Showing posts with label statistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label statistics. Show all posts

The jobs cut league table


Another league table that investment bankers would never generate. Massive rounds of layoff have become the standard knee-jerk reaction to strategic mistakes made by the senior management. The insecure executive and workers are therefore encouraged to be more risk-taking during the good times, which invariably lead to more calamitous downfalls. It is a sad state of affair, exemplifying the many problems of unbridled capitalism.

From Bloomberg news
March 24, 2008
Firms and jobs cut
  1. Citigroup – 6,200
  2. Lehman Brothers – 4,990
  3. Bank of America – 3,650
  4. Morgan Stanley – 2,940
  5. Washington Mutual –2,600
  6. Merrill Lynch – 2,220
  7. HSBC – 1,650
  8. Bear Stearns – 1,550
  9. WestLB – 1,530
  10. UBS – 1,500
  11. Goldman Sachs – 1,500*
  12. National City – 900
  13. Credit Suisse – 820
  14. Royal Bank of Canada – 500
  15. Fortis – 500
  16. Wells Fargo – 500
  17. Wachovia – 443
  18. Deutsche Bank – 370
  19. JPMorgan Chase – 100
TOTAL – 34,463

The above table shows jobs eliminated by the biggest banks and securities firms since the collapse of the subprime mortgage market in July 2007. The figures are based on company disclosures.

* Goldman Sachs said on Jan. 25 that its job cuts reflected the
firm's policy of weeding out underperformers.

本周最無聊民調之首


逾七成人對情色版字眼反感

一項調查顯示,74%的受訪者對中大學生報情色版所用的某些字眼反感,但大部份人均接設受情色版的原意。

新青年論壇和學友社在本月18至22日,訪問了940名市民,74%的受訪者對中大學生報情色版問卷調查的某些字眼感到反感,近43%受訪者認為,應該進一步處罰學生報編輯。

受訪的市民多數都認為學生做錯,但大部分受訪認為,學生報可以開放討論性問題,反映市民接受學生報設立情色版的原意。

- 明報即時新聞,二〇〇七年五月二十三日

這樣的民調,做來作啥???

74%的受訪者對中大學生報情色版問卷調查的某些字眼感到反感
  • 受訪者有沒有看過問卷調查的原文?(還是由調查員以憤怒的聲線讀出他最不喜歡的一句?)
  • 什麽是「某些字眼」?(你不喜歡一、我不喜歡二,這就算是兩個人不喜歡「某些字眼」,儘管其實每個字眼都只有一個人不喜歡)
  • 什麽是反感?(我對謀殺這種行爲很反感。我乘地鐵時,對在我旁邊的人挖鼻子也很反感。我看記者的文筆不通暢,算不算是感到反感?)
43%受訪者認為,應該進一步處罰學生報編輯
  • 什麽是進一步處罰?(我想罰他留堂、你想把他斬首,都是處罰啊。)
  • 爲什麽只給我一個選擇,只是處罰學生報編輯?(我想處罰中大校方多一點)
受訪的市民多數都認為學生做錯,但大部分受訪認為,學生報可以開放討論性問題
  • 登登登櫈!各位,這叫僞 • 善。
還有,這個調查是怎樣選調查對象的?像新青年論壇和學友社這樣有特定觀衆的機構,它選受訪者時很可能有偏重,但這篇報道卻沒有把這樣基本的情況列明。


這樣低水準的調查,不清不楚、不盡不實。還是省省大夥兒力氣,不要做、不要報道了吧。

_____________


今天報紙刊登了更詳細的調查結果。調查明顯比以上即時報道所形容的有層次得多。因此,我願意把我大部分的批評收回。可惜的是,報紙仍然是選擇性地報道調查内容,有幾條問題都沒有提起。

Correlation between Chinese population size and wealth


"Because of the entrepreneurial drive of Chinese immigrants, the more Chinese a country has, the richer it becomes." Interesting...
  • Burma: 3% Chinese, $157 per capita GDP
  • Cambodia: 1.2% Chinese, $341 per capita GDP
  • Laos: 1% Chinese, $396 per capita GDP
  • Vietnam: 3% Chinese, $518 per capita GDP
  • Philippines: 2% Chinese, $1,021 per capita GDP
  • Indonesia: 3.1% Chinese, $1,100 per capita GDP
  • Thailand: 12% Chinese, $2,845 per capita GDP
  • Malaysia: 25% Chinese, $5,003 per capita GDP
  • Singapore: 76.8% Chinese, $24,620 per capita GDP