Thursday, July 10, 2014

Wish you were here ... not on your cellphone

A good friend of ours, Kathy Pezdek, penned a column 10 years ago ("Wish you were here ... not here on your cellphone") that seems even more relevant today. Most cellphones today do a lot more than make phone calls—they offer the temptation of being in constant contact with a universe of friends and acquaintances, of being tied into just about anything going on all around the world. The problem, of course, is that checking in with what's going on everywhere else takes us out of the here-and-now, and that's a real shame.

5 comments:

Benjamin Cole said...

You were saying something? Sorry about that call...

William said...

Scott, your friend is absolutely correct. It's a way to avoid real, meaningful, interpersonal relationship while appearing to have many such relations. Someone constantly checking their phone apps misses the moment, the persons around them, life in the here and now.

For some, like my oldest daughter, all this Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. posting is obsessive / compulsive behavior.

sgt.red.blue.red said...

Yep. For REAL interpersonal relationships, we go to the BLOGS, don't we?

William said...

OECD: Composite Leading Indicators, June 2014

10/06/2014 - For the OECD as a whole, and for the United States and Canada, CLIs, designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend. point to stable growth momentum. The same is true for the United Kingdom, where the growth momentum is stabilising at above-trend rates.

The CLI for Japan points to a disruption in its growth momentum although this may reflect one-off factors.

In the Euro Area as a whole, and in Italy, CLIs continue to indicate a positive change in momentum. In Germany and France,CLIs point to stable growth momentum.

Composite leading indicators continue to suggest that the growth momentum is weakening in most major emerging economies.CLIs point to growth below trend in Brazil, China and Russia. Nevertheless, the CLI tentatively indicates a positive turning point in India.

http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/composite-leading-indicators-cli-oecd-june-2014.htm

William said...

LIPPER FUND FLOW REPORT 07/11/2014

Monthly April

Equity Fund Inflows $21.5 Bil;

Taxable Bond Fund Inflows $10.7 Bil

xETFs - Equity Fund Inflows $11.9 Bil;
Taxable Bond Fund Inflows $8.4 Bil

Monthly March

Equity Fund Inflows $31.9 Bil;

Taxable Bond Fund Inflows $11.9 Bil

xETFs - Equity Fund Inflows $13.3 Bil;
Taxable Bond Fund Inflows $18.3 Bil

Monthly May

Equity Fund Inflows $5.7 Bil;

Taxable Bond Fund Inflows $21.4 Bil

xETFs - Equity Fund Inflows $11 Bil;
Taxable Bond Fund Inflows $15.9 Bil