The Paula Principle

Month: June 2013

Whose flexibility?

I went recently to the launch of a Resolution Foundation report on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).  My daughter was on one of these for quite a while.  I think of a 'contract' as something struck between two or more agents with some degree of reciprocal obligation towards each other, however minimal and formal.  ZHCs don't look much like  that to me.  They vary, of course, but typically they involve the individual being at the organisation's disposal, at almost any time, with no reciprocity. The RF report, and other research by Jill Rubery focussing on domiciliary care workers, shows just how unbalanced the deal often is:  work which is very intermittent, so that…
Read More

Investing attitudes: Buffett and bankers

Here's Warren Buffett;  to me he comes across as entirely genuine, and I like his 'minimum threshold' approach. http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/06/17/n-warren-buffett-women-in-business-full.cnnmoney If he can get it, why not others?  The Tyrie report on banking behaviour includes (para 140) a conclusion that the absence of women on trading floors may have contributed to the grotesque excesses.  It makes good sense, but I'd like to see more evidence .   know there's been some research on testosterone levels, but I'd be more interested in empirical studies of decision-making - in banking or elsewhere.
Read More

Critical paths

The recent IPPR report, A Critical Path, is a level-headed and coolly-argued analysis of the options for the future of higher education in England.  It combines a coherent set of criteria for deciding where we should be going, a realistic acceptance of financial constraints and a set of rigorously worked through scenarios.  As a result, it's an excellent basis for constructive debate. I'm going to focus on one particular aspect (part-timers), but before  that I'd like simply to highlight a selection of the report's telling points.  It restates (albeit briefly) the case for universities to have civic and local responsibilities.  It brings into the argument the large amounts of tax relief (upwards…
Read More

Swedish skirt solution

My visit to Sweden earlier this week coincided with a great story from there, which made it into several newspapers.  12 male traindrivers were banned from wearing shorts, even in hot weather when their cabs are particularly badly ventilated.  So they turned up in skirts instead - and the company went along with this (it's not said how reluctantly) since to do otherwise would have been discrimination.  The original ban sounds nonsensical, but it's a nice solution.  ( I tried googling for an illustration for this post, but 'man and skirt' led me to adult only sites.) In discussion with a Swedish colleague I raised the question of why jobs are…
Read More

Noncogs

Noncogs is short for non-cognitive skills, and I've just been at an OECD meeting where my former colleague Koji Miyamoto is preparing for some longitudinal studies to  measure these in several different countries.  Noncogs are, obviously, distinguished from cognitive skills, both general ones such as reasoning and analytical skills and specific ones such as subject-related skills (mathematical, linguistic etc).  Noncogs include the capacity to concentrate on medium- or long-term goals, perseverance, the ability to deal with setbacks and the capacity to interact well with others. There is increasing evidence that in many contexts noncogs are as important as cogs, if not more so.  (We should always remember that the two categories are not watertight, and interact…
Read More

Bell Jars

My book group (all men) discussed Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar last week.   I can't remember how we chose this - we alternate fiction and non-fiction, with a strict system for proposing options for our next session, and I think I must have missed the relevant session when BJ was chosen  - but it turned out to be one of our best discussions, partly because of our very varying attitudes to the book.  Some of us appreciated its style but didn't like the content (notably, as they saw it, her dislike of almost very character), some found it extraordinary in itself and doubly so given the author's own suicide, and others couldn't respond  to it at…
Read More

Whose flexibility?

I went recently to the launch of a Resolution Foundation report on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).  My daughter was on one of these for quite a while.  I think of a 'contract' as something struck between two or more agents with some degree of reciprocal obligation towards each other, however minimal and formal.  ZHCs don't look much like  that to me.  They vary, of course, but typically they involve the individual being at the organisation's disposal, at almost any time, with no reciprocity. The RF report, and other research by Jill Rubery focussing on domiciliary care workers, shows just how unbalanced the deal often is:  work which is very intermittent, so that…
Read More

