Archive for July, 2008
Ross • 26th Jul 2008 • Thinking • california, economics, usa, utilities, water
Reading an comment-piece about Californian water shortages on Forbes.com reminds me of my work on the Dominican electricity system a couple of years ago. Artificially restrained prices are common to both markets, (although in Santo Domingo, there were the additional problems of institutional disorganisation and widespread consumer theft). I can’t help but wonder for how long societies will continue to be surprised to discover that keeping utility prices low by regulatory fiat leads to over-consumption and shortage.
Ross • 25th Jul 2008 • Learning • internet, search engines, web
…contrary to intuition and prior hypotheses, the use of search engines contributes to a more level playing field, in which new Web sites have a greater chance of being discovered and thus of acquiring links and popularity — as long as they are about specific topics that match the interests of users as expressed through their search queries.
That’s the egalitarian effect of search engines and it’s backed up by some pretty impressive research. Fittingly, I found it through a search engine.
Ross • 20th Jul 2008 • Learning, Thinking • charity, development, finance, money
I have been a long-term lender on Kiva, an innovative microfinance portal that matches entrepreneurs and their projects in the developing world with charitable people (generally) in the more developed world. I like their model. In just over two years, I have funded almost 20 businesses across three continents. I have earnt no interest on these loans – but have seen it as a creative and sustainable means of charitable giving. The three great things about Kiva are that I choose who benefits from my money; that recipients have no incentive to request more funds than they need; and that I am constantly updated about the entrepreneur’s progress. I have never had any defaults. This last sentence may not hold true for much longer. (more…)
