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Sunday, October 30, 2011

What's "reasonable" growth in China?

General Motors sees 7-10 percent growth in China car market: CEO - chicagotribune.com: "General Motors Co sees growth of between 7 percent to 10 percent in China's car market this year, its chief executive said on Sunday.

"In 2009 it grew 50 percent, 2010 it grew roughly 30 percent, that's not all good either. You can't have totally unbridled growth in a country evolving as quickly as China," Daniel Akerson told reporters in Shanghai.

"Our guess is it will probably be closer to 7 to 10 percent growth in the market and I think that's very healthy," Akerson said.

General Motors said it had sold 240,244 vehicles in China during the month of September, up 15.3 percent from a year earlier. GM makes vehicles in China in partnership with SAIC Motor Corp <600104.SS> and FAW Group.

China's overall vehicle market sizzled in 2010 with 18 million units sold. But it has now reverted to a more subdued growth pattern after the government ended tax incentives for small car sales and subsidies for van buyers in rural areas."

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Rethinking the "austerity measures" in UK

100 leading economists tell George Osborne: we must turn to Plan B | Politics | The Observer: "Condemning the intransigence of the chancellor, George Osborne, as he pursues the coalition government's austerity programme, the economists write: "It is now clear that Plan A isn't working. Wave after wave of economic figures… have all concluded the British economy is faltering." And they warn: "Doing nothing is not an option."

They call on the government to consider a host of measures proposed by a body of academics and economists brought together by the left-leaning thinktank Compass. The proposals, in a manifesto entitled "Plan B: a good economy for a good society", will be launched in London on Monday. They include:"

■ An immediate halt to cuts, to protect jobs in the public sector.

• A new round of quantitative easing to finance a "Green New Deal" to create thousands of new jobs.

• Benefit increases to put money into the pockets of those on lower and middle incomes and give a boost to spending.

• A financial transaction tax to raise funds from the City to pay for investment in transport, energy and house building.

The call for a new approach comes as the UK economy's sluggish recovery shows signs of stalling altogether amid the fallout from the eurozone crisis. Consumer spending has fallen as wages fail to keep up with inflation, and low to middle-earners have endured the biggest squeeze on living standards for decades.

Ministers are bracing themselves for further bad news this week with the publication by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)of the latest growth statistics. It is anticipated that GDP will have grown by just 0.3% between July and September, representing a modest increase on the 0.1% in the previous quarter.

The letter from the economists, including former European Investment Bank consultant Dr Ha-Joon Chang urges the government to engage with new ideas on stimulating growth, and warns the chancellor that his policies may push the country into further deficit rather than erase the national debt.

A picture is worth ...7 billion

Picture of the day: Why living on top of one another is a growing concern - Asia, World - The Independent: "In Shanghai, the world's most populated city in China, the planet's most populated country, this photograph of a residential building not only captures a snapshot of daily life in a metropolis filled with more than 23 million people.

The stacks of uniform apartments, seemingly endless, serve as a reminder of the challenges the planet faces when the world's population reaches seven billion as of tomorrow.

The figure, calculated by the United Nations Population Fund, is among several startling facts to emerge this week; the earth's present population is double what it was 50 years ago, seven times higher than it was 200 years ago, and it could grow to 15 billion by 2100."

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The many faces and FINES of Citi

A search in Google using the phrase "citi fined" showed 7160 results. with fines coming from many countries. A sample follows. NYT columnist Mr. Friedman notes, in his article, Did You Hear the One About the Bankers? - NYTimes.com: "Our Congress today is a forum for legalized bribery. One consumer group using information from Opensecrets.org calculates that the financial services industry, including real estate, spent $2.3 billion on federal campaign contributions from 1990 to 2010, which was more than the health care, energy, defense, agriculture and transportation industries combined. Why are there 61 members on the House Committee on Financial Services? So many congressmen want to be in a position to sell votes to Wall Street."

The outstanding actions of the bankers, particularly Citi, needs to be "rewarded."

Citi to pay $285 million over SEC charges - MarketWatch: "Citigroup Inc. on Wednesday agreed to pay a $285 million fine to settle civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it sold securities backed by mortgages that it simultaneously bet against.

The regulator alleges that Citigroup Global Markets structured and marketed a $500 million collateralized debt obligation that was backed by subprime loans, and then bet against those mortgage-related assets, which it didn’t disclose to investors."According to the agency, one trader in an email called the portfolio “dogsh!t” and “possibly the best short ever.”

The CDO in question defaulted within months, leaving investors with losses while Citigroup (NYSE:C) made $160 million in fees and trading profits, according to the SEC. The fine will be used to reimburse investors.

The SEC also charged Brian Stoker, the Citigroup employee primarily responsible for structuring the CDO transaction.

A lawyer for Stoker said he’s contesting the charges.

“He was not responsible for any alleged wrongdoing - he did not control or trade the position, did not prepare the disclosures and did not select the assets,” said Fraser Hunter of WilmerHale.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) , the collateral manager, was fined $2.5 million because it allowed Citi to influence the portfolio and also was responsible for disclosure. Samir H. Bhatt, the portfolio manager at Credit Suisse mostly responsible, agreed to a six-month suspension as an investment adviser and a $50,000 fine.

A spokesman for Credit Suisse declined to comment.

The fine is the agency’s third largest since the financial crisis, trailing only the $550 million Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) paid to settle charges relating from a similar case of structuring a housing-backed investment gone bad, and the $300 million State Street Corp. (NYSE:STT) paid over allegations that it misled investors over a money-market fund that was invested in subprime loans.


Citi Slapped with $500K Fine: "The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has assessed a $500,000 fine against Citigroup for its failure to pick up on an internal fraud event that lasted more than eight years.

According to FINRA, Citi's negligence in adequately supervising Tamara Moon, a former sales assistant at a Citi branch in Palo Alto, Calif., resulted in $749,978 being skimmed from the accounts of 22 Citi customers. Moon allegedly falsified account records and performed unauthorized trades that targeted elderly, ill or "otherwise vulnerable" accountholders."


FT.com / Companies / Banks - Citi fined amid tax crackdown: "Citigroup is to be fined over derivatives transactions that were partly designed to help foreign clients avoid taxes on dividends in a move that could herald a wider crackdown against Wall Street banks that used similar strategies.

The $600,000 fine by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees broker-dealers, comes after the US authorities hardened their stance on offshore tax operations with a series of actions over the past few months."

