There is an email doing the rounds at the moment a variation of which I have seen over the years. Nevertheless, it still makes me chuckle. Entitled “economic models explained – an update”, it uses the example of 2 cows to amusingly explain different political and economic systems and country stereotypes. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Do what you do as well as you can
There is a sandwich bar across the road from our office that’s been there longer than we have. When we first moved into Clerkenwell in 1989, the area was a little bit of a ghost town and other than this small sandwich bar and ourselves, there weren’t many businesses at all in the area never mind many that have survived. Continue reading
Filed under Business
Banks again No. 4,672
Last Sunday’s papers contained a number of articles and letters about the new government loan guarantee schemes or at least the existing schemes and how they are being implemented by the banks. Continue reading
Filed under Banks, Business, Credit Crunch, Finance
They’re digging up the road again
They are digging up the road again outside my office. Apart from the noise, dust and traffic disruption, all of which are a real pain, it causes me personally great irritation and annoyance particularly with the knowledge that this is about the 5th time they have dug up this section of road in the last 12 months.
Much as it gives me some pleasure to see people gainfully employed particularly in these difficult times, I don’t see why St John Street in EC1 should on its own solve the unemployment problem. Of course, in reality, the truth is that they seem to be digging up half of London at the moment. It may be something to do with the fact that it’s fast approaching the end of the financial year and many local authorities are probably trying to use up their budgets. However, me being the cynic and sceptic that I am, I think it owes as much to budgetary planning as it does to bad management. How can the same bit of road be dug up so many times for different services.
I’ve said it before and I am going to say it again. In a city really only built for coach and horses in the Victorian era, where traffic, despite the congestion charge, is a major problem, it makes no sense to have half of the roads constantly being worked on.
There must be some way of co-ordinating this activity. In a previous post, I jokingly suggested that there should be a Ministry for Holes in the Road. I now think it’s not such a joke, but a necessity. The costs of constantly digging up roads and filling them in again and the disruption it causes just can’t be justified.
Incidentally, I noted on the roadwork’s a telephone number for any suggestions or complaints. I went to the trouble to telephone it, but there was no reply. I am not sure what that says. Perhaps someone was digging up the road and cut through their phone line.
HG
Filed under Business, Communications, Miscellaneous
One Man Crusade
Whilst some of my posts seem to share some of the doom and gloom in the media and on the discussion boards, I really am on a crusade to try and raise business confidence. Continue reading
Filed under Business, Company Formation, Credit Crunch, Online
How do you feel about politicians running banks
On my recent travels, I met a number of educated Americans who were somewhat concerned about their government’s involvement in the banking sector. As with our situation here, a number of major banking institutions have now effectively been nationalised and as one American put it to me, would you really want these politicians running your business? Continue reading
Filed under Banks, Business, Credit Crunch, Finance
Be Positive
As some of you may know, I have spent most of February in South America. On my travels through Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, it is no surprise that some of my conversations with taxi drivers, in restaurants, at hotels and just with people we met was on the subject of the global economic downturn. Continue reading
Filed under Business, Credit Crunch, Miscellaneous