Investing attitudes: Buffett and bankers

Here's Warren Buffett;  to me he comes across as entirely genuine, and I like his 'minimum threshold' approach. http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/06/17/n-warren-buffett-women-in-business-full.cnnmoney If he can get it, why not others?  The Tyrie report on banking behaviour includes (para 140) a conclusion that the absence of women on trading floors may have contributed to the grotesque excesses.  It makes good sense, but I'd like to see more evidence .   know there's been some research on testosterone levels, but I'd be more interested in empirical studies of decision-making - in banking or elsewhere.
Read More

Critical paths

The recent IPPR report, A Critical Path, is a level-headed and coolly-argued analysis of the options for the future of higher education in England.  It combines a coherent set of criteria for deciding where we should be going, a realistic acceptance of financial constraints and a set of rigorously worked through scenarios.  As a result, it's an excellent basis for constructive debate. I'm going to focus on one particular aspect (part-timers), but before  that I'd like simply to highlight a selection of the report's telling points.  It restates (albeit briefly) the case for universities to have civic and local responsibilities.  It brings into the argument the large amounts of tax relief (upwards…
Read More

Swedish skirt solution

My visit to Sweden earlier this week coincided with a great story from there, which made it into several newspapers.  12 male traindrivers were banned from wearing shorts, even in hot weather when their cabs are particularly badly ventilated.  So they turned up in skirts instead - and the company went along with this (it's not said how reluctantly) since to do otherwise would have been discrimination.  The original ban sounds nonsensical, but it's a nice solution.  ( I tried googling for an illustration for this post, but 'man and skirt' led me to adult only sites.) In discussion with a Swedish colleague I raised the question of why jobs are…
Read More

Noncogs

Noncogs is short for non-cognitive skills, and I've just been at an OECD meeting where my former colleague Koji Miyamoto is preparing for some longitudinal studies to  measure these in several different countries.  Noncogs are, obviously, distinguished from cognitive skills, both general ones such as reasoning and analytical skills and specific ones such as subject-related skills (mathematical, linguistic etc).  Noncogs include the capacity to concentrate on medium- or long-term goals, perseverance, the ability to deal with setbacks and the capacity to interact well with others. There is increasing evidence that in many contexts noncogs are as important as cogs, if not more so.  (We should always remember that the two categories are not watertight, and interact…
Read More

Bell Jars

My book group (all men) discussed Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar last week.   I can't remember how we chose this - we alternate fiction and non-fiction, with a strict system for proposing options for our next session, and I think I must have missed the relevant session when BJ was chosen  - but it turned out to be one of our best discussions, partly because of our very varying attitudes to the book.  Some of us appreciated its style but didn't like the content (notably, as they saw it, her dislike of almost very character), some found it extraordinary in itself and doubly so given the author's own suicide, and others couldn't respond  to it at…
Read More

Whose flexibility?

I went recently to the launch of a Resolution Foundation report on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).  My daughter was on one of these for quite a while.  I think of a 'contract' as something struck between two or more agents with some degree of reciprocal obligation towards each other, however minimal and formal.  ZHCs don't look much like  that to me.  They vary, of course, but typically they involve the individual being at the organisation's disposal, at almost any time, with no reciprocity. The RF report, and other research by Jill Rubery focussing on domiciliary care workers, shows just how unbalanced the deal often is:  work which is very intermittent, so that…
Read More

Investing attitudes: Buffett and bankers

Here's Warren Buffett;  to me he comes across as entirely genuine, and I like his 'minimum threshold' approach. http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/06/17/n-warren-buffett-women-in-business-full.cnnmoney If he can get it, why not others?  The Tyrie report on banking behaviour includes (para 140) a conclusion that the absence of women on trading floors may have contributed to the grotesque excesses.  It makes good sense, but I'd like to see more evidence .   know there's been some research on testosterone levels, but I'd be more interested in empirical studies of decision-making - in banking or elsewhere.
Read More

