Yes Capitalism brings the best in people !

Thursday, September 29, 2016 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined is a 2011 book by Steven Pinker, in which he argues that violence in the world has declined both in the long run and in the short run and suggests explanations as to why this has occurred.[1] In a conversation with Richard Dawkins he states that in last four decades in the United States, the rate of rape has gone down by 80%. He admits that because of the vanishing communication gap, today, the number of reportings of violence has risen giving people an impression of rising rapes, abuses and other violent activities.

 Participation in capitalist markets and bourgeois virtues has civilized the world. It has “civilized” the world in more than one of the word’s root senses, that is, making it “citified,” from the mere increase in a rich population. It has too, I claim, as many eighteenth-century European writers also claimed, made it courteous, that is, “civil.” “The terrestrial paradise,” said Voltaire, “is Paris.”
Richer and more urban people, contrary to what the magazines of opinion sometimes suggest, are less materialistic, less violent, less superficial than poor and rural people. Because people in capitalist countries already possess the material, they are less attached to their possessions than people in poor countries. And because they have more to lose from a society of violence, they resist it.
The Bourgeois Virtues,Ethics for an Age of Commerce. Deirdre N. McCloskey
The ideal that Capitalism & commerce has led to a society of selfishness, violence and egoism is simple false and not true. 

 Today many normal people have access to things that not even the rich possessed 50 years ago. Travelling, clean water and medication and of course most of all opportunities. Yes today you can do many things.

 The same is true for violence rape & robbery! They all are on decline on the Capitalist countries open to Commerce for more than 200 years! 

 Yes capitalism is good, free trade is good, and never more people helped others and dedicated their lives to helping others without benefit.

 Sorry despite people are voting more & more in left and right wing extreme parties they are completely wrong.

 we are in the right track.
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Do you really need an I-phone 7 ?

Thursday, September 08, 2016 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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But here's the biggest question: Do you need an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus?
Nope. Oh, you may want a better phone ... but you're unlikely to need a better phone.Or in many cases, need a better anything -- other than a better you.It's easy to assume adopting new technology is the key to success. But chasing new technology is a waste of time when you spend more time searching for improved "stuff" than you do on working to improve yourself.Here's a good example: cycling. The use of carbon fiber and advanced aerodynamics has made bicycles incredibly sophisticated -- and expensive. Go to a triathlon, even an entry-level "sprint" triathlon, and you'll see hundreds of $6,000, $8,000, and $10,000 bikes. Even the most casual of competitors spend thousands of dollars pursuing incremental performance gains. High-tech is the norm, not the exception.
A couple years ago I did a triathlon with a friend who is 1) a professional cyclist and 2) way too candid. A group formed around him in the staging area. One of the participants, a rather portly gentleman, talked about buying a $9,000 bike.
"A lighter bike will definitely be worth it," the man declared, obviously confident a pro cyclist who rides the most cutting of cutting-edge bikes would agree.
"Oh, hell no," my friend said. "If I were you, I wouldn't waste money on a lighter bike. You'd be a lot better off if you just lost 10 or 20 pounds."
And that was the end of that conversation.

 http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/why-you-dont-need-a-new-iphone-7-but-you-really-do-need-a-better-you.html
I couldn't agree more, you don't need more stuff more gadgets more upgrades. What you need is a better you. how do you do it? do a little better today vs yesterday. improve a bit . that will take you a long way but it's not easy to beat yourself. In cycling i work with one of the best Portuguese coaches and we try to improve just a bit every year. It's not easy. why? because last year i was already working hard. 

 About gadgets i always think about the US, everything is old, infrastructure, 2G, still using Blackberries, etc... and despite this they are the best. Even Boeing is less tech than AIRBUS but they do equally well or better.

 Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. 

 Arthur Ashe
Image result for improve yourself
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Brexit is good after all

Wednesday, September 07, 2016 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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 Source: @fasFT


Obviously that BREXIT is going to be good for the UK? why? because they can scarp the EU regulations that are not constructive to growth. The can have a better tax system (lower taxes) and they can be different.

yes it's good to be different, why buy from you if you do exactly the same as everybody else? yes different is good.

if UK is out of EU but not close their economy they will do very well.

what they will lose is that they have to be in big airport queues, they will lose money changing their pounds everytime they travel (that was already the case) and they need to ask permission to do business in Europe.


