Labels: not just for food anymore. Companies have to organize their customers somehow – otherwise they’d be marketing denture cream to 8-year-olds and tampons to middle-aged men. Are you a High Rise Renter? Part of Main Street USA? Live in a college dorm? There’s a label for that.
How do they do it? Well they used to just make their best guess about who was watching a given channel at a given hour (guess who was watching Oprah at 4pm every day?) and tailor their advertising appropriately. But now marketers have all sorts of information about us. From online profiles to credit card transactions to Google searches and Foursquare check-ins, everyone with some kind of connection to the outside world is pretty much leaving a trail of data every where they go.
So – surprise! – a huge industry has sprung up to collect and analyze this data (called “data mining”) and sell it to the companies that want to sell you stuff. You can read all about it here, and “identify your lifestyle category” here.
You’ve heard that there’s a little trouble brewing in the glittering blue southeast corner of Europe, right? If you haven’t, Greece is in the middle of a nasty thing called a debt crisis. Basically, they can’t pay their bills, they’re gasping for air, and they’re pulling at ropes thrown by their European Union friends. So…
What’s the big deal? Why not let Greece’s failed economic policies fail? Who cares?
Fortunately for Greece, lots of people care. European nations (and investors throughout the world) see the Greek debt crisis as an infection that could spread throughout the EU and cause serious damage. Because nations in the eurozone all share the same currency (the euro), an economic disaster in one country will drag down the value of the currency for everyone.
So why hasn’t the problem been solved yet?
This (unbelievably) is the short answer, and definitely leaves out some of the finer points of the problem:
>>> Other EU nations have already stepped up and injected more than $100 billion into the Greek economy as a kind of bailout, but it’s just not enough. The Greek government has to cut spending and raise taxes in order to qualify for more aid, but citizens (and their powerful government reps) aren’t exactly excited about losing services and a bigger chunk of their paychecks.
>>> The government is also required to privatize some of its assets, which means selling valuable things like ports and banks and water utilities to private companies to raise cash. This also is not so popular – residents *like* their beautiful Greek coastline!
>>> Finally, private creditors (people who are owed money by Greece) have to agree to voluntarily hold onto and buy up more Greek debt (like government bonds). This is a hard sell in any case, but because publicly traded companies are legally obligated to act in the best interest of their shareholders, it may be especially hard to convince them that buying low-return debt in a failing economy is good for anybody.
What’s going to happen now?
Well, pretty much everyone involved agrees that they need to maintain a stable eurozone and a strong currency. So European nations are likely to keep trying to fix the problem any way they can. We’re not wizards over here at TILE, so we can’t say whether it will work, not work, or kind of work.
We will say that Greece is probably a pretty fun place to go right now if you’re looking for adventure civil-unrest-style!
You’ve heard that there’s a little trouble brewing in the glittering blue southeast corner of Europe, right? If you haven’t, Greece is in the middle of a nasty thing called a debt crisis. Basically, they can’t pay their bills, they’re gasping for air, and they’re pulling at ropes thrown by their European Union friends. So…
What’s the big deal? Why not let Greece’s failed economic policies fail? Who cares?
Fortunately for Greece, lots of people care. European nations (and investors throughout the world) see the Greek debt crisis as an infection that could spread throughout the EU and cause serious damage. Because nations in the eurozone all share the same currency (the euro), an economic disaster in one country will drag down the value of the currency for everyone.
So why hasn’t the problem been solved yet?
This (unbelievably) is the short answer, and definitely leaves out some of the finer points of the problem:
>>> Other EU nations have already stepped up and injected more than $100 billion into the Greek economy as a kind of bailout, but it’s just not enough. The Greek government has to cut spending and raise taxes in order to qualify for more aid, but citizens (and their powerful government reps) aren’t exactly excited about losing services and a bigger chunk of their paychecks.
>>> The government is also required to privatize some of its assets, which means selling valuable things like ports and banks and water utilities to private companies to raise cash. This also is not so popular – residents like their beautiful Greek coastline!
>>> Finally, private creditors (people who are owed money by Greece) have to agree to voluntarily hold onto and buy up more Greek debt (like government bonds). This is a hard sell in any case, but because publicly traded companies are legally obligated to act in the best interest of their shareholders, it may be especially hard to convince them that buying low-return debt in a failing economy is good for anybody.
What’s going to happen now?
Well, pretty much everyone involved agrees that they need to maintain a stable eurozone and a strong currency. So European nations are likely to keep trying to fix the problem any way they can. We’re not wizards over here at TILE, so we can’t say whether it will work, not work, or kind of work.
We will say that Greece is probably a pretty fun place to go right now if you’re looking for adventure civil-unrest-style!