Critical paths

The recent IPPR report, A Critical Path, is a level-headed and coolly-argued analysis of the options for the future of higher education in England.  It combines a coherent set of criteria for deciding where we should be going, a realistic acceptance of financial constraints and a set of rigorously worked through scenarios.  As a result, it's an excellent basis for constructive debate. I'm going to focus on one particular aspect (part-timers), but before  that I'd like simply to highlight a selection of the report's telling points.  It restates (albeit briefly) the case for universities to have civic and local responsibilities.  It brings into the argument the large amounts of tax relief (upwards…
Read More

Swedish skirt solution

My visit to Sweden earlier this week coincided with a great story from there, which made it into several newspapers.  12 male traindrivers were banned from wearing shorts, even in hot weather when their cabs are particularly badly ventilated.  So they turned up in skirts instead - and the company went along with this (it's not said how reluctantly) since to do otherwise would have been discrimination.  The original ban sounds nonsensical, but it's a nice solution.  ( I tried googling for an illustration for this post, but 'man and skirt' led me to adult only sites.) In discussion with a Swedish colleague I raised the question of why jobs are…
Read More

Noncogs

Noncogs is short for non-cognitive skills, and I've just been at an OECD meeting where my former colleague Koji Miyamoto is preparing for some longitudinal studies to  measure these in several different countries.  Noncogs are, obviously, distinguished from cognitive skills, both general ones such as reasoning and analytical skills and specific ones such as subject-related skills (mathematical, linguistic etc).  Noncogs include the capacity to concentrate on medium- or long-term goals, perseverance, the ability to deal with setbacks and the capacity to interact well with others. There is increasing evidence that in many contexts noncogs are as important as cogs, if not more so.  (We should always remember that the two categories are not watertight, and interact…
Read More

Bell Jars

My book group (all men) discussed Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar last week.   I can't remember how we chose this - we alternate fiction and non-fiction, with a strict system for proposing options for our next session, and I think I must have missed the relevant session when BJ was chosen  - but it turned out to be one of our best discussions, partly because of our very varying attitudes to the book.  Some of us appreciated its style but didn't like the content (notably, as they saw it, her dislike of almost very character), some found it extraordinary in itself and doubly so given the author's own suicide, and others couldn't respond  to it at…
Read More

Whose flexibility?

I went recently to the launch of a Resolution Foundation report on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).  My daughter was on one of these for quite a while.  I think of a 'contract' as something struck between two or more agents with some degree of reciprocal obligation towards each other, however minimal and formal.  ZHCs don't look much like  that to me.  They vary, of course, but typically they involve the individual being at the organisation's disposal, at almost any time, with no reciprocity. The RF report, and other research by Jill Rubery focussing on domiciliary care workers, shows just how unbalanced the deal often is:  work which is very intermittent, so that…
Read More

Investing attitudes: Buffett and bankers

Here's Warren Buffett;  to me he comes across as entirely genuine, and I like his 'minimum threshold' approach. http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/06/17/n-warren-buffett-women-in-business-full.cnnmoney If he can get it, why not others?  The Tyrie report on banking behaviour includes (para 140) a conclusion that the absence of women on trading floors may have contributed to the grotesque excesses.  It makes good sense, but I'd like to see more evidence .   know there's been some research on testosterone levels, but I'd be more interested in empirical studies of decision-making - in banking or elsewhere.
Read More

Critical paths

The recent IPPR report, A Critical Path, is a level-headed and coolly-argued analysis of the options for the future of higher education in England.  It combines a coherent set of criteria for deciding where we should be going, a realistic acceptance of financial constraints and a set of rigorously worked through scenarios.  As a result, it's an excellent basis for constructive debate. I'm going to focus on one particular aspect (part-timers), but before  that I'd like simply to highlight a selection of the report's telling points.  It restates (albeit briefly) the case for universities to have civic and local responsibilities.  It brings into the argument the large amounts of tax relief (upwards…
Read More

Swedish skirt solution

My visit to Sweden earlier this week coincided with a great story from there, which made it into several newspapers.  12 male traindrivers were banned from wearing shorts, even in hot weather when their cabs are particularly badly ventilated.  So they turned up in skirts instead - and the company went along with this (it's not said how reluctantly) since to do otherwise would have been discrimination.  The original ban sounds nonsensical, but it's a nice solution.  ( I tried googling for an illustration for this post, but 'man and skirt' led me to adult only sites.) In discussion with a Swedish colleague I raised the question of why jobs are…
Read More

