The traditional statement is that half of your advertising budget is wasted. If only it were that efficient!

There's more information coming out about those derivatives trading losses at Soc Gen. According to one whisper they were actually in profit by €1.6 billion at one point. 

An altogether more amusing rumour. Apparently M. Kerviel was driven into his behaviour by something terribly un-French: reading Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" 

On which subject, here's PJ O'Rourke talking about his book on Adam Smith. 

Even the ECB now agrees: there's a trade off between redistribution now and wealth in years to come. Higher government spending reduces GDP growth. 

How odd, a politician arguing that transparency is essential for football clubs but not for politicians.  

And finally, film of how lefties do when they actually try to run something. Extra-ordinarily amusing, if it were not for the fact that many of these people are now trying to run larger and more important things. Like, say, the BBC documentaries division.