Delors

A Great Man passed away, a Visionary, that prompted Europe tremendously. Thank you, Jacques Delors. RIP.

Music

Music is still a deep mystery to me. I can (standing on my tiptoes here) rationalize almost every direction of Human evolution, why we developed this feature, why we like and enjoy this, pleasure, thought, organization. Music, though, I can't. It is a deep and fascinating mystery to me. An enchantment.

Mic drop

So, that's how much you need to earn per month (in a 12 months basis) to be considered high-class in Portugal.

A hard truth

Europe is the region in the world with the best environmental performance. We should be proud in this and work hard to export our performance on this, through political influence. (abridged from a tweet by @ruiaesteves)

Bleach

This news from Publico (in Portuguese) is a serious contender for most frightening of the month. The fact that bleach is ineffective on the killing of a antibiotic-resistant bacteria means we just lost a powerful, simple, cheap and widely used way of cleansing hospital and medical facilities. The implications are horrendous and should keep us all up at night.

20% loss in five years

Talking with the Head of Sustainability of an European Foods company. "Over the last five years, the agricultural farms we partner have lost around 20% of their productivity. We believe this is mostly due to the rise of air temperature - and that this is only the beginning".

Can Portugal handle a three-meters average sea rise?

Really nice news from Dutch News, summing up of a study on the ability of The Netherlands to withstand the expected sea rise over the next decades. But it elicits the question, are other countries ready?

The Judicial Branch

Looking at all of what's happening today, one should notice that they are still a sign of some health on the Portuguese democracy. These actions show that the judicial power is still independent - and that's an essential part of a democracy.

China

"China economics raise concerns on the World economy" might be a recurring theme. But there is goes - again. Overall, it might be that Chinese political system has already closed in the maximum efficiencies it has to offer - even economically and financially. And thus, all we are talking about are just symptoms and not causes. But, feel free to read the article on CNN.com . 

Independence

The Central European Bank, once more showing the importance of independent central banks. Inflation is a monster that eats economies and families for breakfast and as such is important to control is as fast as possible, even when it hurts. And it hurts a lot! But one needs only to look at Argentina to realize how fundamental is this action.

An independent central bank can do these unpopular measures in a way no elected-Government can.

1896

Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist that won the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1903, projected through simple calculations in 1896 that the massive emission of carbon dioxide through industrial processes would ultimately warm the Earth's atmosphere. His work is still a foundational stone of climatology.

700 year-old markings

 I can't stop being amazed at 700-year old stone markings made by masons in a medieval castle. They were engraved during the castle construction, probably by masons that couldn't read or write, but they stood the test of time, as a bridge between a labor-hand and a marketeer that deals with AI, 700 years apart.

Coal

The extreme simplicity of coal, its cost and availability as an energy source are framing (as f.ck.ing) the fight against climate change. We will not succeeding in stoping climate change if we can't sort out this triple disadvantage of renewables vs coal. It will be really hard to do it.

The last sati

I thought the last documented sati (imolation of the wife in the huband's funeral pyre) in India had occurred in... 1987... But, sadly, there are reports of sati being performed still in the XIX.

The profound disrespect for women is both a shame and a hinderance in a society that strives to be competitive in a world where every single individual contribution enriches the world.

Deterministic chances

Reality's timeline depends on the perspective. If we look from past to present, reality is probabilistic, subject to chances. But if we look the other way around, from present to past, the perspective will turn out to be deterministic. A fascinating subject, I think.

Global total exports value 1990 vs 2021

 

Tina

You were really simply the best. Thank you.

Coronation

The coronation of King Charles III of England reminds us that Power requires cerimonies, show-off and People.

5 de Maio.

Sim, em português. Porque hoje, cinco de maio, celebramos os 260 milhões de pessoas que, por todo o Mundo, falam português como língua nativa, a 6a mais falada em todo o Mundo, e que nos permite falar e compreender gente de todo o Mundo, literalmente, de forma nativa.

