Tag Archives: economics

The Worst The Economist Argument Ever

Most bastions of good journalism have taken a terrible fall during the past ten years, especially The Economist. But the fall has never been so well illustrated with this quote from one of the Home Truths leader in the May 10, 2008 issue of The Economist that argues Congress should bail out “homeowners” who face mortgage problems:

…there is a case for government intervention to avoid unnecessary foreclosures. Evicting a homeowner and selling his property takes months, during which vandalism and legal fees can destroy a large part of the home’s value–and drag down the price of the neighbours’ homes as well.

Vandalism and legal fees? Did someone forget to edit this article? Or maybe they just forgot to think before writing.

Equally disturbing is the use of “homeowners”? Are we so blind we miss the problem of calling individuals who can’t pay their mortgages “homeowners”?

Fast-Quick Internet Meets Slow-Conservative Buying

I am catching up on last week’s Economist and came across a small article on Blue Nile, an online middle-man for jewelry sales (mostly engagement rings). I remember when Blue Nile launched in the late 1990s for a couple reasons, including the fact that it was crazy you could buy high-end jewelry online. Yes, I will be sure to point my grandchildren to this blog post.

Anyway, here was an interesting and amusing snippet from the article:

Some 85% of purchases from Blue Nile are made by men. On average they pay $6,200 per engagement ring and take three weeks to make up their minds. Yet the majority of visitors to the Blue Nile site are women, who browse and e-mail pictures of the stone and ring they want to friends for comment, and ultimately to the target fiance-to-be.