RBI fines Citi 25L in Gurgaon fraud case - The Times of India: "MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on Citibank for violating "know your customer" and anti-money laundering norms while opening accounts which led to the Gurgaon fraud.

According to sources, RBI had issued a show-cause notice to the bank on April 21 seeking to know why a fine of Rs 50 lakh should not be imposed on the bank. Based on the facts of the case and the bank's reply and also oral submissions made during the personal hearings held on June 7, 2011, RBI came to the conclusion that the violations were substantiated but brought down the penalty to Rs 25 lakh. "

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The pipe dream that wasn't

America’s Exploding Pipe Dream - NYTimes.com: "Poor policies and poor choices have led to exceedingly poor outcomes. Our societal chickens have come home to roost.

This was underscored in a report released on Thursday by the Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation of Germany entitled “Social Justice in the OECD — How Do the Member States Compare?” It analyzed some metrics of basic fairness and equality among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries and ranked America among the ones at the bottom.

I could write (and have written) ad nauseam about our woeful state, but it might be more powerful to see it for yourself. So here are some of the sad data from the report."

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Scandal-less White House, per Mr. Alter

Obama Miracle is White House Free of Scandal: Jonathan Alter - Bloomberg: "Even so, the president’s Teflon is intriguing. How did we end up in such a scandal-less state? After investigating the question for a recent Washington Monthly article, I’ve been developing some theories.
For starters, the tone is always set at the top. Obama puts a premium on personal integrity, and with a few exceptions (Tim Geithner’s tax problems in 2009) his administration tends to fire first and ask questions later. The best known example is Shirley Sherrod, the Agriculture Department official who was mistakenly fired by her boss over a miscommunication that led higher-ups to believe -- wrongly -- that she had made inappropriate racially tinged remarks. In several other cases, the decision to give staffers accused of wrongdoing the boot was made within hours, taking the air out of any possible uproar."

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Friday, October 28, 2011

anti-corruption samba

Brazil is the latest country to get angry about corruption | World news | The Guardian: "
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's first working-class president, enjoyed a particularly turbulent relationship with the magazine during his eight years in office. "Let's be frank, some of Veja's journalists deserve the Nobel prize for irresponsibility," Lula said in 2006, following a story claiming that he and his allies held secret overseas bank accounts. "Veja does not publish accusations. Veja publishes lies."

Alcântara has kinder words for Rousseff, Lula's successor, who has embarked upon what has been dubbed a "house cleaning", ejecting a total of six ministers during her 10 months in power.

"It seems to me that she is much more intolerant with corruption than [Lula]," he said. "Dilma, in both word and action, has shown much greater intolerance and a greater understanding of the disgrace that corruption is in this country. There now exists a strong awareness, and I think much of it is down to the president, that this kind of extortion is unacceptable."

Rousseff's stance against sleaze and the near constant media coverage has bolstered a wave of protests across Brazil."

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Nice perks, UK style

Margaret Thatcher's £500,000 expenses claim revealed | Politics | The Guardian: "Lady Thatcher has claimed more than half a million pounds from a taxpayer-funded allowance for former British prime ministers, official figures reveal.

Thatcher heads a list of former prime ministers who have claimed £1.7m in the past five years from the public duties cost allowance, set up to cover office and secretarial costs incurred for public duties.

Figures revealed by the Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, in response to a written parliamentary question by the Conservative MP Philip Hollobone, show that Thatcher has received £535,000 from the state since 2006, and John Major, who set up the allowance in 1991, has received £490,000. Tony Blair has claimed since 2007 and received £273,000. The figures reveal he received £169,076 in 2008-9, more than his salary in office."

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Entrepreneurs, or criminals?

Rock Center with Brian Williams: "A curious global industry has emerged that caters to wealthy foreign women willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to give birth in the United States and get instant U.S. citizenship for their babies. The hefty price is worth it, according to these women, because it paves the way for easy access to American public schools, universities and jobs as the children get older and green cards for the whole family once the child turns 21.

The women stay at controversial birth tourism centers, often hidden in suburbia. The centers have riled neighbors and ignited outrage on Capitol Hill.

“They are gaming the system…and people should be put in jail,” said Representative Phil Gingrey (R-Ga), one of several members of Congress trying to put an end to birth tourism. "

5,000 jobs, caught in a Whirlpool

Whirlpool to cut 5,000 jobs to reduce costs - Yahoo! Finance: "Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. plans to cut 5,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its workforce in North America and Europe, as it faces soft demand and higher costs for materials.

The world's biggest appliance maker also on Friday cut its 2011 earnings outlook drastically and reported third-quarter results that missed expectations, hurt by higher costs and a slowdown in emerging markets. Shares fell 12 percent in midday trading.

The company, whose brands include Maytag and KitchenAid, has, like other appliance makers, been squeezed by soft U.S. demand since the recession and rising costs for materials such as steel and copper. Due to its size, Whirlpool's performance provides a window on the economy because it indicates whether consumers are comfortable spending on big-ticket items."

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

One more person joining the drumbeat- the system in place is not capitalism but "capitalize profits, socialize losses"


Back on 6/25/08 this author had written a piece titled "Capitalism for the C_Os, Socialism for the Rest of Us" wherein he discussed how the Chiefs made off with the loot while the public was stuck with the losses. Three and a half years later, the NYT Op-Ed Columnist Mr. Kristof writes about the same theme. He should note that this was figured out and mentioned by quite a few folks a long time ago.

Crony Capitalism Comes Home - NYTimes.com: "So I’d like to invite the finance ministers of Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia — whom I and other Americans deemed emblems of crony capitalism in the 1990s — to stand up and denounce American crony capitalism today.

Capitalism is so successful an economic system partly because of an internal discipline that allows for loss and even bankruptcy. It’s the possibility of failure that creates the opportunity for triumph. Yet many of America’s major banks are too big to fail, so they can privatize profits while socializing risk.

The upshot is that financial institutions boost leverage in search of supersize profits and bonuses. Banks pretend that risk is eliminated because it’s securitized. Rating agencies accept money to issue an imprimatur that turns out to be meaningless. The system teeters, and then the taxpayer rushes in to bail bankers out. Where’s the accountability?"