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The case Against Education

Monday, September 05, 2016 Francisco Carneiro 2 Comments

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From Bryan Caplan Blog

 I've been in school for the last 35 years - 21 years as a student, the rest as a professor.  As a result, the Real World is almost completely foreign to me.  I don't know how to do much of anything. While I had a few menial jobs in my teens, my first-hand knowledge of the world of work beyond the ivory tower is roughly zero.

I'm not alone.  Most professors' experience is almost as narrow as mine.  If you want to succeed in academia, the Real World is a distraction.  I have a dream job for life because I excelled in my coursework year after year, won admission to prestigious schools, and published a couple dozen articles for other professors to read.  That's what it takes - and that's all it takes.

Considering how studiously I've ignored the Real World, you might think that the Real World would return the favor by ignoring me.  But it doesn't!  I've influenced the Real World careers of thousands of students.  How?  With grades.  At the end of every semester, I test my students to see how well they understand my courses, and grade them from A to F.  Other professors do the same.  And remarkably, employers care about our ivory tower judgments.  Students with lots of A's finish and get pleasant, high-paid jobs.  Students with a lots of F's don't finish and get unpleasant, low-paid jobs.  If that.

 .............................................

 According to the signaling model, employers reward educational success because of what it shows ("signals") about the student.  Good students tend to be smart, hard-working, and conformist - three crucial traits for almost any job.  When a student excels in school, then, employers correctly infer that he's likely to be a good worker.  What precisely did he study?  What did he learn how to do?  Mere details.  As long as you were a good student, employers surmise that you'll quickly learn what you need to know on the job.
If you take a degree in Latin that does not matter at all if you are going to be a better lawyer/accountant or Banker why pay more to a college student with a degree vs person without a degree?

 because the college degree is a signal. yes if this guy was able to take a boring degree in Latin he certainly can learn to do this job. 

 Let's hire someone with good marks and a degree in whatever.

 Bryan Caplan argues with some reason that education does not matter at all to the way you are going to do your job it's only going to raise the salary for people with a degree and lower for the people without a degree. It's a waste of time for the society because people spend a lot of money and time in Colleges learning nothing useful for the way they will work in the future.

 why not close the higher education system?
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Execution isn't Everything anymore

Friday, September 02, 2016 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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you shouldn't do right what shouldn't be done at all

 If everybody does the same thing with the same rules you probably should focus on execution. to do well what you are doing is everything.

 recently i came to the conclusion that to do the right things matters a lot.
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things


Peter Drucker

you have to pick your battles you have to do things that make sense you have to do sound things.

why? because in the short run anything can happen but in the long run the sound strategy will win. just that simple

exemple:

the companies that opt for science, big data and decision based on facts and information are getting ahead in every dimension. 10 years ago the companies that did this option probably didn't do very differently from the traditional model of management (I do what everybody else does). Amazon, Booking, Facebook etc.... spent many years investing , programming, collecting data etc... and they started slowly but in the long run they will win why?

because they know more


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Just do it ...... but not in GOLF

Thursday, September 01, 2016 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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Nike exits GOLF

 From Bloomberg

 Nike Inc.’s decision to stop selling golf equipment and a possible bankruptcy filing by the Golfsmith retail chain are raising concerns that the declining popularity of the sport is taking a toll on the companies that thrive on it.
Millennials, the key to the sport’s future, are shunning the expensive and time-consuming game in favor of more instantly gratifying pursuits like Pokemon Go and Netflix binges. 

 I don't know much about GOLF and i might say some stupid arguments I will give it a try (sorry to the GOLF lovers that are many for sure)

 My view is that GOLF is losing popularity for 3 reasons

 1. These days there is a bifurcation in the labor market, people who work work like crazy and many people don't have almost nothing to do. The ones that work a lot don't have time for a 5 hour round of GOLF and the ones that don't have a job don't have the money.

 2. Many people are struggling and you have to pay each time you want to play vs running or biking.

 3.I don't know if this is a stupid reason but when i want to to some mountain-bike i just put my shoes & bike gear and exit for the mountains without having to book anything. Most of the times i find some friends riding and we ride together for 2 or 3 hours. In Golf i guess you have to get a partner and book a exit time. too time consuming.



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