What we learned in 2007...

...and interesting article at the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/business/13view.html?_r=1&ex=1357966800&en=dbd1d26f9a2c3cb9&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

Thing that interested me most was the bit about risky, or predatory borrowing, i.e. that much of the debt problem isn't through pushy lenders, but people so desperate to borrow they'll fraudulently report their income as higher than it is. This is kind of neglected in the hysteria surrounding the current debt problems in the major industrialised countries, particularly the UK. Is it because it's easier to blame faceless multinational companies? Or is it just because we all want to point the finger at someone else other than ourselves?

Such behaviour simply reveals what people will do to sustain the kind of lifestyles we want, and is motivated by greed on the personal level, not just the corporate level. Not all that often commented on though in the tabloids it seems...

Oh and the other bit that interested me was the effect of cold - 700 people die in the US for each very cold day - a day with an average temperature of -30 or below. This coming Sunday the forecast here in Edmonton is -24...