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Strong competition...for the most stupid candidate of the century

Political Humor - Jokes Satire and Political Cartoons: "A roundup of the most ridiculous things said so far by the 2012 Republican presidential candidates:

"The president, he put us in Libya. He is now putting us in Africa." —Michele Bachmann, unaware that Libya is in Africa (GOP presidential debate, Oct. 18, 2011)


Political Humor - Jokes Satire and Political Cartoons: "Yes. Yes I feel that strongly about it. If we can get the necessary support and it comes to my desk I'll sign it. That's all I can do. I will sign it." —Herman Cain, speaking about a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Presidents, however, do not sign constitutional amendments — they're passed by congress and must be ratified by the states, and the president plays no role in the process. (Oct. 22, 2011)

"It's a good issue to keep alive. It's fun to poke at him." —Rick Perry, suggesting that President Obama's birth certificate is a fake (Oct. 26, 2011)

"Corporations are people, my friend... of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings, my friend." —Mitt Romney to a heckler at the Iowa State Fair who suggested that taxes should be raised on corporations as part of balancing the budget (Aug. 11, 2011)
"

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Balancing act, the Chinese way

Reality bites: China orders crackdown on 'vulgar' TV shows | World news | The Guardian: "Sick of tacky reality shows with egotistic wannabes? Tired of formulaic talent contests for shameless show-offs? If you feel the prime time schedules are packed with lowest common denominator viewing, you are not alone.

Chinese officials share your pain and have ordered a curb on popular entertainment shows. Out go sexy dating shows and lurid programmes on crime. In come art appreciation, astronomy and weekly "morality building shows".

The new edict from the state broadcasting watchdog is expected to come into force on 1 January. Provincial channels will be allowed to show no more than two entertainment shows in the "golden time" between 7.30pm and 10pm, according to a report on the Chinese NetEase website. Particular types of programmes, such as dating shows, will be strictly limited; no more than 10 talent contests will be permitted nationwide per year, and each must be of a different kind."

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The "Deregulate-Privatize" crowd's Game-plan: Squeezing Public Education and Boosting Private, for Profit Education

College prices up again as states slash budgets - Yahoo! Finance: " Average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose an additional $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago.

Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, according to the twin annual reports on college costs and student aid published Wednesday by the College Board.

The large increase in federal grants and tax credits for students, on top of stimulus dollars that prevented greater state cuts, helped keep the average tuition-and-fees that families actually pay much lower: about $2,490, or just $170 more than five years ago. But the days of states and families relying on budget relief from Washington appear numbered. And some argue that while Washington's largesse may have helped some students, it did little to hold down prices.
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O(pportunistic)bama

Obama tells students: 'I need your voices' - Yahoo! Finance: "President Barack Obama urged thousands of enthusiastic college students Wednesday to make their voices heard, telling a boisterous crowd in Denver, "Young people, I need you guys involved."

"I need you active, I need you communicating to Congress, I need you to get the word out," Obama said at the University of Colorado, Denver. "Tweet `em. They're all tweeting all over the place, you tweet `em back."

The president took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves to address the crowd of about 4,000 at a gymnasium at the university, the last stop in a three-day swing through the West that mixed high-dollar fundraising with new announcements of modest executive actions to circumvent Congress. To the university crowd, Obama rolled out plans to help students with loan debt.

"We can't wait for Congress to do its job, so where they won't act, I will," Obama said.

"I am going to keep doing everything in my power to make a difference for the American people, but Denver I need your help," the president said."

The crowd was friendly and loud, but partway through, protesters started shouting about a planned oil pipeline from western Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast that's drawn demonstrations around the country and outside the White House. "Say no to the pipeline!" one shouted, and they held aloft a banner reading: "Stop the Keystone Pipeline Project."

Obama paused to respond. "We're looking at it right now. No decision's been made and I know your deep concern about it so we will address it," he said. The protesters were escorted out.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Opposing emission targets, promoting pollutiion

US joins India, China in opposing emission binding targets by 2015 - The Times of India: "NEW DELHI: A unique alliance of countries - India, China, Brazil, the US, UAE, Indonesia and South Korea -- has come about against the EU proposal to impose internationally binding targets to reduce emissions for developed and developing countries under a new treaty by 2015.

The countries came together to oppose the proposal at the recently concluded talks in Cape Town - a ministerial level consultation just before the formal UN talks on climate change commence in November -- to start negotiations for a new treaty that would be signed by 2015."

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No drug needed to figure out this Novartis action

Novartis to Cut 2,000 Swiss, U.S. Jobs, Add Staff in China - Bloomberg: "“Job cuts are happening in almost all large pharma companies,” said Tim Race, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in London. “It’s a consequence of squeezing prices, squeezing profitability. Pharma companies are reacting to maximize profitability, which is something they should be doing anyway.” He recommends buying Novartis shares.
Novartis will eliminate 1,100 jobs in Switzerland, with the balance in the U.S., Jimenez said. Some research will be moved to the U.S. from Switzerland, and reductions will be made in technical research and development, data management, clinical trial monitoring, drug safety and regulatory affairs. Novartis will add 700 positions in China and India in data management and trial monitoring, he said."

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Monday, October 24, 2011

Crazy but not "water"ed economics

To Get Water to Cities, California Farmers Paid Not to Plant - NYTimes.com: "With water increasingly scarce in the West, some other communities are allowing farmers to sell their allotment of it for whatever price they can find, in some cases thousands of dollars for the amount it takes to grow an acre of a crop. But this comes with a hitch. Working farms provide jobs and income to their many suppliers. There are 450 farmers in the Imperial Valley, but half the jobs held by the 174,000 residents are tied to agriculture.

When land is idled, the communities around the farms can wither. Residents here point to the neighboring Palo Verde Valley, where farmers can sell more than a quarter of their water supply at much higher prices in a process they control. As a result, nearly a third of the agricultural land was not farmed this year; over time, businesses and workers have suffered."

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The great lessons from President Cristina Kirchner: n history, you always must be bigger still – more generous, more thoughtful, more thankful."

Cristina Kirchner re-elected as Argentina's president in landslide | World news | guardian.co.uk: "The Argentinian president, Cristina Kirchner, has been re-elected with one of the widest victory margins in the country's history, a triumph that vindicated her message that she is best able to keep spreading the wealth of an economic boom.

Kirchner had nearly 54% of the votes cast in Sunday's election after almost 97% of polling stations had reported. Her nearest challenger got just under 17%.

"We need everyone to comprehend … that because of the popular will and this political decision, you can count on me to continue deepening this national project for the 40 million Argentines," she vowed in her victory speech before thousands of supporters on Sunday night.

