Centives

Renny McPherson was part of a team that analysed Al Qaeda documents to understand the financial underpinnings of the shadowy terror network. In an article posted in Boston, he wrote about some of his findings:

• Al Qaeda is run as a “well-organized franchise structure” where existing local terror groups from around the world take on the Al Qaeda name (with Al Qaeda’s permission), and are given the flexibility to adapt Al Qaeda’s goals to local conditions. Unlike a traditional franchise though, there were no payment transfers between the ‘parent’ organization and its subsidiary.
• Al Qaeda in Iraq was not reliant on international donors. In fact, its local fund raising infrastructure was so strong that they were able to send funds to other terrorist organizations.
• Launching a terrorist attack has several costs associated with it including: salaries, safe houses, transportation, weapons, and even life insurance for those who would be carrying out the attack.

There are several other fascinating points of information from a man who has had a long career studying this issue. Read more over here.

Source: Boston

Via: Marginal Revolution

This is an interesting chart that tracks the average college GPA by year. It also gives a breakdown of the differences between the average GPA at private and public colleges. The average GPA, as you can see, is much higher at private colleges than at public ones. So, why have GPAs been rising, and why does it seem easier to earn an A at a private college than at a public one?

Source: FlowingData

Via: Freakonomics Blog

Borders recently announced that it would be shutting down as no potential buyers were willing to take over the company and keep the bookselling chain afloat. So what caused one of the largest booksellers to close? An article on Slate gave a good summary of the major causes. It cited four major problems:

1. It did not adapt well to the internet or properly adopt it into its business strategy.

2. Borders did not cash in on e-books, which have become increasingly popular.

3. Borders lacked diversification – sales of books declined as DVD and CD sales declined, which also made up a large portion of Borders sales. Barnes & Noble diversified by bringing Starbucks to its stores, while Borders eventually brought in Seattle’s Best.

4. Borders opened too many stores, many of which were unprofitable. Many of these stores were too large leading to high overhead costs and they also locked themselves into many long-term leases making it impossible for them to shut-down specific, unprofitable locations.

Will Barnes & Noble be next, or will they be able to compete against Amazon in the future? Only time will tell.

Source: Slate

It’s looking like the NFL lockout is about to come to an end, which raises the question: what will the effects of it be? In an article posted on Freakonomics, that very topic is addressed. The sports economist interviewed believes that demand for the sport by fans will be unaffected and that they will be happy to see the season start up. He also believes that in the new collective bargaining agreement, the owners are getting the better deal. Their share of the revenue will increase as the salary cap each team faces decreases; the rookie pay scale will also face a decline but veterans will be voting on the deal which could help explain why the players seem poised to accept the offer.

Source: Freakonomics Blog

Personality tests are an increasingly popular tool used by businesses and governments alike. A new weapon in the arsenal of tests might be a review of your Facebook profile. Researchers are looking for conclusions they can make about you based on your online page. Some of them include:

• Extroverts have more Facebook friends than introverts but their networks are more likely to be “sparse”
• People with longer last names have more neurotic traits.
• People who often use words such as “pizza”, “dish” and, “eat” are also more likely to be neurotic.

Read the article to find out more about the other correlations that researchers have found in Facebook profiles.

Source: The Washington Post

Via: Know the World

It’s a simple question. How many people in the world are poor? Yet the answer isn’t as straightforward as it would seem. In 2005 The World Bank estimated that there were 1.37 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day but since then emerging economies have expanded by 50%. The Brookings Institution updated that number for 2010 and estimated that the number of poor had fallen by half to 900 million. Other interesting points in the report include:

• The fall in the poverty rate is unparalleled in the entirety of human history
• By 2015 they estimate that fewer than 600 million people will be below the poverty threshold
• The First Millenium Development Goal (to half global poverty levels) was probably met in 2007, 8 years ahead of schedule.

Read the (exceedingly short) two page summary over here and find out where the poor will be concentrated and the strategies that aid donors must now pursue.

Source: Brookings

Via: NOTAS MARGINALES

Ashley Gilbertson, a journalist with The New York Times recently discussed interesting things about the combat rations that are distributed to soldiers stationed in Afghanistan from around the world. Some of the highlights include:

• At one point one serving of French combat rations could be bartered for five servings of American rations.
• Combat rations are designed to remind soldiers of home. This includes sampling eating fads in the home country. British troops were able to enjoy lamb curry as part of their rations when the dish became popular.
• U.S. troops are given Assorted Charms. The soldiers believe it is bad luck to eat them.
• Peanut M&M’s are the ultimate treat and can be traded for almost anything.

Read more about the ingredients in “Ranger Pudding” (it involves Tootsie Rolls), and “Combat Espresso” (it’s not the dish that’s interesting. Just the container.) by clicking here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Jay Lake ; The Society Pages

The euro, the currency used by many European nations for the purpose of more closely aligning their economic interests, seems to be in trouble over the debt crisis that Europe is facing. The problem is that Greece, Ireland, and Portugal have suffered from serious debt problems and required a bailout from other, more financially stable European countries. This bailout proved to be inadequate as the debt problems still loom large. However, countries that have kept their debt down and have remained financially stable are not to pleased about being put in a position of having to use their funds to bail out other countries that have not acted quite so responsibly. Thus, after the first bailout, which itself involved a great deal of debate and anger, it has become unclear whether these other euro-zone members would be willing to move forward with another bailout. It appears that one will be needed to keep countries like Greece financially afloat. Therefore, the euro-zone is facing some serious questions over how to solve these problems and what the future of the euro may hold. The IMF has painted a rather bleak picture for the future of the euro – a future that may not include the euro at all. This seems to be a rather extreme scenario, but there is no denying that the euro-zone, and its currency, are facing some serious problems right now.

Source: Washington Post