Panic over rising Euro interest rates

So the media, and even the banks, have been provoking mass panic about tomorrow's likely quarter point rise in the Eurozone base rate. Now I can understand journalists not knowing how the markets work, but the banks?

Just a quick summary - market rates rise and fall in accordance with the economists' expectations of Central Bank decisions. Those economists have been expecting a quarter point rise in interest rates for months now. So rates have been creeping ever nearer to 2.25% in anticipation of the ECB decision. Many homeowners and other borrowers are already paying the higher rate, because their revision date has occurred since the market has been reflecting the expected ECB rate increase.

What will be the practical effect of a quarter point rate rise tomorrow: NONE WHATSOEVER. The ECB decision tomorrow is only newsworthy if the rise is not 0.25%.

Admittedly this is not an easy concept for many people, but the media should show some care in what they say. If they can't explain a subject adequately, they shouldn't bring it up!

Netcabo - quality or not?

Having been woken by Netcabo's advertising on SIC Notícias over a long period, claiming that Netcabo is the best ISP in Portugal, I was surprised to hear that the above Diário de Notícias survey stated the opposite.

Shame it's not possible to get the details online. The link doesn't work. Couldn't be because the DN site is hosted on a Portugal Telecom server, could it?

Looking at the practical aspects, what is the percentage of internet users who have ever changed ISP? It's hardly practical to compare your only experience. I have used four ISPs, two of which PT group. I now use Oni ADSL, which is very good and the best of the four. I will shortly be changing to Netcabo, not because I want to but because I have no choice. Watch this space for feedback.

President Campaigning

What is Jorge Sampaio playing at?

After ten years of invisibility, he is spending his last three months running round the country, pointing out all that is wrong. What's the point? He's not going to leave a legacy - it's too late.

And then he starts on Higher Education - "we need more graduates". "It's wrong to close degree courses with less than ten students". Both statements are superficial.

Why can't he take his five years off quietly and make way for the Presidential Election Circus.


Graduate Unemployment

Why is there so much graduate unemployment in Portugal? Because the mix of courses is wrong, that's clear. What can the country possibly do with so many Economics graduates, for example? But that's only the surface.

I avoid recruiting new graduates because they are little use to me. They have theoretical knowledge but no skills. Most of them can't even write a letter or draft a memo or report in Portuguese.

In a small company you can't afford the luxury of taking on unskilled staff. What I value is experience.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry is faced with a monumental task in turning the Higher Education establishment away from what they want to teach, towards what employers need. Either that, or send everybody to Hotel and Tourism Schools, so that at least service to tourists is improved. That's quite a safe bet for the future, as climate change is relatively slow...

Ota Airport (2)

Following on from my previous post Ota Airport, couldn't resist this one:

"Otário - indivíduo que defende com ardor, mas sem argumentos, a construção do Aeroporto da Ota."

Fool - individual that defends with ardor, but without arguments, the construction of the Airport at Ota.

Translated by Google.

Desburocratização

Once a year (October 27) a green edition of "Diário da República" comes across my desk, to signal "National Red-Tape Reduction Day".

It's true that the bureaucratic nightmare of living and doing business in Portugal has lessened over the years, but isn't the extra work of publishing a green edition just another example of red tape?

Free Publicity

Wasn't it nice of SIC to dedicate a large section of this evening's news to betandwin.com, the on-line betting site: "Who are Betandwin?"

Lots of questions raised - none answered other than "where" - Vienna, Austria. Didn't know that.

"The site is challenging the State's monopoly." Cue learned comments from Estoril Sol and Santa Casa (taped some weeks ago). The piece failed to point out that neither the casinos nor Santa Casa offer on-line betting on the outcome of individual sporting events.

"The tax man receives nothing." Also unresearched. I see no reason for bets placed from Portugal to be subject to Corporation tax and possibly VAT. The rules exist. It's just a question of finding a way to apply them. No interview with an expert in this area.

What sort of training (or is it the brief?) do these journalists have, to produce such a half-hearted report to be aired on prime time TV? If I were Betandwin, I'd be rubbing my hands with glee. Prime time, free publicity to a large proportion of the Portuguese public (excluding those who were watching the Benfica match on TVI).

Book Review

Just finished reading The Golden Era by Gore Vidal (in Portuguese). Awful book. Stodge from beginning to end. I received it for Christmas 2004 but, as I could only face a couple of pages a day, only finished it now.

It's about as good a read as (imagine) Nicholas Nickleby translated by Dostoevsky: too many characters, over-elaborate phrases. I was half way through the book before I understood who the major character is. A lot of it is opinionated rubbish, particularly the introduction of the author himself as a minor character who metamorphoses into the star of the anti-climatic final chapter. Even the explanations and justifications in the epilogue fail to compensate the reader for the purgatory of having read that far.

I can't believe that the translator is to blame. I only occasionally found myself translating back into English to find the correct translation for non-sensical phrases, which considering the historical context and obscurity of many references is quite an achievement. She successfully reflected a different style in the epilogue to the main text.

All in all, a complete waste of time.

Crazy Advertising

What is Vodafone thinking of with its new "Mayfly" advert? How does that relate to me, my lifestyle, my mobile phone?

It's time for TMN to seize the advertising initiative. The "We like life as it is" campaign is a valid criticism of Vodafone's advertising philosophy, regardless of the dubious taste of some of TMN's images.

Galp's Hidden Prices

Record profits for Petrogal, taking advantage of the motorist and its dominant market position.

How would the profits look if Galp stations advertised their prices like other companies. When prices started rising, they covered the advertised prices with a picture of an alien, which has been there ever since!

Galp's prices are consistently higher than others. How can they get away with this cover-up? Hasn't Deco, the consumer watchdog, complained?

No point asking what the Government's role is in this - just look at the number of political appointees at Petrogal...

Bird flu reaches Britain

It may be a very serious subject, but I couldn't help remembering this:

The Dead Parrot Sketch