The goal of this "project" is to profoundly change society by using Argentina's resources to raise incomes, create jobs, restore the country's industrial capacity, reduce poverty and maintain an economic boom that has seen the country grow and reduce poverty."

Since she and her predecessor as president, her husband Néstor Kirchner, first moved into Argentina's presidential palace in 2003, the income gap between the country's rich and poor has been reduced by nearly half. Meanwhile, according to the International Monetary Fund's numbers for 2002-2011, Argentina's real GDP has grown 94%, the fastest in the western hemisphere and about twice the rate of Brazil, which has also grown substantially, the economist Mark Weisbrot said.

The US president, Barack Obama, "could take a lesson from this", said Weisbrot, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "It's an old-fashioned message of democracy: you deliver what you promise and people vote for you. It's kind of forgotten here in the US."

Kirchner noted that she is Latin America's first woman to be re-elected as president, but described the victory as bittersweet, since Kirchner, who died of a heart attack almost a year ago, wasn't there to share it.

"This man who transformed Argentina led us all and gave everything he had and more," she said. "Without him, without his valour and courage, it would have been impossible to get to this point."

Thousands of jubilant, flag-waving people crowded into the capital's historic Plaza de Mayo to watch on a huge TV screen as she spoke from a downtown hotel, where her supporters interrupted so frequently with their chants that she told them off. She said: "The worst that people can be is small. In history, you always must be bigger still – more generous, more thoughtful, more thankful."

WHat's the capacity of Earth?

PhotoBlog: "Room for more? Squeeze in, the world population is about to hit 7 billion"

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An interesting paper on carbon emissions

Groundbreaking data tracks carbon emissions back to their source | Duncan Clark | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "Which of the following accounts for the largest share of the UK's carbon footprint? All our holiday flights, all the power used in our homes or … Russia?

Okay, so it's kind of a trick question, but according to a scientific paper published this week, we might reasonably conclude that the answer is Russia – though to understand why it's necessary to go back a couple of steps.

For the purposes of the Kyoto treaty, a nation's carbon footprint is considered to be a sum of all the greenhouse gas released within its borders. But as many people – myself included – have been pointing out for years, that approach ignores all the laptops, leggings, lampshades and other goods that rich countries import from China and elsewhere."

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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Land of Poor and Plenty (of Lamborghinis)

Lamborghini to Drive Alongside Rickshaws in India - Bloomberg: "Lamborghini SpA sees opportunity in the streets of Mumbai, where three-wheeled rickshaws zigzag through bumper-to-bumper traffic on pot-hole-infested roads.
Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s supercar maker plans to open its second dealership in India this year to meet increased demand for cars including the 36.9-million rupee ($750,600) Aventador, said Mohan Mariwala, managing director of Lamborghini Mumbai. Ferrari SpA, which opened its first dealership in the country in May, says it plans to open four more by the end of next year.
The surging number of millionaires, projected to more than double in India by 2015, is prompting supercar makers to expand in a country where the World Bank estimates more than 75 percent of people live on less than $2 a day. The demand for top-end models is a contrast to overall car deliveries, which have declined three straight months on higher borrowing costs.
“The wealth at the top of the pyramid is growing at a much faster pace,” said Deepesh Rathore, the New Delhi-based managing director in India for IHS Automotive. “Every month there is a new segment of buyers for these cars. People don’t take out loans to buy a Lamborghini.”"

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A reflection of the new China

Chinese toddler ignored after hit-and-run dies | The Salt Lake Tribune: "A toddler who was twice run over by vans and then ignored by passers-by on a busy market street died Friday a week after the accident and after days of bitter soul-searching over declining morality in China.

The Guangzhou Military District General Hospital said that the 2-year-old girl, Wang Yue, died of brain and organ failure. "Her injuries were too severe and the treatment had no effect," intensive care unit director Su Lei told reporters.

The plight of the child, nicknamed Yueyue, came to symbolize what many Chinese see as a decay in public morals after heady decades of economic growth and rising prosperity.

Gruesome closed-circuit camera video of last Thursday's accident, aired on television and posted on the Internet, showed Yueyue toddling along the hardware market street in the southern city of Foshan. A van strikes her, slows and then resumes driving, rolling its back right wheel over the child. Over the next seven minutes, as she lay with blood pooling, 18 people walk or cycle by and another van strikes her before a scrap picker scoops her up as the girl's mother rushes into the street looking for her."

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Going low-tech in the land of hi-tech

At Waldorf School in Silicon Valley, Technology Can Wait - NYTimes.com: "Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix.

This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of around 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.

The Waldorf method is nearly a century old, but its foothold here among the digerati puts into sharp relief an intensifying debate about the role of computers in education.

“I fundamentally reject the notion you need technology aids in grammar school,” said Alan Eagle, 50, whose daughter, Andie, is one of the 196 children at the Waldorf elementary school; his son William, 13, is at the nearby middle school. “The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.”

Mr. Eagle knows a bit about technology. He holds a computer science degree from Dartmouth and works in executive communications at Google, where he has written speeches for the chairman, Eric E. Schmidt. He uses an iPad and a smartphone. But he says his daughter, a fifth grader, “doesn’t know how to use Google,” and his son is just learning. (Starting in eighth grade, the school endorses the limited use of gadgets.)

Three-quarters of the students here have parents with a strong high-tech connection. Mr. Eagle, like other parents, sees no contradiction. Technology, he says, has its time and place: “If I worked at Miramax and made good, artsy, rated R movies, I wouldn’t want my kids to see them until they were 17.”

While other schools in the region brag about their wired classrooms, the Waldorf school embraces a simple, retro look — blackboards with colorful chalk, bookshelves with encyclopedias, wooden desks filled with workbooks and No. 2 pencils.

On a recent Tuesday, Andie Eagle and her fifth-grade classmates refreshed their knitting skills, crisscrossing wooden needles around balls of yarn, making fabric swatches. It’s an activity the school says helps develop problem-solving, patterning, math skills and coordination. The long-term goal: make socks.

Down the hall, a teacher drilled third-graders on multiplication by asking them to pretend to turn their bodies into lightning bolts. She asked them a math problem — four times five — and, in unison, they shouted “20” and zapped their fingers at the number on the blackboard. A roomful of human calculators.

In second grade, students standing in a circle learned language skills by repeating verses after the teacher, while simultaneously playing catch with bean bags. It’s an exercise aimed at synchronizing body and brain. Here, as in other classes, the day can start with a recitation or verse about God that reflects a nondenominational emphasis on the divine.