Noncogs

Noncogs is short for non-cognitive skills, and I've just been at an OECD meeting where my former colleague Koji Miyamoto is preparing for some longitudinal studies to  measure these in several different countries.  Noncogs are, obviously, distinguished from cognitive skills, both general ones such as reasoning and analytical skills and specific ones such as subject-related skills (mathematical, linguistic etc).  Noncogs include the capacity to concentrate on medium- or long-term goals, perseverance, the ability to deal with setbacks and the capacity to interact well with others. There is increasing evidence that in many contexts noncogs are as important as cogs, if not more so.  (We should always remember that the two categories are not watertight, and interact…
Read More

Bell Jars

My book group (all men) discussed Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar last week.   I can't remember how we chose this - we alternate fiction and non-fiction, with a strict system for proposing options for our next session, and I think I must have missed the relevant session when BJ was chosen  - but it turned out to be one of our best discussions, partly because of our very varying attitudes to the book.  Some of us appreciated its style but didn't like the content (notably, as they saw it, her dislike of almost very character), some found it extraordinary in itself and doubly so given the author's own suicide, and others couldn't respond  to it at…
Read More

Whose flexibility?

I went recently to the launch of a Resolution Foundation report on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).  My daughter was on one of these for quite a while.  I think of a 'contract' as something struck between two or more agents with some degree of reciprocal obligation towards each other, however minimal and formal.  ZHCs don't look much like  that to me.  They vary, of course, but typically they involve the individual being at the organisation's disposal, at almost any time, with no reciprocity. The RF report, and other research by Jill Rubery focussing on domiciliary care workers, shows just how unbalanced the deal often is:  work which is very intermittent, so that…
Read More

Investing attitudes: Buffett and bankers

Here's Warren Buffett;  to me he comes across as entirely genuine, and I like his 'minimum threshold' approach. http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/06/17/n-warren-buffett-women-in-business-full.cnnmoney If he can get it, why not others?  The Tyrie report on banking behaviour includes (para 140) a conclusion that the absence of women on trading floors may have contributed to the grotesque excesses.  It makes good sense, but I'd like to see more evidence .   know there's been some research on testosterone levels, but I'd be more interested in empirical studies of decision-making - in banking or elsewhere.
Read More

Critical paths

The recent IPPR report, A Critical Path, is a level-headed and coolly-argued analysis of the options for the future of higher education in England.  It combines a coherent set of criteria for deciding where we should be going, a realistic acceptance of financial constraints and a set of rigorously worked through scenarios.  As a result, it's an excellent basis for constructive debate. I'm going to focus on one particular aspect (part-timers), but before  that I'd like simply to highlight a selection of the report's telling points.  It restates (albeit briefly) the case for universities to have civic and local responsibilities.  It brings into the argument the large amounts of tax relief (upwards…
Read More

Swedish skirt solution

My visit to Sweden earlier this week coincided with a great story from there, which made it into several newspapers.  12 male traindrivers were banned from wearing shorts, even in hot weather when their cabs are particularly badly ventilated.  So they turned up in skirts instead - and the company went along with this (it's not said how reluctantly) since to do otherwise would have been discrimination.  The original ban sounds nonsensical, but it's a nice solution.  ( I tried googling for an illustration for this post, but 'man and skirt' led me to adult only sites.) In discussion with a Swedish colleague I raised the question of why jobs are…
Read More

Noncogs

Noncogs is short for non-cognitive skills, and I've just been at an OECD meeting where my former colleague Koji Miyamoto is preparing for some longitudinal studies to  measure these in several different countries.  Noncogs are, obviously, distinguished from cognitive skills, both general ones such as reasoning and analytical skills and specific ones such as subject-related skills (mathematical, linguistic etc).  Noncogs include the capacity to concentrate on medium- or long-term goals, perseverance, the ability to deal with setbacks and the capacity to interact well with others. There is increasing evidence that in many contexts noncogs are as important as cogs, if not more so.  (We should always remember that the two categories are not watertight, and interact…
Read More

