Vaticanapalooza

P.G. Wodehouse--the originator of the term 'lollapalooza'--once remarked on how easy it was to look upon the tasks necessary to earning one's paycheck as 'wasted time'. He would probably have appreciated the orgy of self-congratulation going on at the Vatican this week';

Birmingham Mayor William Bell had a very personal reason for being at the Vatican's conference on climate change and human slavery.

We're sure he does.

Bell said he was pleased to heed Pope Francis' call for an end to all forms of modern-day slavery.

Applause! But some in attendance needed to reach a little;

Oslo Mayor Stian Berger Rosland got a round of applause at the Vatican conference of mayors not because of Oslo's leading efforts in sustainable development or the way it integrates immigrants.

Rather, Rosland was cheered when he revealed how honored he was to be at the Vatican as "the first Catholic mayor of Oslo since the Reformation."

That's cutting edge.

The mayor [Monica Fein] of Rosario, Argentina, said she was convinced that history's first Latin American pope had the moral authority to contribute to a "new conscience" that changes the global economic system.

No doubt.

Madrid's new leftist mayor, Manuela Carmena, has told a Vatican-organized debate on climate change and human trafficking that society needs to ask itself why people use prostitutes.

Carmena said Tuesday that students in schools should debate "why one goes with prostitutes, why one accepts prostitution, etc. This needs to be done."

She said if the world wants to avoid the "terrible crime" of sexual slavery, society needs to reflect upon its causes. She said society has not been educated enough about sexuality.

Maybe the Mayor of Madrid should see to it that more people have cable TV in her city.

Pope Francis is expected to address the meeting later Tuesday. He's a new hero to the environmental movement, thanks to his recent encyclical denouncing the world's fossil fuel-based economy that he says exploits the poor and destroys the Earth.

The mayors are expected to sign a declaration at the end of the day demanding that their national leaders approve a "bold climate agreement" at Paris talks in December that keeps global warming at a safe limit for humanity.

Now, about the sin of pride, Padre....

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article27995065.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article27995065.html#storylink=cpy

GRholiday

At your bank in the country that invented democracy, you can now visit your money (but that's about all you can do with it);

Banks across Greece may have reopened their doors after a forced holiday of over three weeks on Monday but almost all banking transactions are still prohibited for households and enterprises, and will stay that way for some time yet.

At least they voted for that.

...depositors cannot send any money abroad unless they secure special permission, they cannot buy stocks or bonds, they cannot pay off their mortgage or consumer loans early, they cannot access their time deposits before they mature, or open a new account, etc. Even seeking medical treatment at a hospital abroad requires the approval of a bureaucrat.

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, call the office.

 ...enterprises have to apply to the Banking Transaction Approval Committee even for the smallest conceivable international transaction. Whether they wish to import goods (from food to fabric), raw materials, machinery or spare parts, they have to submit an application through their bank to a five-member special committee and hope for the best.

There's always hope, but;

 The backlog of such demands currently stands at 2,500 at least as the process is extremely slow and priority is being given to low-value transactions because of the lack of liquidity.

Brand it like Beckham

Exotic cars are like belly buttons, everyone has one;

“Lamborghini has sold more cars in the last 10 years than they sold in the past 40 combined,” [McKeel] Hagerty [of Hagerty Insurance] says. “They went from making a few hundred a year in the ’70s to making thousands last year.”

Which Insurance Journal puts down to social media;

According to analysis by Black Book, the prevalence of modern and classic luxury cars on social media platforms like Instagram directly influences their resale value. So when celebrities such as [David] Beckham, Kendall Jenner, or Dwyane Wade post photos that include their cool new whip, whether modern or classic, people notice. And they act accordingly.

“A new, younger generation of collectors has taken to this genre of exotic sports cars, and auction prices are going for a ride,” the report says. “Social networking has a lot to do with this activity.”

“Social media lets people brag without bragging,” says Eric Lawrence, the director of specialty reports at Black Book.

 Even utility infielders on the Boston Red Sox can afford a Bentley these days.

The Un-Sun King

 When King Salman is on the French Riviera: Don't give him any of that Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité guff;

The likely visit of Saudi Arabia's king to his family's French Riviera mansion has stirred the ire of beachgoers who will be banned from a stretch of sand [nearby].

