 years ago,” says Shen Dingli of Fudan university in Shanghai. “This is not a time for China to be on a par with America. But the relative shift of the centre of gravity does bring China more confidence.”

For the moment, though, the fates of Asia and the US remain more aligned than opposed. Chinese, Singaporean and other Asian investors have lost billions on their stakes in failing western institutions. Asian governments have insisted on the need for a US bail-out to protect their sovereign investments.

US woes bounce back in other ways, too. In August, Japan recorded its first seasonally adjusted monthly trade deficit in a quarter of a century after shipments to the US slid 22 per cent. Net exports are not expected to contribute anything at all to Chinese growth this year. “China feels the same pain as America,” says Prof Shen. “It is not a case of: ‘Your loss is my win,’ but rather: ‘You lose, I lose.’ ”

More fundamentally, the pattern of flows from Asia to the US and other deficit countries could change. If the US can wean itself off what has been an unhealthy addiction, the shock could yet turn out to be to its long-term advantage. It has already started increasing exports and importing less.

In another sign of change, the big gap between returns that drove Japanese capital to the US has narrowed sharply for bonds and disappeared altogether for equity, says Peter Tasker of Kleinwort Dresdner. “This could be the crumbling of the configuration that has seen capital surplus countries funding US consumption,” he says.

For that to happen Asians would have to start spending more at home. That could be brought about by a deep recession, which would oblige them to run down savings. Alternatively, Asian governments could encourage their citizens to break savings habits and go on a US-style binge.

Chinese citizens, whose consumption accounts for a measly third of national output – against 70 per cent in the US – could certainly spend more. But Beijing, which has already taken steps to prick the housing bubble, appears in no hurry to encourage reckless spending.

Says Mr Fang: “I’m not sure you should encourage people to borrow in order to spend. That is what bankrupted the US.”