Weekend links and other

I am sorry to report my old laptop is near death. Those of you who knew my computer will be surprised to learn it has lasted as long as it has. I am transferring over files.

The weekend news is mainly football news this week:

1. Clarence Seedorf is studying for his MBA at Bocconi.
2. Eric Abidal has surgery for a liver tumor (http://bit.ly/hLXG0x). Early reports are positive.
3. Bryan Robson has surgery for throat cancer (http://bit.ly/dYWodt).
4. There's a movie out about Ferenc Puskas's life-”Puskas Hungary.” It includes some archival footage. It's only available in the original language, as far as I know.
5. There's a movie about Yugoslavia going to the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay-”Montevideo, bog te video Prica prva [2010] domaci film.” It's also available in the original language only.

Other:

1. Books on India (http://bit.ly/fA0KlH & http://bit.ly/eisUJy).
2. Steve McQueen's Porsche (http://bit.ly/dH9qX1). I have a Toyota Celica, BTW.
3. How to hack a car (http://bit.ly/fOvpki).
4. Leadership crisis everywhere? http://bit.ly/gK6YTv.
5. Who watches the watchers? How do you pick the experts to pick the experts? Who authenticates the authenticators? http://bit.ly/fZCCHF.
6. Life in the US has changed a lot in the last 50 years. David Leonhardt says it has changed even more in the poorest countries (http://nyti.ms/hZUlg9).
7. Price-to-rent ratios for housing in various countries (http://bit.ly/hvQab5).

TTFN (Ta-ta for now),

Brad

Thank you notes

Lucy Kellaway, today in the Financial Times, wrote about thank-you notes and how she enjoys receiving them.

She talked about Doug Conant, currently the CEO of Campbell Soup (but who is set to retire in July 2011), who writes thank-you notes religiously. Here is an article about Conant. The stuff about thank-you notes is in the last section "The importance of failure": http://bit.ly/faKbVZ.

Thank you notes might be culturally dependent.

Thank you and have a nice day,

Brad

Experts

A TED talk by Noreena Hertz on experts: http://bit.ly/i6nKF8.

There's always been logical problems with experts. For instance, how
are you going to pick your expert? Do you pick an expert to pick the
expert? And so on...

The expert problems would be made simpler if we looked at experts as
teachers, rather than as priests.

For me, Hertz wanders from talking about experts to talking about
decision making in organizations.

Brad

Weekend links

Discovery's final launch.

Saif Ghadafi's PhD thesis at LSE was plagiarized.

The latest from "Merle Hazzard." (see, there's this Country and Western singer named Merle Haggard, and there's this economic concept of moral hazzard, so it's a pun) (HT: Greg Mankiw)

Mazda recalls because of spiders.

A Federal study says more young people in the US "scorn sex."

More ethical and legal problems for expert networks and hedge funds.

A cool newspaper map.

A Boston Globe editorial on the Monitor Group and Libya.

The Monitor Group.

Brad

Weekend Links, for Fun

Peggy Lee sings Black Coffee: http://bit.ly/fnzuEE

Deep water delights: http://bit.ly/ikohB3

Most expensive car crash ever: http://read.bi/frfYna

How to foreclose on a bank in the US (it's not easy, you have to beat
their lawyers at their game): http://bit.ly/faLvZN

The guy who beat Wells Fargo's lawyers and foreclosed on one of their
branches: http://bit.ly/ecJP9R

Have a good week-end,

Brad

Ask an economist for marital advice

On "General Theory of the Second Best," I told the story of a female
economist who went to Gary Becker for marital advice. At the time, I
couldn't find the reference, so I told the story as I recalled it.

The nature of the Second Best is that, in the real world, the Second
Best is often better than the pristine best, shown in the academic
world. So, I wanted a real world example. Something on the hoof, as we
say here in the US.

Now I've found the actual reference. It's here: http://bit.ly/hicwjJ.
I guess you can decide if it's an example of the second best being
better than the best in the real world or not.

Brad

The Financial Crisis in Ireland

according to Michael Lewis: http://bit.ly/ha76Ic.

from Vanity Fair.

Brad