Economics/Geekonomics

Norway Butter Crisis

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OK normally I post serious geeky economic news, bordering on the depressing, but as your geekonomist du blog, I have to share this story that is a great reminder of how social trends affect economics.

Norway is running out of butter.

Why? Because of a low-carb diet trend and some bad weather. Oh and they could get more butter from Denmark, but Denmark apparently isn't selling because of high import duties.

So next time you see some weird or odd trend or fad, pause for a moment, don't laugh, and ask yourself just what it's real-life economic impacts may be. The iPad may be cool, Skyrim may be awesome, but there's also a trend effect there.

Also, Norway Butter Crisis is an awesome name for a band or an MMO guild.

– Steven Savage

Occupy, Banks, and the Spotlight

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It's looking like the Occupy Movement has gotten the attention of Bank of America with their new Occupy Your Homes anti-foreclosure protests. What's remarkable is that BofA seems concerned enough to send out a memo – and realizes they're being targeted.

I think they're a bit nervous, and they should be:

  • This rebrands the OWS movement in a way that provides easy messaging and positive image.
  • It calls attention to foreclosure and home issues – and can keep the issues in the news.
  • Anything the bank does backfires.
  • The backfires will call attention to bad banking practices, MERS, etc.
  • Most people aren't too happy with banks.

If this continues (and my guess is it will), then it's going to keep the public eye on banks and their activities past and present. This could lead to deeper investigations (if not just more awareness) of serious problems in the system.

As we all know the banks have a lot of problems still – and frankly I don't think they can stand the scruity and the lawsuits that would follow.  So this shift in tactics could have a lot of effects on the banks and how they're treated.

– Steven Savage