And so another year and another decade starts in which all good intentions are there, in the beginning, but what risks lie ahead and what gambles will be taken? How achievable are objectives?
We have a distraction at SUF headquarters which we won’t be giving up as our New Year Resolution: Buzzword Bingo. The objective is to discover the next buzzword or phrase in terms of finance or the economy before it becomes popular and, after claiming it, see how many times it occurs within a week or so in the media. No big prizes, the winner just gets to choose their next word first. It could be said that a seasoned betting person might have the upperhand in such a game, especially if big prizes were involved, and going for the underdog in the hope of their long-shot netting a win.
A whole myriad of words and phrases became part of everyday language last year; credit-crunch, bailout, meltdown, bankster, quantitative easing, subprime, toxic, stimulus package, housing bubble, green shoots, recession, depression, our-Government-says. Finding the rank outsiders became a test in itself and we think even the professional gambler might have struggled, especially as some of our claims managed a second blooming as the financial lexicon became a bubbling cauldron with words and phrases almost overflowing and the long shots being few.
Meanwhile, Ladbrokes had a different game going by running odds on the 25 candidates for the Nobel Prize in Economics. The long-shots came out on top for their work which, although hadn’t been considered pure economics, was topical as it focused around ‘economic governance’ and was given to Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson. Ostram, apologies at this point to anyone who understands her work in detail, claims that when a market fails it doesn’t necessitate government regulation as the only solution; there are other ways beyond free market or regulation. Williamson, apologies again, was cited for his studies on how organizations are structured.
Economic concerns have ‘Gambling with our Future’ as a phrase that could be on many a buzzword bingo card so who will see the pitfalls and have the confidence to air reservations?
Being in place to have access to relevant information that results in an optimum outcome, including where appropriate, accessing external advice, to avoid or reinforce resolves is always a challenge but never a game.
(Image credit: Danielle Myers Article credit: Copyright SUF)
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