Andie’s teacher, Cathy Waheed, who is a former computer engineer, tries to make learning both irresistible and highly tactile. Last year she taught fractions by having the children cut up food — apples, quesadillas, cake — into quarters, halves and sixteenths.

“For three weeks, we ate our way through fractions,” she said. “When I made enough fractional pieces of cake to feed everyone, do you think I had their attention?”

Some education experts say that the push to equip classrooms with computers is unwarranted because studies do not clearly show that this leads to better test scores or other measurable gains.

Is learning through cake fractions and knitting any better? The Waldorf advocates make it tough to compare, partly because as private schools they administer no standardized tests in elementary grades. And they would be the first to admit that their early-grade students may not score well on such tests because, they say, they don’t drill them on a standardized math and reading curriculum.

When asked for evidence of the schools’ effectiveness, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America points to research by an affiliated group showing that 94 percent of students graduating from Waldorf high schools in the United States between 1994 and 2004 attended college, with many heading to prestigious institutions like Oberlin, Berkeley and Vassar.

Of course, that figure may not be surprising, given that these are students from families that value education highly enough to seek out a selective private school, and usually have the means to pay for it. And it is difficult to separate the effects of the low-tech instructional methods from other factors. For example, parents of students at the Los Altos school say it attracts great teachers who go through extensive training in the Waldorf approach, creating a strong sense of mission that can be lacking in other schools.

Absent clear evidence, the debate comes down to subjectivity, parental choice and a difference of opinion over a single world: engagement. Advocates for equipping schools with technology say computers can hold students’ attention and, in fact, that young people who have been weaned on electronic devices will not tune in without them.

Ann Flynn, director of education technology for the National School Boards Association, which represents school boards nationwide, said computers were essential. “If schools have access to the tools and can afford them, but are not using the tools, they are cheating our children,” Ms. Flynn said.

Paul Thomas, a former teacher and an associate professor of education at Furman University, who has written 12 books about public educational methods, disagreed, saying that “a spare approach to technology in the classroom will always benefit learning.”

“Teaching is a human experience,” he said. “Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking.”

And Waldorf parents argue that real engagement comes from great teachers with interesting lesson plans.

“Engagement is about human contact, the contact with the teacher, the contact with their peers,” said Pierre Laurent, 50, who works at a high-tech start-up and formerly worked at Intel and Microsoft. He has three children in Waldorf schools, which so impressed the family that his wife, Monica, joined one as a teacher in 2006.

And where advocates for stocking classrooms with technology say children need computer time to compete in the modern world, Waldorf parents counter: what’s the rush, given how easy it is to pick up those skills?

“It’s supereasy. It’s like learning to use toothpaste,” Mr. Eagle said. “At Google and all these places, we make technology as brain-dead easy to use as possible. There’s no reason why kids can’t figure it out when they get older.”

There are also plenty of high-tech parents at a Waldorf school in San Francisco and just north of it at the Greenwood School in Mill Valley, which doesn’t have Waldorf accreditation but is inspired by its principles.

California has some 40 Waldorf schools, giving it a disproportionate share — perhaps because the movement is growing roots here, said Lucy Wurtz, who, along with her husband, Brad, helped found the Waldorf high school in Los Altos in 2007. Mr. Wurtz is chief executive of Power Assure, which helps computer data centers reduce their energy load.

The Waldorf experience does not come cheap: annual tuition at the Silicon Valley schools is $17,750 for kindergarten through eighth grade and $24,400 for high school, though Ms. Wurtz said financial assistance was available. She says the typical Waldorf parent, who has a range of elite private and public schools to choose from, tends to be liberal and highly educated, with strong views about education; they also have a knowledge that when they are ready to teach their children about technology they have ample access and expertise at home.

The students, meanwhile, say they don’t pine for technology, nor have they gone completely cold turkey. Andie Eagle and her fifth-grade classmates say they occasionally watch movies. One girl, whose father works as an Apple engineer, says he sometimes asks her to test games he is debugging. One boy plays with flight-simulator programs on weekends.

The students say they can become frustrated when their parents and relatives get so wrapped up in phones and other devices. Aurad Kamkar, 11, said he recently went to visit cousins and found himself sitting around with five of them playing with their gadgets, not paying attention to him or each other. He started waving his arms at them: “I said: ‘Hello guys, I’m here.’ ”

Finn Heilig, 10, whose father works at Google, says he liked learning with pen and paper — rather than on a computer — because he could monitor his progress over the years.

“You can look back and see how sloppy your handwriting was in first grade. You can’t do that with computers ’cause all the letters are the same,” Finn said. “Besides, if you learn to write on paper, you can still write if water spills on the computer or the power goes out.”


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Striving for opportunities for the differently abled

The Hindu : Life & Style / Society : She makes the difference: "In 1995, she began the Ability Foundation. Her first project was a magazine for and about the disabled. She says, “While there were magazines on every available subject, there was nothing for people with disabilities. And what little was written made them out to be either objects of pity or super heroes. But, you know, differently-abled people are no different from anyone else. As a person with disability myself, I know how society conditions us to believe we cannot do anything. I jumped into this primarily to show that there was a positive side to disability; that we could do the same things and have the same needs and desires as ‘normal' people.” And then emphatically, “I hate the word ‘normal'.”

Bringing the magazine out was a huge task — “people thought I was crazy” — but this led Jayshree to tap into a network of people with disabilities and people who work for them."

“When I began, only three people understood my language: Actor Revathy, CavinKare CMD C.K. Ranganathan, and former WHO Regional Director Dr. Thangavelu.” Before she knew it, the foundation's first anniversary showed up and Jayshree was dreaming big. She'd planned a show in which visually challenged dancers would perform alongside those with normal vision.

She smiles nostalgically as she recalls: “Revathy and I conceived of a programme in which choreography was complex; nobody made any concessions for disability. But those girls weren't bothered. They wanted us to describe their costumes, the backdrop, what others were wearing...”

Walking the ramp

Buoyed by the success of this programme, Jayshree thought of a fashion show for the next year. “That was a time when Indian girls were winning international titles. So I thought why not a show with the differently-abled walking the ramp? Some people laughed; others felt I was mocking the disabled. But I would never do that. We had Aishwarya Rai participate and Usha Uthup to anchor the show. It was a huge success and people saw that disability need not hold anyone back.”

