From kathleen barrington: 02 May 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
Imagine that you want to place a big bet on a few races.’You hire an expert to advise you which horses to back.You pay him a fee for his advice And you back the horses he has recommended because he says they are the ones most likely to [...]
Touch of deja vu about Goldman Sachs’ stonewalling at the Senate
Business & Economy May 2, 2010The untouchable and the untenable
Business & Economy Apr 25, 2010From kathleen barrington: 25 April 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
One of the many memorable moments in the latest documentary by American filmmaker Michael Moore involves Chris Dodd, a Democrat senator.Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is shown berating bankers for their reckless lending in televised Senate hearings.But Dodd is also named as the beneficiary [...]
The fake wealth of a nation
Business & Economy Apr 18, 2010From kathleen barrington: 18 April 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
I remember the moment in July 2006 when Bank of Ireland reported that Ireland was the second wealthiest of the top eight OECD nations, ahead of Britain, the US, Italy, France, Germany and Canada.The reason I remember it so clearly is that my husband read the story [...]
Homing device bugs the banks
Business & Economy Apr 11, 2010From kathleen barrington: 11 April 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
Charlie Bird entertained a depressed nation during Holy Week when he tried to doorstep former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm, to put questions to him on behalf of the hard-pressed Irish taxpayer.The picture of Bird peering through the glass panes in the hall door of [...]
Quinn’s day of reckoning arrives
Business & Economy Apr 4, 2010From kathleen barrington: Sunday, April 04, 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
The new head of the Financial Regulator at the Central Bank is to be commended for flexing his muscles. In response to fresh doubts about Quinn Insurance’s solvency ratios, he applied to the High Court for the appointment of provisional administrators to the troubled insurance [...]
Quinn’s day of reckoning arrives
Business & Economy Apr 4, 2010From kathleen barrington: Sunday, April 04, 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
The new head of the Financial Regulator at the Central Bank is to be commended for flexing his muscles. In response to fresh doubts about Quinn Insurance’s solvency ratios, he applied to the High Court for the appointment of provisional administrators to the troubled insurance [...]
Lobbyists’ not-so-public affairs
Business & Economy Mar 28, 2010From kathleen barrington: 28 March 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
Last week, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny published the party’s New Politics document, which includes a proposal to register all lobbyists and to ensure their activities are overseen by the Standards in Public Office Commission.Coincidentally, it was launched in the same week that Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast a [...]
Lobbyists’ not-so-public affairs
Business & Economy Mar 28, 2010From kathleen barrington: 28 March 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
Last week, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny published the party’s New Politics document, which includes a proposal to register all lobbyists and to ensure their activities are overseen by the Standards in Public Office Commission.Coincidentally, it was launched in the same week that Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast a [...]
Caught in a web of rapid change
Business & Economy Mar 14, 2010From kathleen barrington: 14 March 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
They say that we tend to overestimate the impact of technology in the short term while underestimating it in the longer term.I was reminded of that adage when I learned that a receiver had been appointed to one of my favourite bookshops, Hughes & Hughes, last month.The [...]
Caught in a web of rapid change
Business & Economy Mar 14, 2010From kathleen barrington: 14 March 2010
By Kathleen Barrington
They say that we tend to overestimate the impact of technology in the short term while underestimating it in the longer term.I was reminded of that adage when I learned that a receiver had been appointed to one of my favourite bookshops, Hughes & Hughes, last month.The [...]