.... "If he (the king) comes ... which is almost certain, the beach will be closed" for security reasons, regional security chief Francois-Xavier Lauch added. "We do the same kind of thing for all heads of state."

Lauch said by telephone Monday that boats would also be banned from plying the Mediterranean near the mansion, which has belonged to the Saudi royal family for decades but hasn't recently been visited by the king himself.

Lauch said the restrictions only apply for a visit by the king, not other members of the royal family.

Why do the French pay all those taxes anyway?

Economists in bars getting sloshed

Bill Virgin of the Tacoma News Tribune thinks Jerry Seinfeld is transforming the comedy business model;

...content providers are having to adjust to changing viewing habits, by offering up full shows on demand, or carving them up so fans can watch a few highlights (this has especially happened with late-night talk shows).

Now comes the made-for-Internet show such as “Comedians in Cars [Getting Coffee].” On “Live From Daryl’s House,” singer Daryl Hall chats and plays with fellow musicians, some well established, others of a much younger generation, in a highly informal setting and format. Jay Leno, himself a huge car guy, hosts “Jay Leno’s Garage,” although it’s hosted on NBC’s website.

Expect more of this, since there’s great appeal to both viewers and program creators. For people such as Seinfeld, this new approach provides much greater creative control with fewer headaches.

Well, why not econbloggers? Such as those wily Canadians;

Does beer quality inequality result from other forms of inequality, like disparities in income and wealth? Or do the forces that produce income inequality also produce beer quality inequality? Is it a spurious correlation, or is the armchair empiricist's observation that the US has more beer ine-quality simply wrong?

Last Chance Salonika

Now that Greece has officially run out of other people's money, its SYRIZA government has no alternative but...

Work was supposed to begin next year on a 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) waterfront urban renewal project almost twice the size of New York's Central Park that could have poured nearly a billion euros into Greeces depleted coffers. The plans stalled late last year after the far-left SYRIZA party took power and promised to halt attempts at putting the private sector in control of state assets, both on ideological grounds and because leaders believe rampant corruption must be addressed before any sell-off.

Now, in an attempt to get a third European bailout and prevent the Greek economy from collapsing, the ruling party has done an about-face. It has pledged to fast-track the waterfront project, plus sell government assets and allow for private development of state-owned property, all to generate cash that will help reduce Greeces 320-billion-euro national debt and pay back money lent by European nations to prop up ailing banks.

It took some housecleaning though;

New ministers in Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government were sworn in on Saturday after a reshuffle expelled dissidents from his cabinet and began a new phase of negotiations for a third bailout package.

Tsipras sacked hardline former Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis and two deputy ministers on Friday in a change that marked a split with the main leftist faction in the ruling Syriza party following a rebellion over the bailout terms.

Panos Skourletis, a close Tsipras ally who left the labor ministry to take over the vital energy portfolio, said the reshuffle marked "an adjustment by the government to a new reality".

Propensity to truck and water

In India the government fails, so it's a crime to provide your fellow man with that which is needed to sustain life. Foreign Policy is appalled by normal human action;

At the Mercy of the Water Mafia

 Actually the 'water mafia' is just a bunch of entrepreneurs who see a need. and are filling it on mutually satisfactory terms. All made possible because of non-market failure;

... in Delhi, where the official water supply falls short of the city’s needs by at least 207 million gallons each day, according to a 2013 audit by the office of the Indian comptroller and auditor general. A quarter of Delhi’s households live without a piped-water connection; most of the rest receive water for only a few hours each day. So residents have come to rely on private truck owners—the most visible strands of a dispersed web of city councilors, farmers, real estate agents, and fixers who source millions of gallons of water each day from illicit boreholes, as well as the city’s leaky pipe network, and sell the liquid for profit.

Why isn't FP applauding?

The mafia defends its work as a community service, but there is a much darker picture of Delhi’s subversive water industry: one of a thriving black market populated by small-time freelance agents who are exploiting a fast-depleting common resource and in turn threatening India’s long-term water security. 

The water security that falls short of the city's needs by at least 207 million gallons each day, that is.

Mercy, mercy, mercy.