Little by little, year after year, the Ability Foundation spread its wings. EmployAbility, a job fair for the disabled, is now an annual event as is the Ability Fest and the Ability Awards. “The placement wing began as a one-to-one thing,” says Jayshree reminiscently. “Initially I spoke to friends in the corporate world about individual cases. Then when there were too many such cases, we organised a job fair. We had sensitisation programmes for the corporates first, asking them to look beyond disability and to focus only on the candidate's capability. What moved me most was the candidates' joy — not at getting a job — but at being called for multiple interviews.”

An accident in childhood left Jayshree hearing impaired but it didn't stop her from doing anything she wanted. She learnt to dance, to play the veena... “Yes, there were problems,” she says, “but it's like running. You don't stop running just because you fall down and hurt yourself, do you? Of course there are some things I cannot do, like answer phone calls for instance. And you need to come over and tap my shoulder to get my attention instead of shouting from across the room...” All it takes is “reasonable accommodation”, a phrase that she applies to anyone dealing with the differently-abled.

Greening or Green Washing? Thought-provoking Guardian article.

The false gospel of green marketing | Guardian Sustainable Business | guardian.co.uk: "The trend continues among heavy resource depleters. Chevron is outdoing its highly-mocked campaign, People Do, with the affable and somewhat disingenuous We Agree campaign. In the We Agree campaign, Chevron uses actors to impersonate real people asking for local jobs and renewable energy. Their own staff members explain that they support those aspirations as well. The ads are reminiscent of British Petroleum's Beyond Petroleum campaign, which, after the recent Macondo oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, became more of a punchline than a tagline.

The period of 2007-08 took this type of greenwashing to a whole new level, with a growing belief among consumer product manufacturers that appealing to a newly activated breed of green consumers would not only benefit brand equity but create incremental sales. Fiji water, one of the best-selling premium bottled water brands, launched a marketing campaign proclaiming that "every drop is green." Really? Despite some very good conservation efforts on the ground in Fiji, there's no way that shipping water thousands of miles could ever be green."

Greenwashing occurs anytime there is more talking green than doing green by a brand. A brand's marketing of its green aspects should resemble an iceberg: only the tip is visible, but below the water's surface lies the vast majority of the good news. Some marketers greenwash by focusing on an inconsequential environmental feature, like wrapping a steak in a compostable package and calling it "climate-friendly". Other marketers adopt green packaging without changing their behaviours, like Campbell's Soup, which launched an Earth Day green-colored soup can, but didn't bother buying organic chicken or lowering the salt content. At the most basic level, these companies have ignored that sustainability is complex and has four co-equal streams – social, economic, cultural and environmental. Greenwashers often try to focus on just one of these four pillars, while obscuring the rest.

Before you conclude that all "sustainable" products are a fraud, consider the range of commendable products and services that haven't called upon the tropes of green marketing. Marks & Spencer's Plan A project ("Plan A, because there is no Plan B") swathes staffers in hipster black clothes and stays away from the maudlin use of ferns and leaves to suggest goodness. The greatest benefit for Marks & Spencer has been the effect on employees, who've enjoyed connecting their daily work to a corporate initiative that makes them proud. Ebay may be the ultimate green machine, turning used junk into valuable collectibles, but you'll rarely see it trumpet its green credentials. Ebay's new Common Threads clothes recycling partnership with Patagonia is a model for building second lives for products. Xerox produces copiers which contain more than 80% reused or recycled parts. Even though Xerox is one of the largest branded paper sellers in the world, it tries to get its customers to stop using paper and choose Xerox digital products instead. You won't see it at a green festival. AirBnB is renting rooms without having to build new hotels, but the environmental aspects of its business is largely unspoken. The common denominator between all of these businesses is that their efficient use of resources is good for their core business, even if it's not particularly important to their consumers as a marketing message.

"Green" is an aspirational destination that no brand or processed product will ever reach. Those brands that are truly on the journey towards having a positive impact on the natural and human environment are far too humble to pound their chest and declare their verdance. Instead of swathing a product in a coat of green paint and streaming out into the trenches like Woodrow Wilson called for in his speech in 1916, marketers today are better off putting the effort into reinventing their products.

Adam Werbach, chief sustainability officer for Saatchi & Saatchi, is the author of Strategy for Sustainability and tweets at @adamwerbach. He often wears mismatched socks.

Pete Seeger: a legend, in music and in life

Pete Seeger Leads Protesters in New York, on Foot and in Song - NYTimes.com: "The Occupy Wall Street protests have drawn their share of musical supporters over the past few weeks. On Friday night, Pete Seeger lent his voice to the cause, though the protesters had to go uptown to hear it.

Mr. Seeger, whose activist credentials go back at least as far as a benefit concert that he and Woody Guthrie did for California migrant workers in 1940 and who wrote or helped write populist ballads like like “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “If I Had a Hammer,” had been performing at Symphony Space at Broadway and 95th Street with Arlo Guthrie, Woody Guthrie’s son, and others."

'via Blog this'

Expecting more from employees, while giving them less

Wal-Mart cuts some health care coverage - BusinessWeek: "The moves come as the discounter is working hard to reverse nine straight quarters of decreases in revenue at stores open at least a year, and may see a gain by the third quarter. Like many other retailers, Wal-Mart has been on a campaign to cut costs by having more workers on duty during peak sales times without being overstaffed during lulls. But the company's cuts on health care represent a reversal from only a few years ago when Wal-Mart, under pressure from union-backed groups, announced that it would provide health care coverage to part-time workers, including those who work less than 24 hours a week, after one year on the job. Prior to that, part-time workers had to work at Wal-Mart for two years before being eligible for coverage. It also lowered premiums and lowered co-pays for prescription drugs."

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Science confirms warming, but Republican (and Democrat) leaders too cold to be educated

Study rebuffs skeptics: global warming is real - US news - Christian Science Monitor - msnbc.com: "A new climate study shows that since the mid-1950s, global average temperatures over land have risen by 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.6 degrees Fahrenheit), confirming previous studies that have found a climate that has been warming – in fits and starts – since around 1900.
Most climate scientists attribute warming since the mid-1950, at least to some degree, to carbon dioxide emissions from human activities – burning coal, oil, and to a lesser extent gas, and from land-use changes.
The latest results mirror those from earlier, independent studies by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research in Britain, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)."

