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Showing posts from March, 2013

What is a 'hair cut' in the financial world?

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A 'haircut' is a loss in the value of an investment or security: see  here  for an example. 

What is a 'run' on a bank?

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A run on a bank is when a large number of customers withdraw their funds simultaneously. If a run on a bank gains momentum it can quickly 'fail' or go out of business, as  happened with Lehman Brothers in 2008. This is what George (James Stewart) is trying to prevent in the famous scene (above) from 'It's a Wonderful Life'. With institutions that are 'too big too fail' a government or international financial organisation may rescue the bank by either taking it over or injecting huge amounts of cash. This is the role the EU is currently playing in Cyprus. Unfortunately the proposed solution, which involved seizing ten per cent of depositor cash has created a crisis of confidence that threatens the banks, the role of Cyprus in the EU and ultimately the EU project itself. How do you stop a bank run? With great difficulty. The traditional remedies are: a) delay -  ....the bank is going to open again next week ... the key requirement is to 'buy tim

What is a meme? A scientific term? Or 'a pretentious way of stating the obvious'?

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This cartoon refers to 'Rickrolling' meme (see below) The word meme was first introduced by Richard Dawkins in  The Selfish Gene . Dawkins was looking for "a monosyllable that sounds a bit like 'gene'" to apply a biological concept to 'cultural evolution'. He wrote that evolution depended not on the particular  chemical basis  of  genetics , but only on the existence of a  self-replicating  unit of transmission – in the case of biological evolution, the  gene . For Dawkins, the meme exemplified another self-replicating unit with potential significance in explaining  human behavior  and cultural evolution. [1]   The form a meme can take is very fluid. Here BBC Radio 4's  Start the Week  discuss a 'cultural meme' listen to ‘English FAQ: What is a meme?’ on Audioboo The term  internet meme  is a further simplification of what some have argued is a pseudo-scientific term. It is defined on one tech blog as: a catchphrase or concept