Economics | Keys Corner

Rolling over credit card debt

By John, on July 16th, 2005

A common practice in the UK is to use credit cards to pay off credit card debt. The idea is to use the interest-free grace-period of new debts to pay off older debts before interest becomes due on them. The British are, according the Guardian, the most credit-intensive country in the world, with 8 . . . → Read More: Rolling over credit card debt

Get a print while you can

By John, on June 17th, 2005

Digital photography is slowly but surely killing off the traditional variety. In May, AgfaPhoto GmbH (made cameras and film) filed for bankrupy.

Yesterday, Kodak announced that from 2006 they will no longer produce B&W photographic paper: “As the imaging industry transitions from film to digital technologies, demand for B and W paper is . . . → Read More: Get a print while you can

Unhappy customer (2)

By John, on March 25th, 2005

I mentioned last December, that a dissatisfied customer of one of the large asset management specialists in Germany had parked their car, covered in protest slogans, right outside the entrance to their building. The car is still there, but last week the subject of their protest reacted and placed some bushes in pots between . . . → Read More: Unhappy customer (2)

EU wants to make mortgage market more efficient – Schroeder doesn’t

By John, on February 14th, 2005

The EU is planning to shake up the mortgage market (worth 4 trillion Euro, or 40% of EU GDP) by making it easier to get cross-border mortgages. At the moment, only 1% of mortgages are financed from a different country to that where the property is located. Ideally, the reforms will harmonise the legal . . . → Read More: EU wants to make mortgage market more efficient – Schroeder doesn’t

Consequences of an invasion in Iran

By John, on January 30th, 2005

Mark Cliff, chief economist at ING Financial Markets, writes in the Independent today about the possible economic consequences of an invasion of Iran by the USA: …this would imply: a $12 per barrel increase in the oil price, taking West Texas crude up to more than $60 per barrel; a 14 per cent drop . . . → Read More: Consequences of an invasion in Iran

Anti-phishing website

By John, on January 24th, 2005

We have noticed that over the last months that the quality of phishing e-mails (mails which try to get you to type your account names and passwords into fake websites that look just like the web site of your bank or credit card company) has gone from being an obvious fraud (wrong web address . . . → Read More: Anti-phishing website

Tsunami relief league table

By John, on January 7th, 2005

Graphic from today’s Sidney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald has published a graphic showing how much each country has donated as tsunami aid. Interesting to see, since many countries seem to be playing a game of one-upmanship and claiming to be the most generous . . . → Read More: Tsunami relief league table

Cornflake sold on e-bay

By John, on January 1st, 2005

Bill Bennett in the UK has, according to the BBC, just sold a single cornflake for �1.20. This is even more amazing – in terms of the investment to profit ratio – than selling a 50 Euro IKEA voucher for 64 Euro!

World house prices

By John, on December 11th, 2004

The Economist has updated its statistics on the development of house prices world wide. There’s not a huge change in the overall picture. The Australian and British markets are cooling a little, although looking at the year-on-year increases, even Britian and Australia still show a gain over 2003.

Given that the Economist . . . → Read More: World house prices

Apple locks in higher prices in Europe?

By John, on December 5th, 2004

The International Herald Tribune points out that the new G5 iMacs sold in the US and Japan can only handle 110 volt power – all other Apple computers (except eMacs, which are sold to schools) can handle 110V and 220-240V.

It is being speculated that this is an attempt by Apple to lock . . . → Read More: Apple locks in higher prices in Europe?