Maryann Fernandez is the founder of Philanthropy Indaba – an organization that makes giving an unforgettable experience for philanthropists of all ages. She sat down and told us a little bit about an awesome documentary film trip to Ghana that Indaba has put together for the next generation of philanthropists.
>> TILE brings you exclusive opinions, explanations, and interviews from experts in every industry. Have a burning question or an expert you’d like to see interviewed? Just Ask TILE!
Labels: not just for food anymore. Companies have to organize their customers somehow – otherwise they’d be marketing denture cream to 8-year-olds and tampons to middle-aged men. Are you a High Rise Renter? Part of Main Street USA? Live in a college dorm? There’s a label for that.
How do they do it? Well they used to just make their best guess about who was watching a given channel at a given hour (guess who was watching Oprah at 4pm every day?) and tailor their advertising appropriately. But now marketers have all sorts of information about us. From online profiles to credit card transactions to Google searches and Foursquare check-ins, everyone with some kind of connection to the outside world is pretty much leaving a trail of data every where they go.
So – surprise! – a huge industry has sprung up to collect and analyze this data (called “data mining”) and sell it to the companies that want to sell you stuff. You can read all about it here, and “identify your lifestyle category” here.
Maryann Fernandez is the founder of Philanthropy Indaba – an organization that makes giving an unforgettable experience for philanthropists of all ages. She sat down and told us a little bit about an awesome documentary film trip to Ghana that Indaba has put together for the next generation of philanthropists.
A company named Helios just unveiled its second big fund composed of equity investments in African securities. The entirely private-equity fund is the largest ever created in Africa, and it seems to show that investors are becoming more and more interested in the emerging markets there.
The idea behind investing in “emerging markets” is kind of the same as the idea behind buying low and selling high. Sure, there’s always the risk that a low-priced stock means it’s a bad company and you’ll lose money on your investment. But if the stock does well, you make money. Lots of money. Same deal with emerging markets.
Since investors are basically amateur fortune-tellers, constantly trying to predict how companies and markets will perform in the future, this new investment in Africa means that someone, somewhere, thinks that things are about to go really well in those emerging markets.
A company named Helios just unveiled its second big fund composed of equity investments in African securities. The entirely private-equity fund is the largest ever created in Africa, and it seems to show that investors are becoming more and more interested in the emerging markets there.
The idea behind investing in “emerging markets” is kind of the same as the idea behind buying low and selling high. Sure, there’s always the risk that a low-priced stock means it’s a bad company and you’ll lose money on your investment. But if the stock does well, you make money. Lots of money. Same deal with emerging markets.
Since investors are basically amateur fortune-tellers, constantly trying to predict how companies and markets will perform in the future, this new investment in Africa means that someone, somewhere, thinks that things are about to go really well in those emerging markets.
In the very near future, you’ll be able to buy stock in a company you like by clicking three times within a Facebook app. Yes.
The start-up behind this investing revolution is Loyal3, and its goal is to make a boatload of money. But its other goal is to make it easy (and free) for average people to buy stock in the companies they like. And its other other goal is for companies to make it easy (and free) for average people to buy stock in their company, and thereby earn more loyal customers. Er, investomers.
Amazing, right? The Internet and mobile technology have already revolutionized philanthropy – now anyone can donate $10 instantly with just a text message – so it was only a matter of time before the financial industry got in on the action. (Ahem.)
But this guy is a little concerned about making “mindless” investing available to the next generation. Why encourage people to buy stock without first giving them the proper tools for learning about the health of the company? Loyal3 could be a great opportunity for young investors who want to try out their growing knowledge about investing. But it could also be the next bad idea – we’ve seen the damage that can be caused by blindly handing money over to people who make promises without showing us what’s behind the curtain.
Would you buy stock on Facebook if there were no fees associated with it?
In the very near future, you’ll be able to buy stock in a company you like by clicking three times within a Facebook app. Yes.
The start-up behind this investing revolution is Loyal3, and its goal is to make a boatload of money. But its other goal is to make it easy (and free) for average people to buy stock in the companies they like. And its other other goal is for companies to make it easy (and free) for average people to buy stock in their company, and thereby earn more loyal customers. Uh, investomers.
Amazing, right? The Internet and mobile technology have already revolutionized philanthropy – now anyone can donate $10 instantly with just a text message – so it was only a matter of time before the financial industry got in on the action. (Ahem.)
But this guy is a little concerned about making “mindless” investing available to the next generation. Why encourage people to buy stock without first giving them the proper tools for learning about the health of the company? Loyal3 could be a great opportunity for young investors who want to try out their growing knowledge about investing. But it could also be the next bad idea – we’ve seen the damage that can be caused by blindly handing money over to people who make promises without showing us what’s behind the curtain.
Would you buy stock on Facebook if there were no fees associated with it?