Bell Jars

My book group (all men) discussed Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar last week.   I can't remember how we chose this - we alternate fiction and non-fiction, with a strict system for proposing options for our next session, and I think I must have missed the relevant session when BJ was chosen  - but it turned out to be one of our best discussions, partly because of our very varying attitudes to the book.  Some of us appreciated its style but didn't like the content (notably, as they saw it, her dislike of almost very character), some found it extraordinary in itself and doubly so given the author's own suicide, and others couldn't respond  to it at…
Read More

Whose flexibility?

I went recently to the launch of a Resolution Foundation report on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).  My daughter was on one of these for quite a while.  I think of a 'contract' as something struck between two or more agents with some degree of reciprocal obligation towards each other, however minimal and formal.  ZHCs don't look much like  that to me.  They vary, of course, but typically they involve the individual being at the organisation's disposal, at almost any time, with no reciprocity. The RF report, and other research by Jill Rubery focussing on domiciliary care workers, shows just how unbalanced the deal often is:  work which is very intermittent, so that…
Read More

Investing attitudes: Buffett and bankers

Here's Warren Buffett;  to me he comes across as entirely genuine, and I like his 'minimum threshold' approach. http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/06/17/n-warren-buffett-women-in-business-full.cnnmoney If he can get it, why not others?  The Tyrie report on banking behaviour includes (para 140) a conclusion that the absence of women on trading floors may have contributed to the grotesque excesses.  It makes good sense, but I'd like to see more evidence .   know there's been some research on testosterone levels, but I'd be more interested in empirical studies of decision-making - in banking or elsewhere.
Read More

Critical paths

The recent IPPR report, A Critical Path, is a level-headed and coolly-argued analysis of the options for the future of higher education in England.  It combines a coherent set of criteria for deciding where we should be going, a realistic acceptance of financial constraints and a set of rigorously worked through scenarios.  As a result, it's an excellent basis for constructive debate. I'm going to focus on one particular aspect (part-timers), but before  that I'd like simply to highlight a selection of the report's telling points.  It restates (albeit briefly) the case for universities to have civic and local responsibilities.  It brings into the argument the large amounts of tax relief (upwards…
Read More

Swedish skirt solution

My visit to Sweden earlier this week coincided with a great story from there, which made it into several newspapers.  12 male traindrivers were banned from wearing shorts, even in hot weather when their cabs are particularly badly ventilated.  So they turned up in skirts instead - and the company went along with this (it's not said how reluctantly) since to do otherwise would have been discrimination.  The original ban sounds nonsensical, but it's a nice solution.  ( I tried googling for an illustration for this post, but 'man and skirt' led me to adult only sites.) In discussion with a Swedish colleague I raised the question of why jobs are…
Read More

Noncogs

Noncogs is short for non-cognitive skills, and I've just been at an OECD meeting where my former colleague Koji Miyamoto is preparing for some longitudinal studies to  measure these in several different countries.  Noncogs are, obviously, distinguished from cognitive skills, both general ones such as reasoning and analytical skills and specific ones such as subject-related skills (mathematical, linguistic etc).  Noncogs include the capacity to concentrate on medium- or long-term goals, perseverance, the ability to deal with setbacks and the capacity to interact well with others. There is increasing evidence that in many contexts noncogs are as important as cogs, if not more so.  (We should always remember that the two categories are not watertight, and interact…
Read More

Bell Jars

My book group (all men) discussed Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar last week.   I can't remember how we chose this - we alternate fiction and non-fiction, with a strict system for proposing options for our next session, and I think I must have missed the relevant session when BJ was chosen  - but it turned out to be one of our best discussions, partly because of our very varying attitudes to the book.  Some of us appreciated its style but didn't like the content (notably, as they saw it, her dislike of almost very character), some found it extraordinary in itself and doubly so given the author's own suicide, and others couldn't respond  to it at…
Read More