Remembrance and Liberation Days

Today is National Remembrance Day in the Netherlands. A special day to remember the people (civilians and military) that lost their lives in conflicts, wars and peacekeeping missions. Tomorrow, it's Liberation Day in the Netherlands. It's not a coincidence that they are celebrated in sequence and in this order. For Sacrifice and Freedom are intimately linked. Always.

Petraeus

"The Ukraine war", said David Petraeus, "is about as clear a right-versus-wrong as we have seen in our lifetime".

Science and Democracy

Science and Democracy are interlinked. As Carl Sagan explained in words better than I could ever dream, "That kind of skeptical, questioning, "don't accept what authority tells you" attitude of science - is also nearly identical to the attitude of mind necessary for a functioning democracy. Science and democracy have very consonant values and approaches, and I don't think you can have one without the other".

Rotten

Scandals within the current Portuguese government are so frequent, almost in a daily basis, that they aren't getting ripe for political consequences. The sequence is simply too fast for the public mind to stay focused.

Rui Nabeiro. RIP

One of the most influential Portuguese entrepreneurs and business man of the last 50 years has died. He leaves a tremendous legacy.

https://www.publico.pt/2023/03/19/economia/noticia/morreu-empresario-rui-nabeiro-fundador-delta-2042966

About Freedom

A great interview from Carlos Guimarães Pinto (in Portuguese)

24th February

A year ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. I thought all would be done in two days. Incredibly, though, the Ukrainian people fought back in an impressive way and was able to stop the invasion - and even revert part of it. There still much to be recovered, but all in all, this last year is an incredible testimony to the power of Freedom, self-determination and free speech.

Pricing

The recent drop in natural gas consumption in Europe (-20% Aug 22 to Jan 23 vs a year before) shows, once more, the formidable power of pricing to change behaviors. There isn't much to match a dynamic price-offer-demand balance.

João Salgueiro - RIP

João Sagueiro was my Professor at Nova School of Business and Economics (at the time, still FEUNL).  I have fond memories of his classes and of him. RIP. 

On the latest housing policy announcements in Portugal

 Let's spare the slogans. I have serious doubts the latest announcement on housing policies in Portugal will have a positive impact. The tax decrease is really low, the fixed housing rent pricing is a real risk for the supply side, trust in the State as a rent-paying entity is really low (after all, the State is the biggest debtor in the Portuguese economy, and often it carries overdue debt).

I believe these measures will actually have a reverse impact vs what's intended. There are four main jeopardies:

1) The usurpation of private property and the signal it sends to national and foreign investors (probably, the measures announced are actually not aligned to the Portuguese Constitution);

2) It fuels low quality building and locations (watch out for floods and earthquakes);

3) It prompts Public funds abuse through the simplification of housing sales to the State itself;

4) It risks being a strike on the tourism sector, through the short-term rental restrictions it will impose. This also poses a risk to urban requalification, as we have learned from the past 50 years in Lisbon and Porto.

Finally, the announcement doesn't target the two main housing problems in Portugal, the ones at the root of the problem:

- Tax and bureaucratic complexity (more than 50% of building costs are related to tax and bureaucracy, leaving only a 4% non-risk adjusted operational margin for promoters);

- Portuguese income is significantly below European averages (and this is far from being an easy-to-solve problem)

India > China

It's possible (though not certain) that India surpasses China in population still in 2023.

Feeling

I am having a feeling. A sweet sour one. One that's about Portugal and Europe. I feel that when the Russian mess (Europe's energetic dependence from Russia and all the effects of its corruptive efforts) ends, Europe will have a growth surge, a true move ahead as it hasn't had in decades. And I feel it will be both political, economic, innovation and sustainability driven. I am massively happy with this feeling.

The sour part is that I don't believe Portugal will be a part of it. I believe we are truly unprepared for anything of the scale, our systems are eroded, aged and slow, most of our best talent is abroad. I think Portugal will truly be left behind and comparatively considerably worse than it is today.

Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I can still be part of the solution.