Text 7. The lord of economics

It’s a name that, when dropped, is likely to result in gentle murmurs of approval and sagacious nodding of heads. Yet few would know that the last name of Lord John Maynard Keynes is to be pronounced in a manner to rhyme with ‘rains’. The conversational importance of economics – and thereby great economists –is never to be underestimated, for it is one of the few subjects that provides a common meeting ground for most managers. While the labyrinth of supply chain management may be dark and factual and the depths of enterprise resource planning may be murky and cold, the ocean of economics has enough of a shallow end to give everyone the opportunity to swim in its waters.Of course, what differentiates a dilettante from the connoisseur is the knowledge of the great masters, and here is where a little knowledge of Keynes can take you a long way. The position you take on the man and his works is vastly dependent on whether you see yourself as the first capitalist among capitalists or the first socialist among the capitalists.

As with everything else, a general background of the man helps. Keynes was only four and a half when he first started pondering on the economic meaning of interest. While still in school he had structured his first commercial agreement, whereby he would procure a library book for a bigger rival whom he disliked, on the condition that the other boy would never come within fifteen yards of young Keynes. The words 'prodigious talent’ somewhere during the narration of these anecdotes, would be immensely helpful in making sure that this nugget is not forgotten by your audience.

While you maybe tempted to dwell on Keynes’Etonian and Cantabrigian background, it would be best to skip these for they have no bearing on the man’s greatness. Mention instead that little known ‘masterpiece’ which he produced in 1913 called Indian Currency and Finance, where he touches upon the subject of the Indian’s love for the yellow metal, a matter that he was to touch upon again in the seminal General Theory (the full name is The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money but only fools take the full name of the Lord’s book in vain!)

However, the avid Keynes watcher would be careful to ensure that before he jumps into the General Theory he would touch upon other cornerstones of the good Lord’s career. A good starting point is his association with Virginia Woolf and EM Forster, among others, while he lived in the intellectual hotbed of the day, Bloomsbury. The sobriquet he bore was ‘Pozzo’– after a Corsican diplomat who was best known for multifarious interests and a scheming mind – given because of his role as central advisor to this eclectic group.

(Samuel Agastia. TNN, November 14, 2003)

Text 8.Fashion: why green is not the new black

Part of the challenge of the environmental movement in the developed world is to get people to look more deeply into their lifestyles and consumer choices: to see, for example, that cellophane-wrapped beef probably comes from a cow that fed on grain grown on land cleared of rain forest, which accelerates climate change. But while ethical eating has gained traction in the mainstream, one aspect of our lifestyle lags well behind: style itself. In clothing, green, it seems, is not the new black – at least not yet.

At least that’s according to a new, but small study, carried out by the International University of Monaco (IUM). In a survey of more than 100 Europeans and North Americans, researchers found that organic fashion did not have the same glamor as organic food.

“Although consumers are ready to pay a premium to purchase organic food, they do not yet see the interest in organic fashion,” Sandrine Ricard, Vice-President of IUM and part of the research team said in a statement released by the University. “There is a need to better inform consumers about the nature of organic fashion and to continue ‘glamorizing’ both the communication and the products.”

Here is the pertinent parts of the press release provided by the university: Researchers found that North Americans perceive green fashion more favorably, in part because eco-clothing brands have been launched by celebrities, such as the brand, Edun, run by Bono and his wife. North Americans associate green fashion with a woman in her 20’s, simple but sexy, who wears organic shoes and clothing.

On the other hand, European respondents perceive organic fashion consumers as unglamorous. A typical consumer would be a simple woman in her 40’s, wealthy, having a healthy lifestyle but unsophisticated. Because organic products are more expensive, Europeans associate organic with social status and showing-off.

The research team also concluded that the concept of green fashion is not clear to the majority of respondents. Consumers seem lost in the exact meaning of green fashion and lack information on norms and processes. In Europe, green fashion must become more attractive to the young generation to be a viable consumer option.

This last graph might be the most pertinent. What does green fashion actually mean? Non-toxic dyes? Organic wool?Ethical employment to offshore factory workers?Without certification program or governing bodies to assure consumers they are purchasing ethical products, fashion is open to all sorts of green wash shenanigans – such as one brand that recently tagged a clothing line as green because it used recycled paper price tags, without offering any more information on the production of the actual clothing.

It is not impossible to shift public consciousness about fashion – think of how the mainstream turned on fur 30 years ago. But clearly the clothing industry needs to be more clear on what they mean by going green.

(The Economist, 2015)