During the Summer months it has long been my custom to catch up on my reading. I have just finished re-reading Alison Weir's Eleanor of Aquitaine, which has given me a new perspective on early English history, and have just commenced re-reading John Hicks' Causality in Economics.
The story of Eleanor of Aquitaine provides strong clues to the beginnings of what we might refer to as the English national character. Set in the late 1100s, England is coming to terms with the Norman invasion which took place two generations earlier, and still has a strong connection to the lands which now make up France. Her second marriage to Henry II, and the story of two of Eleanor's sons, Richard I of England ("the Lionhearted") and John of England, have strong parallels with the later tale of Henry VIII. These are pivotal moments in the history of England, defining what was to become acceptable and unacceptable, via custom and precedent, and also via national institutions. The conflicts between European monarchs and the Pope (head of the Roman Catholic church) mirrors in some small way the current to-and-fro between individual EU nations and the EU in toto. It is also interesting to note that governments a millenium ago faced similar economic problems to those of today: mounting debt, difficulties in raising taxes, international trade problems, etc. Additionally, it is intriguing how much of the contemporary documents of Eleanor's time dwell on her looks and fashionable dress, as well as those of others, both men and women, but primarily women. In this respect Eleanor can be seen as the Kate Middleton of her day, although her convoluted love-life bears greater resemblance to the late mother-in-law of the Duchess of Cambridge! Eleanor of Aquitaine was a fashion icon and a model for future strong women striving to succeed in a male-dominated world.
John Hicks can accurately be described as one of the finest Economists of the 20th century. Less well-known than personalities such as John Maynard Keynes or Milton Friedman, his contributions to Economics span almost the entire field of study. He was partly responsible for the measurement of national economic well-being via GDP, and has contributed to major developments in monetary economics, finance, welfare economics and capital theory. However, in addition to these phenomenal contributions, in my mind John Hicks supersedes many of his contemporaries and those who followed because of the clarity of his expositions. Put simply, Hicks writes well. His style is no longer fashionable; academic expositions today lack the charm and grace which pervades Hicks' work. Despite often being technical, his writing style comes across much more as a conversation piece, or a narrative. It is almost chatty, and in that respect it is far more engaging than the dry, dull, insipid pieces which litter the plethora of academic journals of today. To write an academic article today which betrays any sense of character is guaranteed to ensure non-publication. Hicks is a writer with style; he writes the way Eleanor of Aquitaine dressed and deported herself almost a thousand years earlier.
I have also spent the past two weeks enjoying the European football championships (EURO 2012). As with dress and writing, football enjoys cycles of fashionability. This year's EUROs have seen a revival of passing football, with the better teams tending to enjoy significant percentages of possession. Last night's quarter-final encounter between England and Italy epitomised a clash of styles. The Italians, who are traditionally renowned for a defensive style of football (catenaccio) offered a freer-flowing, more attacking fluid style which was both pleasing on the eye and successful. By comparison, the English national team offered a stoic, ultra-defensive form of catenaccio, without any real flair or pace to counter-attack. It was a clash of styles, and it is football's good fortune that the more flowing style won out. Not just in last night's game, but throughout the tournament to-date. As a long-time Spurs' supporter I am an avid believer in the philosophy out forward by the late Danny Blanchflower:
"The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It’s nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."
Style is timeless; fashion is something of its time. All human beings in their teens are subject to following the fashions of their time, whether it is in clothing, makeup, tattoos and piercings, manner of speech, hairstyle, and so on. It is therefore universal that when we look back to the way we look and acted in our teens we are so often aghast and, in some cases, ashamed. When we are young we are subject to fashion; as we grow older we find that style is much more important, and timeless. Eleanor of Aquitaine was a woman of style. The work of John Hicks possesses style. Football which is based on a fluid passing game has style. We should reject all else.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Tempus fugit: adapt or die.
There can be few places as full of interesting things to see and do as London. With its lengthy history, amazing plethora of buildings and museums, as well as a huge range of things to do—often for free—Samuel Johnson's adage ("when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life") remains even more true today as it was when he coined it.
For Father's Day (yesterday) my kids took me to see the Cutty Sark. One of the fastest tea clippers in its time, this ancient ship has seen much of "those twin imposters", Triumph and Disaster since it was built in 1869. Sailing between England and China, with stops in Australia, the Cutty Sark was widely regarded as a marvel of its time with a hull made from Muntz metal (a brass-like alloy, of 60% copper and 40% zinc). Although not the fastest of the tea clippers, the Cutty Sark was still able to sail from Shanghai to London in 110 days, with a cargo of 600,000 kilograms of tea; enough for more than 200 million cups!
