The IF Blog » Energy http://inferentialfocus.com/blog We uncover change... Thu, 27 May 2010 22:23:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Beware the Man in the Tuxedo http://inferentialfocus.com/blog/2010/03/10/beware-the-man-in-the-tuxedo/ http://inferentialfocus.com/blog/2010/03/10/beware-the-man-in-the-tuxedo/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:32:59 +0000 Administrator http://inferentialfocus.com/blog/?p=70 Twenty-five utilities in the U.S. now provide customers with data related to their neighbors’ energy usage.  According to the utilities, the implied social pressure has lowered energy consumption between two and three percent.  Meanwhile, in Spain, a highly effective debt collector is using public embarrassment to get people to pay up.  He wears a tuxedo and approaches debtors at their table in restaurants, while they are surrounded by friends, or he walks into their offices and casually talks to them.  (The Week, 2/12/10; Christian Science Monitor, 2/12/10)

In Spain, social pressure is working where the legal system has not, and implied social pressure is working in the U.S. where extensive educational programs have not.

Ken Hey

]]> http://inferentialfocus.com/blog/2010/03/10/beware-the-man-in-the-tuxedo/feed/ 0 Book Burning Overseas Again? http://inferentialfocus.com/blog/2010/01/27/book-burning-overseas-again/ http://inferentialfocus.com/blog/2010/01/27/book-burning-overseas-again/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:45:40 +0000 Administrator http://inferentialfocus.com/blog/?p=36 Book burning has become an expression of economic, not political stress.

Some pensioners in Britain are buying cheap books at charity shops and burning them as a cheaper alternative to coal. Energy prices in Britain are up around 40 percent since January 2008 and gas consumption has increased by 30 percent over seasonal averages. (CNBC, 1/5/10)

The extremely cold winter is making things even more difficult for people struggling with an economy that contracted 4.8% in 2009 – the biggest one year decline since 1921. (Bloomberg Businessweek, 1/25/10)

Can a Kindle become kindling?

Eric Zavolinsky

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