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"Going South" still holds in the South

Parents: Hispanic kids being bullied in law's wake - US news - Life - msnbc.com: "Spanish-speaking parents say their children are facing more bullying and taunts at school since Alabama's tough crackdown on illegal immigration took effect last month. Many blame the name-calling on fallout from the law, which has been widely covered in the news, discussed in some classrooms and debated around dinner tables.
Justice Department officials are monitoring for bullying incidents linked to the law.
"We're hearing a number of reports about increases in bullying that we're studying," the head of the agency's civil rights division, Thomas Perez, said during a stop in Birmingham.
The Justice Department has established a bilingual telephone hotline and special email account for residents to report any violence or threats based on racial or ethnic background that could be linked to the law. Officials would not provide a breakdown on the types of complaints being received."

'via Blog this'

Friday, October 21, 2011

Bitter pill for Wal-Mart Employees shows CSR has a long way to go

Wal-Mart Cuts Some Health Care Benefits - NYTimes.com: "After trying to mollify its critics in recent years by offering better health care benefits to its employees, Wal-Mart is substantially rolling back coverage for part-time workers and significantly raising premiums for many full-time staff.

Citing rising costs, Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer, told its employees this week that all future part-time employees who work less than 24 hours a week on average will no longer qualify for any of the company’s health insurance plans.

In addition, any new employees who average 24 hours to 33 hours a week will no longer be able to include a spouse as part of their health care plan, although children can still be covered.

This is a big shift from just a few years ago when Wal-Mart expanded coverage for employees and their families after facing criticism because so many of its 1.4 million workers could not afford or did not qualify for coverage — rendering many of them eligible for Medicaid."

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Is Southwest losing its character, or was it a facade all along?

Southwest airlines has always promoted itself as a fun-loving, "we care about our passengers" attitude. Now here comes the CEO protesting the full-fare advertising rule. He protests the proposed rule that requires airlines to provide customers the actual fare information they would be paying when advertising the "sale" fares. This should be obvious to any good marketer- providing information to a customer that adds value and saves customer time, but is raising protests in the industry. No wonder the airline industry ranks among the bottom of the stinking pile in customer satisfaction.

On the Call: Southwest CEO Gary Kelly - Yahoo! Finance: "During a Southwest Airlines Co. conference call Thursday, an obviously sympathetic analyst asked CEO Gary Kelly what impact the proposals would have on his company. Kelly said the surcharge would cost Southwest $140 million a year. And he also took a swipe at a U.S. Transportation Department rule that will make airlines disclose the full price of a ticket, including taxes and fees, in their advertisements.

KELLY: We are already overtaxed. We are already over-regulated, which comes at an enormous cost. Every year we get more regulations ... the so-called full-fare advertising rule, that's just one example. Then you layer on top of that taxes which have nothing to do with aviation. Much of the proceeds of the taxes were proposed to go to the general fund and reduce the deficit.
"

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The New Normal...for the CEOs

The Most Outrageous Acts of Corporate America | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance: "eBay's Home Economics. To lure Thomson Reuters executive Devin Wenig to move across the country and take a post as President of eBay Marketplaces, the giant internet firm offered some nice goodies: a salary of $750,000 and $2.4 million in restricted stock to start, a $10,000 monthly temporary housing allowance, and frequent travel for Wenig and his family from coast to coast (business class of course). Then there's this: a $1 million "home purchase payment" that he can apply toward the acquisition of a starter mansion. That should be enough for a down payment — even in Silicon Valley."

Paper Company Prints Money—for Bosses. In September, Temple-Inland agreed to be acquired by International Paper for $3.7 billion. If the deal comes to fruition, it'll represent a nice payday for Temple-Inland investors, and a fantastic payday for top Temple-Inland executives. As Footnoted.com found, CEO Doyls Simons stand to reap $61.4 million: "29.6 million in equity, $6.2 million in retirement benefits, $8.8 million cash (both severance and prorated bonus for the year of termination) and three years of continued benefits." And so he doesn't have to pay taxes on all this compensation, the company will give him another $16.6 million to send to the Internal Revenue Service.

Motorola's $3.5 billion Kiss-Off. Over the summer, Google agreed to acquire Motorola's Mobility unit for $12.5 billion. But there are obstacles to the deal being completed: another buyer could come along, Google could, in a rare move, decide to be evil and walk way; or the government could put the kibosh on the merger because of concerns over competition. Should that happen, however, Motorola's shareholders won't walk away empty-handed. The deal includes a clause stipulating that Google has to pay Motorola a $2.5 billion "reverse termination fee" if it can't bring the acquisition to fruition, and that Google could be on the hook for another $1 billion if the government refuses permission.

H-P's expensive Auf Wiedersehen. Leo Apotheker, the former CEO of German software company SAP, was hired with great fanfare as CEO of struggling computer company H-P last fall. Ten months later, he was dismissed with a little less fanfare — and a lot of loot. His sending off gift included a huge severance package: $7.2 million in cash, plus $18 million in stock. Also, he'll get $300,000 in relocation assistance plus cash to cover higher taxes levied on income if he chooses to move to France or Belgium.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A good read of the public mood

Wall Street’s 1% Meets 2 Billion Seeking Answers: William Pesek - Bloomberg: "There were more obvious places for Tokyo’s Occupy Wall Street protest to converge on Saturday than the nightlife district of Roppongi. It could have begun in Nihonbashi, home to the Tokyo Stock Exchange; Nagatacho, Japan’s Capitol Hill; or Ueno, where droves of Tokyo’s homeless congregate.
Instead, activists chose the city’s hedonistic melting pot of hipsters, strippers, gangsters, expatriates and bankers. Not just any bankers -- Goldman Sachs ones who work in the swanky Roppongi Hills complex. Amid the hundreds of activists, I saw signs saying “No Greed,” “Taxiderm the Rich” and my favorite, held by a 20-something woman: “Stop Vampire Squids.”
It was a reference to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), which was labeled a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity” in a 2009 article in Rolling Stone magazine. For better or worse, Asians see Goldman Sachs both as the gold standard of investment banks and a byword for how incestuous ties between banks and government concentrate wealth in the hands of a few."

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The culture of killing

Ohio police kill 48 exotic animals – but wolf and monkey still on the loose | World news | guardian.co.uk: "18 tigers and 17 lions shot dead by police after farm owner Terry Thompson released animals before shooting himself dead"

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The "Beauty"ful truth

The truth about beauty? - The Irish Times - Mon, Oct 17, 2011: "Hundreds of euro can quite easily be spent on tiny amounts of potions which may or may not deliver the promised results.

