tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post427923514477221696..comments2017-02-19T02:33:39.957-08:00Comments on We love economic history: weloveeconhistoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05268122287464450754noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-10881694853496316402017-02-08T06:16:14.089-08:002017-02-08T06:16:14.089-08:00OK that sounds brilliant...I love sparkly!OK that sounds brilliant...I love sparkly!weloveeconhistoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05268122287464450754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-37888906281826284862017-02-08T06:11:36.491-08:002017-02-08T06:11:36.491-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-44235335831747939182017-02-08T03:48:28.441-08:002017-02-08T03:48:28.441-08:00Heh, that sounds so familiar. I've known many ...Heh, that sounds so familiar. I've known many a lighting designer having a fit because someone wore a shiny belt buckle or something "You never wore that in rehearsals!"<br /><br />That's cool you do opera though. We often swap roadie stories and whinge about difficult productions. But the opera guys can always top us "Yeah, you ever had to get a team of horses onto a revolve?"<br /><br />The glitter thing brought back memories though. You know I do that Krav thing? A TV programme wanted to film us for something. At the time we used to use a place called Turnmills for training. That's a gay nightclub. On the day of filming there'd been some big party the night before. There was loads of glitter on the floor. We'd all dressed in tactical black to look suitably macho. But after rolling around on the ground for a bit we all got very sparkly. Add that to the huge statues of naked Spartans in the background and we looked positively fabulous! :-)Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-18419972921109889652017-02-08T03:28:33.369-08:002017-02-08T03:28:33.369-08:00Given one of your jobs, you might get a laugh out ...Given one of your jobs, you might get a laugh out of this--I love glitter in soap! and in bath bombs as well. Back in the day I used to pretty regularly use a particular bath bomb that had glitter in it. I auditioned for and got a role in an opera being put on by a major company. We had weeks and weeks of rehearsals in the rehearsal space, then went to practice on the real stage--while we rehearsed, the tech crew worked on setting up their lighting, cues, etc. etc. The first time I came onstage the lighting director flipped the hell out--as I was covered with microscopic glitter which completely messed up his work. So I was very forcefully told that if I wanted to keep my job I would need to stop using my favourite bath bombs. Well ok then.... Since then I never really got back into the habit of using glitter stuff.....weloveeconhistoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05268122287464450754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-87704582844939498622017-02-08T03:24:22.479-08:002017-02-08T03:24:22.479-08:00Heh, I've always been too busy asking "Bu...Heh, I've always been too busy asking "But why would you put glitter in soap?" to have ever noticed that. Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-61567700494919439932017-02-08T03:06:22.233-08:002017-02-08T03:06:22.233-08:00:) I don't spend much time buying amplifiers, ...:) I don't spend much time buying amplifiers, but I am a pretty regular customer of LUSH, and all their stuff has a sticker saying who made it.weloveeconhistoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05268122287464450754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-51056174363468989352017-02-08T03:04:28.207-08:002017-02-08T03:04:28.207-08:00Marshall amplifiers are perhaps another example. O...Marshall amplifiers are perhaps another example. Obviously the logo is Jim.Marshall's signature. But also each amp is signed by whoever built it. That's now a bit of a gimmick but it started off as a genuine quality control thing.Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-17171590734604218022017-02-08T02:23:50.709-08:002017-02-08T02:23:50.709-08:00Oh absolutely--that's one reason why I want mo...Oh absolutely--that's one reason why I want more people to understand this particular facet of economic history--to realise how important and emotionally/culturally powerful it still is, even when just used as a marketing ploy. Nobody wants to engage with a corporation--we all want to engage with a person.<br /><br />I read a fantastic study a few years ago illustrating the different facets of this particular 'personalising' marketing practice, using iirc Land's End as one example, where you 'meet Jenny, she sewed your shirt', and some gardening equipment company as another, where 'these things are made by precision craftsmen, like Jason'--there was a third example, of 'meet Joseph who picked your coffee beans' (or something)--but yes, the intent of all three of these styles of marketing was to develop and exploit some kind of human connection between the people who grow/make stuff and the people who buy it, eliding the corporation in between. weloveeconhistoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05268122287464450754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-20426140438876863502017-02-08T02:16:41.470-08:002017-02-08T02:16:41.470-08:00Ooh, just remembered Victor "I liked it so mu...Ooh, just remembered Victor "I liked it so much I bought the company" Kiam. Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-67846609759041049672017-02-08T02:14:53.217-08:002017-02-08T02:14:53.217-08:00I wonder if this is related to the phenomenon of p...I wonder if this is related to the phenomenon of personifying corporate images. Either with a quasi real figure like colonel sanders or entirely fictitious ones like aunt bessie or uncle Ben (Hmm, just spotted the friendly family figure thing there). But in the UK it's pretty common for even large brands to now emphasise that they're a family firm for instance and you get the actual bosses appearing in the adverts now.Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-48325107737617208022017-02-08T00:34:36.498-08:002017-02-08T00:34:36.498-08:00That's an interesting way to look at it--thank...That's an interesting way to look at it--thanks. I wrote a piece years ago, no longer online, about how we no longer get the social/emotional reward from our work that we still, maybe unconsciously, expect to get--so I suspect you're right, about our economic interactions in general, not just our employment. I know that even aside from getting better and fresher food I enjoy the experience of interacting with the people at the farmers' market that grow and process the food I buy from them--and now that you're pointing this out, part of it is acknowledging and expressing my gratitude to them for making things that are of so much value to me...so thanks for enriching my mental life today!weloveeconhistoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05268122287464450754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-56341530155597586242017-02-07T19:42:56.350-08:002017-02-07T19:42:56.350-08:00Still very interesting. I don't have the kind ...Still very interesting. I don't have the kind of comments Alan does, but I wonder how much of the disconnect we sometimes have in our current day business transactions still relates to this idea that we should be able to be seen as good and worthy participants in a system that doesn't really care if we are or not.<br /><br />elihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00173409880837863190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-24117456626371380422017-02-06T10:50:02.877-08:002017-02-06T10:50:02.877-08:00It's funny how often a knowledge of the legal ...It's funny how often a knowledge of the legal system assists with fiction. My land law tutor explained everything through the works of Jane Austen. Which are themselves a commentary on the social situation that led to The Married Women's Property Act.<br /><br />She was a great tutor. She used to mark our essays with those different coloured stars. I got a gold one once and I was so chuffed.<br /><br />I rely on Equity a lot. I mentioned about my client base's inability to record any agreements. Under English common law all property transactions are only valid if recorded in writing, so I always end up having to go down the equity route (where such transactions don't).<br /><br />Corporate personhood crops up a lot in criminal law. Especially with health and safety offences. You may be familiar with the concept of mens rea. Basically the state of mind that must be established as part of an offence. That's quite tricky with a non human consciousness. So now we have things like the Corporate Manslaughter Act to make it simpler (and environmental offences tend to be 'strict liability' now so you don't need to prove a company 'intended' to do something)<br /><br />The 'social benefit' aspect is something now reflected in the creation of 'Community Interest Companies'. (I'm actually a director of one for our fitness sideline). They have to be for a social purpose and there are (pretty slack) limitations on director's salaries and dividends. In practice the only reason for going down that route is to make a bit of a statement (although it can open up certain funding and tendering opportunities that might not otherwise be available). But really it's just the virtue signalling thing.Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-27339798663105457852017-02-06T10:25:32.354-08:002017-02-06T10:25:32.354-08:00I honestly think we'd all be better off if we ...I honestly think we'd all be better off if we acknowledged incorporation as a privilege not a right--incorporation is a government-granted set of special rights for investors that should only be granted if these investors acknowledge their part of the bargain, which is to provide something in the public benefit. There were several American groups advocating for stronger controls over incorporation and for revoking the charters of corporations that don't benefit the public, but I haven't heard anything about this recently. A couple of additional references on corporate structure and behaviour:<br /><br />Thom Hartmann on corporate personhood:<br />http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/331:unequal-protection-how-corporations-became-people-and-how-you-can-fight-back<br /><br />Corporations are not legally required to maximise shareholder profit:<br />https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2601747<br /><br />Re the Victorian legal system--I shouldn't admit this, but I've pretty much given up trying to figure out who's supposed to do what. I do have a chart around here somewhere which some well intentioned person made to try to explain to me equity courts and whatever (I needed to know this to follow the plot in Iolanthe) but I've pretty much forgotten it....<br />weloveeconhistoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05268122287464450754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7270194923490672361.post-57123119413718205382017-02-06T03:39:07.067-08:002017-02-06T03:39:07.067-08:00Once again that was fascinating. I'm learning ...Once again that was fascinating. I'm learning so much. It's particularly enjoyable for me because it puts so much of what I do on a day to day basis in context. And a lot of what you write really resonates (I'm embroiled in something now that's a nightmare because the directors are also the shareholders, they've had a row, and it get really complicated working out what actions they can bring against each other depending whether they've got their director or shareholder hat on)<br /><br />It's also funny how hard it used to be to set up a company. I have to do that a lot (we use 'single purpose vehicles' now for just about every separate contract, even between the same parties). My record for incorporating a company is 8 minutes from the time I was asked to, to submitting the application. Companies House emailed the incorporation certificate 2 hours later. How times change eh?<br /><br />Oh and with the Attwood case the appeal route may seem a bit weird. That's because prior to 1873 not only did we have two parallel legal systems in England we also had two separate court systems. We still have the two legal systems but you can use the same court for either.Alan Robertshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509360521332746130noreply@blogger.com