Published on the 25th of November, 2006
The latest Dear Economist letters are:
They are all available on the Financial Times website, free of charge. There is even an RSS feed so that you can subscribe.
Published on the 25th of November, 2006
The latest Undercover Economist columns are:
Think inside the box - October 25th
My boss is 65 and pregnant - November 4th
Cereal killers - November 11th
Yule be sorry - November 18th
Patience, patience - November 25th
They are all available on the Financial Times website, free of charge. There is even an RSS feed so that you can subscribe.
Published on the 4th of November, 2006
Just back from a trip to New York where, I’m delighted to report, a distinguished panel of judges agonized over whether to give the Bastiat Prize for journalism to me or to the excellent Jamie Whyte for so long that they had to give it to us both. Check out some fantastic essays byJamie, Ila Patnaik, Gabriel Rozenberg and the other shortlisted writers.
I often share a taxi home with friends, and wonder how best to split the bill. When dropping a friend off first, I have received contributions varying from nothing to the full fare. If I get out first, what should I pay? As a woman with a large collection of frivolous shoes, walking home is a last resort.
Frances, Brussels
Last week I mused about whether people in general were saving enough for retirement. (The answer: as far as we can tell, most people are.) This week I have decided to take on a far more important question: am I saving enough for retirement?
Apparently this activity is called “retirement planning”, which strikes me as a silly phrase given the imponderables involved.
Saving for retirement is usually posed as a problem of willpower: foolish, impatient people save too little and doom themselves to an old age devoid of Caribbean cruises. The real problem is not lack of willpower but lack of omniscience...