While the advertising industry is frequently – and rightly – accused of selling unrealistic promises to the gullible, the section of the industry which really takes the (skin rejuvenating) biscuit when it comes to flogging dreams is the cosmetics world.

This summer, one of the biggest players in the industry, L’Oréal, fell foul of the British advertising watchdog after it was found to have airbrushed photographs of Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington in advertising campaigns for two of its most prominent brands."

The Advertising Standards Authority banned ads for Lancôme’s Teint Miracle Foundation which promised to recreate “the aura of perfect skin” and its Maybelline Eraser which, the ad claimed, would conceal “instantly, visibly, precisely”. It would also “cover dark circles and fine lines to help conceal crow’s feet – as if erased”. The problem was not the words but the pictures of Roberts and Turlington which had been touched-up creating an affect that no-one at home would have been able to match.

It was not the first time L’Oréal has come unstuck. It had to add a disclaimer to its Telescopic mascara ads after it emerged that actor Penelope Cruz was wearing false eyelashes in the promotional photographs.

Neither the prices being charged for some cosmetics nor the advertising claims being made impress Aisling McDermott the author and blogger whose new book Gorgeous to Go (Gill Macmillan) has just hit the shelves. She started the beaut.ie blog with her sister in 2006 and within weeks it was drawing in clued-in readers thanks to its ballsy, take-no-prisoners approach to a world of bogus claims and false promises.

Her new book debunks many of the myths surrounding the beauty business, exposes some of the more dubious practices of the industry and points readers towards ways they can cut the cost of looking beautiful.

It wasn’t going to, but the money-saving aspect ended up being central to the book says McDermott.

In her introduction she says she had planned to write a straightforward shopping companion but “when the economy seriously tanked and the IMF moved in, we, as a nation became armchair economists”. She points out that people “became obsessed with seeking out value, particularly in areas that might be considered non-essential”.

So a different book was born. It is a book which will help people spend less on cosmetics but why not adopt a more manly approach and do away with such luxuries, asks Pricewatch?

We are quickly shot down. “Women regard spending on beauty as so essential that they will trade down in other areas in order to keep their make-up habit going,” McDermott says.

Some 15,000 people visit the beaut.ie blog daily and according to McDermott, trends have changed dramatically over the past two years. “Women had much more discretionary income and they used it to buy expensive cosmetics and perfumes. Now we’ve still got that taste for luxury and love of quality, but we simply don’t have the money to waste on unnecessary purchases. So women are becoming much more clever about why and how they spend. They will research their purchases, usually online, and won’t buy unless something is worth the money. So they’re not giving up their cosmetics habit – they’re just becoming more clever about it.”

There are things that people can give up, she says and the first thing that should go is brand loyalty. People can swap products for cheaper alternatives because “cosmetics at the lower end of the scale have improved in leaps and bounds”.

She says women are swapping “expensive staple buys” for more work-horse brands and when “they absolutely can’t bear to swap they are demanding more value. So if a Lancôme moisturiser is still the only thing that will do, they will delay gratification, waiting for a gift with purchase or another form of special offer”.

There are also DIY options, in particular she recommends making body scrubs from salt and olive oil which she describes as “fantastic and so cheap”.

McDermott says people can save money on almost everything. “It’s not a case of scrimping – it’s simply finding who does something really well for the least money. What we need to do in Ireland is stop being so brand loyal – plenty of brands do the same thing for a lot less money.”

She is preaching to the choir when she says that “clever marketing and raised expectations” from some luxury brands have delivered massive results in terms of sales and allowed companies get away with murder.

“Super luxe, great ingredients and a premium price all present women with a package of sophistication and excitement that is very hard to resist. At this end of the scale, money becomes much less important. If you can afford Créme de la Mer you probably don’t need to worry about saving money on cosmetics in general.

“Yes we are manipulated and yes we do fall for a lot of marketing, but women are increasingly savvy and much less willing to fall for something that doesn’t work without proof. That’s why we’re seeing a rise in the amount of skincare “science” being published. Cosmetic companies know that the way to sell their expensive serum is to prove it works.”

When it comes to selling, big brands are not above the odd sleight of hand and they have lots of tricks at their disposal. McDermott’s book exposes just some of them.

“Putting false bottoms on tubs of moisturisers is a favourite. The tub looks bigger and they may also make it feel heavier – you’re getting visual cues that the product is good value for money.”

Lots of packaging is a top way to disguise the puniness of a product – or to hide that it has been downsized. Plastic is cheap, bulky and particularly effective when selling to the mass market.

Among the tips included in the book are stockpiling staples when they are on special offer and she is a big advocate of the online shop. “We’re ripped off in our shops and the only way we can try to bring down prices is to vote with our wallets,” she says.

“There’s a reason why everything is cheaper north of the Border. It’s because they’re part of the huge UK market and won’t put up with the disgraceful mark-ups that we meekly submit to. It’s incredible that this situation exists.”

Something that doesn’t exist is the metrosexual. “Sadly it is a myth but I am devastated that it is. Irish men are gorgeous and a little bit of moisturiser never hurt anyone. Come on lads, do yourselves some favours.

Everyone should have a few lotions and potions on standby and it’s the young Irish man who’s picked up good habits and looks likely to change this stereotype. I predict that we should see the old porter nose and roseacea-skinned Irish male become extinct in this generation.”

Beaut.ie’s top-five product swops

NARS Orgasm Blush vs e.l.f. Candid Coral Blush

NAR’s Orgasm is fiendishly priced and while e.l.f’s cheapo version can’t hold a candle to the rubberised packaging of its more expensive doppelganger and it’s nowhere near as silky-smooth to the touch, we challenge anyone to tell the difference.

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo, €17.50 vs Rimmel Colour Show Off in Red Fever, €7.55

The shades aren’t a precise match but the finish is retro-fab and longevity is great.

Benefit Posietint vs 2True Cheek n Lip Tint

A brilliant dupe for Benefit’s way pricier Posietint 2True Cheek n Lip Tint is a tiny price and performs really well.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat, €35 vs Aldi Lacura Beauty Concealer Pen, €4.99

Hands up who’s tried Touche Eclat? Yup, that’s all of us, so. Aldi’s is a damn good substitute for the much pricier YSL.

Clinique Take the Day Off Make-up Remover for Lids Lashes and Lips vs Johnson’s Daily Essentials Gentle Eye Make-up Remove r

Both are dual-phase cleaners that you shake to mix and they make short work of eye-make-up. Johnson’s does the same job as Clinique but at a fraction of the price.