In 1870 the Cutty Sark was one of 50 British sailing ships bringing tea back from China. Within seven years she was one of nine, as steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal (which was not passable by sailing ships) made the clippers less competitive. By 1883 her tea shipping voyages were over, but there was still life in the old girl as she turned to bringing wool from Australia to England until 1895, as well as other products from that far side of the world. In 1895 Cutty Sark was sold to a Lisbon-based company who rebranded her the Ferreira, playing her trade between Portugal and its African colonies and Brazil. However, by the end of World War I her days as a sea-going vessel were numbered, as the costs of maintaining her exceeded her ability to generate revenues.
A technological marvel in 1869 was essentially an anachronism within a few decades. Her competitive advantage having been eliminated by the constant flow of newer technologies.
This simple lesson was brought home to me further this past week. I watched Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's Henry V. The small band of Englishmen who defeated vastly superior numbers of French at Agincourt and Crecy were able to do so because they possessed superior technology in the form of the longbow. Yet again, within a few decades this superiority was eliminated as this technology was adopted by other nations, and ultimately by the invention of firearms.
Living in the 21st century with an almost-constant flow of technology, particularly in the form of smartphones, laptop computers and tablets such as the iPad, we ought to be more aware of the speed with which a product's competitive advantage can be eliminated. But because so much of today's technical change is evolutionary rather than revolutionary we remain more blasé and unaware. We know that next year there will be a new smartphone/laptop/tablet brought out, but there is little to distinguish it from its predecessor other than faster speed, brighter and better displays, and more applications which it can run. The wow! factor which accompanied the first personal computers has become diminished. The first iPad had a strong element of wow! as did the first iPod and iPhone, but with each successive generation that factor has been strongly reduced. It is only with some apparently entirely new product that wow! returns.
The morale of this tale is apparent: companies which do not continue to revolutionise their products will fall foul of the competition. Cutty Sark was able to continue its life beyond that of a tea clipper for several decades by shipping other products from the far side of the world back to England. Will we be able to find new uses for our older smartphones, laptops and iPads as they become obsolete with greater rapidity? Or do we lack that kind of ingenuity? Tempus fugit—time flies. Will we ever be able to keep pace with it, or must each generation fall by the wayside unable to compete with the next generation?
For Father's Day (yesterday) my kids took me to see the Cutty Sark. One of the fastest tea clippers in its time, this ancient ship has seen much of "those twin imposters", Triumph and Disaster since it was built in 1869. Sailing between England and China, with stops in Australia, the Cutty Sark was widely regarded as a marvel of its time with a hull made from Muntz metal (a brass-like alloy, of 60% copper and 40% zinc). Although not the fastest of the tea clippers, the Cutty Sark was still able to sail from Shanghai to London in 110 days, with a cargo of 600,000 kilograms of tea; enough for more than 200 million cups!
In 1870 the Cutty Sark was one of 50 British sailing ships bringing tea back from China. Within seven years she was one of nine, as steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal (which was not passable by sailing ships) made the clippers less competitive. By 1883 her tea shipping voyages were over, but there was still life in the old girl as she turned to bringing wool from Australia to England until 1895, as well as other products from that far side of the world. In 1895 Cutty Sark was sold to a Lisbon-based company who rebranded her the Ferreira, playing her trade between Portugal and its African colonies and Brazil. However, by the end of World War I her days as a sea-going vessel were numbered, as the costs of maintaining her exceeded her ability to generate revenues.
A technological marvel in 1869 was essentially an anachronism within a few decades. Her competitive advantage having been eliminated by the constant flow of newer technologies.
This simple lesson was brought home to me further this past week. I watched Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's Henry V. The small band of Englishmen who defeated vastly superior numbers of French at Agincourt and Crecy were able to do so because they possessed superior technology in the form of the longbow. Yet again, within a few decades this superiority was eliminated as this technology was adopted by other nations, and ultimately by the invention of firearms.
Living in the 21st century with an almost-constant flow of technology, particularly in the form of smartphones, laptop computers and tablets such as the iPad, we ought to be more aware of the speed with which a product's competitive advantage can be eliminated. But because so much of today's technical change is evolutionary rather than revolutionary we remain more blasé and unaware. We know that next year there will be a new smartphone/laptop/tablet brought out, but there is little to distinguish it from its predecessor other than faster speed, brighter and better displays, and more applications which it can run. The wow! factor which accompanied the first personal computers has become diminished. The first iPad had a strong element of wow! as did the first iPod and iPhone, but with each successive generation that factor has been strongly reduced. It is only with some apparently entirely new product that wow! returns.
The morale of this tale is apparent: companies which do not continue to revolutionise their products will fall foul of the competition. Cutty Sark was able to continue its life beyond that of a tea clipper for several decades by shipping other products from the far side of the world back to England. Will we be able to find new uses for our older smartphones, laptops and iPads as they become obsolete with greater rapidity? Or do we lack that kind of ingenuity? Tempus fugit—time flies. Will we ever be able to keep pace with it, or must each generation fall by the wayside unable to compete with the next generation?
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