Beneath the Peak

You’ve probably heard of gazumping, which happens when a buyer willing to pay a higher price upsets a property purchase you thought was solid.

In London’s cooling real estate market, there’s a new trend — gazundering – where the buyer demands a substantial, last-minute discount in the purchase price. In the UK, a property deal isn’t final until contracts are exchanged, which can be three months after the initial offer is made.

There’s even a helpful website explaining how to gazunder.

Technorati Tags: gazumping, gazundering, property, Real estate, london

This week’s Dear Economist column in the Financial Times answers an interesting question: Is it better to be the first or last speaker at a conference?

Quoting the work of economists Lionel Page and his wife Katie — who researched the results of programs like American Idol — Tim Harford suggests that appearing last in the lineup is best.

That makes a certain amount of sense, but for three fairly common circumstances.

The first two center on poor conference organization. If the speakers’ content overlaps, as the last presenter it’s easy to find yourself covering information that others have already discussed.

And if the organizers jam too many presenters into the schedule, or fail to keep the speakers on that schedule, you can find yourself presenting to a bored audience or a half-empty hall.

Worst though is if you have to follow one or more presenters who are significantly better than you are. The obvious answer to this is to practice and refine your presentation until it is superb. But even that won’t save you from speaking after a truly great presenter.

Technorati Tags: Lionel Page, Dear Economist, Tim Harford, presentations

Via Spike

Put your iPod on shuffle and press next for each question. Write down the song that’s playing as an answer.

1. How would you describe yourself?
All I Want is You – Roxy Music [Not much here]

2. What do you like in a guy/girl?
Two Against Nature – Steely Dan [Or here, unless you’re a naturalist]

3. What is your motto?
Mary Lou – Frank Zappa [?]

4. What do your friends think of you?
Pulling Mussels from the Shell – Squeeze [Hmm. Does that mean stubborn?]

5. What do you think about often?
The Factory – Warren Zevon [Yep, though it’s a studio now]

6. What do your parents think of you?
Pyramid - Andreas Vollenweider [Old & Egyptian]

7. What do you think of your best friend?
Son Of Mr. Green Genes – Frank Zappa [?]

8. What do you think of the person you like?
Don’t Take Me Alive – Steely Dan [unrequited affection?]

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Bing Can’t Walk (’Cause Bob Broke Both His Legs) – Stan Ridgeway [A bouncer in a biker bar]

10. What do you think when you see the person you like?
Mrs. Scofield’s Waltz – John Scofield [?]

11. What song will they play at your wedding?
Mission Bell – Stan Ridgeway [Too late]

12. What will they play at your funeral?
Manipulation – The Black Angels [That seems a little harsh]

13. What is your hobby/interest?
Bringing my children Home - Emmylou Harris [Hmm. They were there last time I checked]

14. What is your biggest fear?
Brown Street – Joe Zawinul [How about Brown Shoes?]

15. What is your biggest secret?
Telegram – Nazareth [Amazing what lurks in the deepest recesses of your hard drive, isn’t it?]

16. What do you think of your friends?
The star spangled banner – Mike Pope [Yes, I do have some American friends]

17. What is your theme song?
Mother of Violence – Peter Gabriel [See #9]

18. What do you think of your family?
Heartbroken Bopper – The Guess Who [See #15]

19. What is your best friend’s theme song?
Slum People – The Motors

20. What is your mood right now?
Run Home Slow (Main Title Theme) - Frank Zappa [Not for a few hours yet.]

21. If your heart could talk what would it say?
Eddie’s Ragga – Spoon [?]

22. What do your co-workers think of you?
Joey – Concrete Blonde [I guess I’m in my kangaroo phase]

23. What does your future look like?
Sign in Stranger – Steely Dan [From a bouncer in a biker bar to a security guard?]

…for honesty from a politician?

“Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3.”

Boris Johnson, the newly elected mayor of London, as quoted in this morning’s Financial Times.

Here’s a different interpretation of why the Chinese government censors reports of Olympic and Tibet-related protests, which was brought to my attention by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

According to this report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, the censorship is designed to protect western interests from rising Chinese nationalism, not to repress the Chinese people.

It makes for interesting reading, to say the least.

On May 8, I’ll be making a presentation about Landed at an event organized by the British Chamber of Commerce.

The function, which will take place at the British Consulate-General in Admiralty, is open to non-members and runs from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

Registration and information are available here.

CNN correspondent (and former BBC presenter) Richard Quest has been arrested in New York’s Central Park with a small amount of methamphetamine in his pocket.

Update: According to the New York Post, when he was arrested, Quest had “a rope around his neck that was tied to his genitals, and a sex toy in his boot.” Curiouser and curiouser.

Technorati Tags: Media, CNN, Richard Quest

Recently, I’ve been working on a couple of projects in Macau.

Macau has changed a lot in the time that I’ve lived in Hong Kong. And the changes are accelerating with the enclave’s emergence as one of the world’s top gaming centers.

Here are a couple of facts that illustrate the point.

With a population of just over 500,000, Macau welcomed 27 million visitors in 2007, up 23 percent from 2006. The same year, Hong Kong, which has 7 million residents, had 28 million visitors.

Macau’s retail sales grew 33 percent from 2006 to 2007, to MOP 14.2 billion (USD 1.77 billion)

P.J. O’Rourke has added his take on the Vatican’s new seven deadly sins, which include polluting and “accumulating excessive wealth.”*

While I don’t subscribe to all his views — for example, O’Rourke’s 11th Commandment is, “Thou shalt not blog” — the rest of the piece is classic O’Rourke.

“The beauty of Pope Gregory’s lineup (the original seven deadly sins) was that he nailed our most devilish villainies with one word each. His seven evocative nouns produced an instant mental image: a puffed-up, shifty-eyed, fat cat furiously ripping the thong off a young intern on a slow night in the Oval Office.”

Read the rest here.

* I’ve gotta ask: Who gets to decide what qualifies as excessive?

One of the things that I enjoy about being a father is introducing my kids to some of the things that I enjoy, whether that’s musicians like Miles Davis and Frank Zappa or directors such as Alfred Hitchcock.

For Christmas, I received a box set of Hitchcock’s work and I’ve been working my way through it with my 11-year-old son. So far, it’s been a mixed bag. The Trouble with Harry and The Man Who Knew Too Much didn’t really do it for him, but he enjoyed Rear Window and thought Psycho was very cool.

Last night we watched The Birds, a film that I hadn’t seen in a couple of decades. While the image and sound quality are superb, the special effects — particularly the scenes where masses of birds attack — haven’t aged well. Nearly half a century of technological progress means that we’re spoiled.

Two of the film’s highlights, though, are Jessica Tandy and the recently deceased Suzanne Pleshette’s performances. And even my son couldn’t help noticing the resemblance between Tippi Hedren and Paris Hilton. Hedren could have been Hilton’s mom.