The Big Picture

Global Monetary Policy Amidst Deflationary Concerns
Love Letters to Richard Dawkins (NSFW)
Uber and the Business Model of Disruption
10 Sunday AM Reads
Can Janet Yellen really help you with your investing?

Global Monetary Policy Amidst Deflationary Concerns

Posted: 02 Feb 2015 02:00 AM PST

Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:00 PM PST

A little counter-programming for those of you not watching the big game:

In a candid moment, filmmaker Eric Preston, founder and producer at Fusion Films, rolls his camera as Dr. Richard Dawkins – Author, Professor and Evolutionary Biologist – again reads “fan mail” he has received from some of his not-so-great admirers. (Parental Discretion is Advised!)

Love Letters to Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, April 11th, 2014

Uber and the Business Model of Disruption

Posted: 01 Feb 2015 06:30 AM PST

My Sunday Washington Post Business Section column is out. This morning, we look at future of business, and the role disruption of entrenched interests is going to play.

The print version had the full headline “On Uber and the business model of disruption” while the online version is merely The future of new business is disrupting old business.

The issue isn’t merely the application of technology, but identifying a business where entrenched incumbents have managed to artificially constrain the proper functioning of markets.

Here’s an excerpt from the column:

“Consider Uber. How are the cabs in your city? In Manhattan, where I work, they are rather awful. They are uncomfortable and not especially safe (who wants to slam his face into a plexiglass wall covered with metal projections?). As bad as they are, they are typically unavailable when you need one. The second it begins to rain, it is nearly impossible to find one. And what idiot decided to do shift changes at 5 p.m. — right at the start of rush hour, when swarms of riders need cars, all of whom are unavailable as they are returning to the outer boroughs for their daily change of drivers?

But the biggest inefficiency is the limit on the total number of cabs, as mandated by Taxi and Limousine Commission rules. Hence, that monopoly supply limitation thwarted competition, reduced the available number of cars and allowed the value of medallions to skyrocket. The cabs are dirty and ugly, and the service is awful, but at least they are expensive and unavailable when you need one!

Until Uber rolled in. Since then, the value of a medallion has fallen substantially. The same is true in other cities where Uber operates…”

When “Rentiers” can limit supply, reduce competitors, or thwart new entrants, they can extract monopoly profits. Technology an break that artifice of the market.

Go read the entire thing.

Source:
The future of new business is disrupting old business
Barry Ritholtz
Washington Post, February 1 2015
http://wapo.st/1JUoWz0

10 Sunday AM Reads

Posted: 01 Feb 2015 04:30 AM PST

Pour some coffee, settle in for some Sunday morning reads:

• Fed Up: How Will Rising Interest Rates Affect Stocks? (WSJ)
• Lies Investors Tell Themselves (A Wealth of Common Sense) see also Bad Assumptions (stratechery)
• Go For the Value (Irrelevant Investor)
• The History Of The American Economy, Told Through Super Bowl Ads (Buzzfeed)
• Bloomberg Business' new look has made a splash — but don't just call it a redesign (Nieman Lab) see also Bloomberg Business’ new site design is beautifully bizarre — and it’s begging for haters (Venture Beat)
• The Street's Due-Process Joke: Investors who sue their brokers must accept an arbitration process run by officials appointed in an inscrutable manner. Why help is needed. (Barron’s)
• It Looks Like An Armed Chinese-Made Drone Crashed In Nigeria (Business Insider)
• Getting Ready for the Super Bowl: A Cameraman Preps for Chasing the Quarterback (WSJ)
• Most Republicans Say They Back Climate Action, Poll Finds (NY Times) see also 10 Facts That Will Blow Right-Wingers’ Minds (Alternet)
• Grandma’s Experiences Leave Epigenetic Mark on Your Genes (Discover Magazine)