Categories
Eco-philo-pol

Buffet Gives to Gates

Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest people in the world, has given 85% of his fortune to charity. This works out at around US$37.4 billion. The lion’s share will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a worthy recipient if ever there was one. I’m a fan of such organisations, as I’ve previously commented.

As a sidenote, a recent article in The Economist speaks about the rise in philanthropy, and the pitfalls therein. Fewer scandals and better governance might encourage more of the world’s rich to donate a large slice of their fortunes to worthy causes.

Categories
Random observations

Painful End to a Brilliant Journey

Australia’s World Cup run has been halted by Italy, with the referee again a central figure to the drama. Totti scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot with the very last kick of the game, to send Italy through to the quarter finals. Kewell was absent from the biggest match in Australia’s history with a touch of gout. How we needed him. Italy had most chances to score in the first half, with Schwarzer pulling off some fine saves. At the beginning of the second half, the referee quite unbelievably sent off Materazzi for what was at worst a yellow card offence: he clumsily brought down Bresciano on the edge of the area. Italy were down to ten men. As was to be expected, Australia dominated the rest of the match. However, we were very unimaginative in attack. There were no incisive passes. Nobody was prepared to run at the Italian defence until Aloisi came on towards the end. He caused the Italians a few nervous moments, but we still had nothing to show for it. If it had gone to extra time, we might well have had something to show for it. Then, in the 94th minute, Grosso made his way into the Australian penalty area. Lucas Neill went to ground in an effort to dispell the danger. The challenge was mistimed, but Neill didn’t collect Grosso. Instead, Grosso made the most of the situation by stepping into the prone figure of Neill and went down. Penalty. Totti gave Schwarzer no chance with the kick. A truly awful way to be knocked out of the tournament, but Italy deserve credit for surviving so long with ten men.

The Australian team have done the nation proud. It was a wonderful ride while it lasted. Revenge in four years.

Categories
Random observations

We’re through!

Australia came back twice from being a goal down to earn a draw with Croatia, which was enough to take us through to the round of sixteen. It was one of the hairiest ninety minutes of football I’ve ever sat through, and one of the weirdest as well. The referee again had an absolute shocker, failing to send one of the Croatians (Simunic) from the field after he’d received two yellow cards. The same player was later shown another yellow card and then a red card after the full-time whistle was blown. The ref also missed a clear handball and an obvious foul on Viduka, thereby denying Australia two cut-and-dry penalties. Finally, he appeared to blow the final whistle just as Tim Cahill stuck what would have been a winning goal in the back of the net! I won’t say anything about Zeljko Kalac except that he shouldn’t play another game for Australia at the World Cup. I shrieked with horror when I saw him in the starting lineup when the national anthem was played. My hotel room TV was lucky to survive after he made that absolute howler. Anyway, the 2-2 draw was enough to take us through, and that’s all that matters. Kewell’s goal was magic. He’s finally showing glimpses of the way he played for Leeds United when he was at the peak of his powers. He deserved a goal for the way he played, and I’m glad he got it. Lucas Neill has been absolutely top class for all three matches so far. He ought to be playing for a better team than Blackburn, and it wouldn’t surprise me if bigger clubs were interested in buying him. He’s composed under pressure and plays the ball intelligently out of defence instead of just whacking it upfield. For me he’s been the best performer for Australia at this World Cup.

On Wednesday I was told that I’d have to fly to Sydney on Friday to attend a couple of seminars on behalf of NICTA Queensland. If I’d flown down on Friday morning, I’d have missed the TV coverage of the game because I’d have been in a taxi at the time. So I decided, screw it, I’m going a day early so I could watch the coverage. There was no way in the wide world I was going to miss that match. It turns out that if I’d flown down on Friday morning my plane would have been diverted due to fog anyway, and I wouldn’t have been able to attend the seminars anyway. The second seminar was cancelled because the Boeing guy who was giving the seminar got diverted to Melbourne because of the fog. So all-in-all it worked out really well.

The way football has suddenly captured the imagination of this country is absolutely unbelievable. The flight attendants were saying they couldn’t wait for the match against Italy on Tuesday morning. The major free to air channels have had extended coverage of the Australian team. A Current Affair is doing interviews with footballers’ wives. Ken Sutcliffe has said that the Australia v Croatia game was the best moment of his career as a sports presenter. The country has gone football crazy. It feels kind of weird that everyone is suddenly embracing the sport, but I guess that’s what we always wanted. I also get the feeling that this support won’t be fickle. I think the A-League can expect a very good season in terms of attendances. Qualifying for the round of sixteen means that the FFA receives more money than they expected to get from this World Cup. So the game is finally on a strong financial footing in this country. What’s scary is that Australia hasn’t yet won the World Cup, but the celebrations sparked by qualifying for the next round are bigger than anything this country has seen in sport. It’s wonderful!

Categories
Random observations

Harry gets off…

…the FIFA charge against him, that is. Apparently there were inconsistent reports from the German referee and his assistants. In short, Harry’s a very lucky boy.

Categories
Random observations

Australia beaten by Brazil

I’ve created a monster. My lovely wife, who got up to watch the Australia v Brazil match with me at 2am this morning, informed me I was unable to go to bed tonight until I’d blogged something nice about Harry Kewell. Let’s see: apart from blasting the ball over the top of the goal when it seemed easier to score and then getting himself reported for remonstrating with the German referee after the match, Harry didn’t play too badly when he came on in the second half. He could easily have ended up with two goals rather than none.

Brazil were an improved side from the one that played Croatia just under a week ago, but they were still far from their entertaining best. In truth they were more than lucky to walk away with all three points (apparently this bit needs explaining: you get three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss) after scoring two goals and somehow managing to keep Australia scoreless. Though Australia lost the game, I think they played very well and deserved a point from the match. As it is, Australia now needs a result against Croatia to progress to the round of sixteen. Australia should be confident of beating Croatia, although a draw is all that’s needed. Croatia are having a harder time scoring than Australia is, and I think Australia looks stronger and fitter than the Croatian team. Hiddink has got the Australians well organised, so Croatia should find it very difficult to break down the Aussie defence. Still, anything can happen. Let’s hope the Australian’s have a good win.

Categories
Random observations

Bloody Awesome

Australia downed Japan 3-1 in their opening match of the World Cup. Tim Cahill scored the first two goals ever by an Australian in the World Cup finals, and it’s the first match Australia has ever won at a World Cup. John Aloisi scored a brilliant solo goal in the dying minutes to cap off a highly entertaining match. Hard to believe Australia was losing 1-0 until the 85th minute, after a controversial goal put the Japanese ahead in the 26th minute.

Just fantastic. Won’t say any more.

Categories
Random observations

World Cup 2006 kicks off

The World Cup got off to a flyer with host nation Germany beating Costa Rica 4-2. The scoreline set a new record for the largest number of goals scored in the opening game of the World Cup. In the second match of the tournament, Ecuador overcame Poland 2-0 in what most pundits are regarding as a bit of a shock. Ecuador’s chances of making the second round look very good now, since they’re probably regarded as a stronger team than group rivals Costa Rica.

I found the opening ceremony as boring as hell, not to put it too bluntly. Good thing the opening match was highly entertaining, which is slightly unusual.

Categories
Eco-philo-pol

The Undercover Economist

I recently bought a book called The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford. After a rather too cutesy beginning, in which his explanations of how scarcity determines the price of everyday items are somewhat more longwinded and waffly than they ought to be (a bit like this sentence), Harford’s book warms to the task of convincing the lay reader (for that is the audience at which the book is aimed) that free markets are good for the most part. If you’ve ever wondered about the connection between used cars and private health insurance (I can’t say I have, but I found that chapter interesting), or why countries like Cameroon are poor, or why China’s economy is taking off, then this book is for you; but don’t expect too much depth.

The Undercover Economist starts out by giving a pub-counter lesson in David Ricardo’s theory of economic rent. It goes on to explain the strategies used by Supermarkets and other shops to get as much money out of you as possible, and why competition is important. The middle chapters outline why perfect markets convey ultimate truths, why and how externalities (positive ones and negative ones) ought to be accounted for and under what circumstances markets fail. It’s in the chapter about market failure that he discusses used cars and private health insurance – which are both examples of where the market can and often does fail (hint: think about the disparity between what a seller knows and what a buyer knows in the used car market or in the market for health insurance). There’s a chapter which explains why rational investment behaviour leads to erratic stock prices. One of my favourite chapters was about designing auctions to sell radio spectrum: Australia, New Zealand and the US got some of their auctions terribly wrong, leaving the public short-changed. Britain, on the other hand, designed a near perfect auction for 3G licences, leading to a big windfall for the public (Harford goes on to show why the common assumption that high costs for 3G licences imply high prices for consumers of mobile phone services is a fallacy). The last three chapters tackle "the big issues", which are often the subject of news stories: poverty, globalisation and the rising behemoth called China. Harford argues that sweatshop conditions are better than what came before them, and that sweatshop economies are a mere stepping stone to a much brighter future, which, given the evidence is an argument hard to refute. However, he doesn’t answer the question as to whether the sweatshop path is the only way to an improved quality of life.

Overall, an interesting book, though not groundbreaking. It provides a nice refresher in Economics 101, and clears up some misconceptions for the lay reader. For example, it’s easy to think about prices and rents the wrong way, and sometimes I catch myself making the mistake. Starbucks on the corner of Queen’s Plaza in the city will charge high prices for coffee because that’s what I’m willing to pay, and the owner of Queen’s Plaza charges high rent to Starbucks because the price of a cup of coffee is high. The price of a cup of coffee isn’t high because rent is high. Some people have claimed that Freakonomics is a better book, though Harford does a better job of showing how economic theories postulated in the nineteenth century explain a lot about the way the world works in the twenty-first century.

Categories
Random observations

Excellent Result, Lucky Result

A 1-1 draw with Holland is a fantastic result for Australia. However, the truth be told, we were very lucky not to be hammered by three or more goals. But then, it was also one of the poorer attacking performances by Australia since Hiddink took over. Australia was unable to string many passes together. They looked very tired at times. Schwarzer was absolutely brilliant and has surely cemented his place in the starting lineup. He pulled off several unbelievable saves. What pleases me is that even when Australia went down to 10 men, we didn’t crumble under the pressure that Holland applied. Our defence looked much better in the second half. This result will give the team a lot of confidence going into the World Cup, especially after our group opponents Japan could only manage a 1-0 win over lowly Malta on the same day.

Categories
Random observations

Two-all

Despite appearances, I am actually barracking for Australia in the football match tonight. My rather unpatriotic wife, however, who seems to have found the keys to my blog, is a completely different story. This morning I wake up, and she’s wearing orange. We go to her parents house for morning tea, and what does she take? She takes Dutch eclair biscuits (Bokkenpootjes). Not to mention there’s been a little Dutch doll sitting next to the TV taunting me ever since Australia qualified for the World Cup.

I hope Australia wins tonight. I’m predicting a 2-2 draw, though I’m not sure why. However, there’s a niggling thought that keeps popping into my head telling me the score will be 3-2, and I just hope it’s in Australia’s favour.