Myths Behind Misguided Policies on Social and Economic Fronts

 

In a complex and chaotic world, people often gloss over the facts and jump to conclusions. Unfortunately, the hasty approach usually yields deficient and even harmful results. The domains affected range from migration and poverty to alienation and crime.

According to the Myth of Boon, for instance, immigrants always benefit the host society. In this light, many people envisage the great migrations of the 19th century from Europe to America. However, the United States at that stage was itself a developing country; moreover the Civil War showed that clashing cultures cannot co-exist.

Meanwhile the Myth of Multiculturalism asserts that a mashup of mores is always desirable; but the reality is otherwise. When immigrants in their millions pour into sparsely populated districts, they end up replicating the cultures that caused them to flee their homelands in the first place. The upshot is disruptive and distressing for all parties be they newcomers or incumbents.

In addition, the Myth of Virtue declares that migrants of all backgrounds are equally upright. Yet comprehensive studies in Sweden have shown that violent crimes can be traced to immigrants at rates which are at least four times those for natives. From another angle, a drove of migrants is a godsend for criminals. For instance, a terrorist ring struck in France in 2015 and again in Belgium the following year. The perpetrators – who grew up in Belgium, France and Sweden – displayed immigrant backgrounds and included part of the cohort that traveled to the Mideast to receive training from militants then returned to Europe by posing as refugees.

Since socioeconomic problems are intertwined rather than independent, a piecemeal approach will not fill the bill. Instead, a coherent grasp of the issues and their tie-ups is a prerequisite for devising a wholesome solution.


NOTE: The full report is a document in PDF form under the title of “Complex Factors Behind Misguided Policies in Socioeconomics”. The updated version may be viewed or downloaded here.

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Real Story behind Angel Investing

 Review of a Germinal Book 

 on Angel Investing 

Angel capital is a common source of funding for budding ventures. An example lies in the United States, where the level of financial support from business angels is comparable to the sum from venture capitalists.

Moreover, the practice of venture capital is still in its infancy in many other countries. For this reason, the business angel tends to play a larger role in the sponsorship of fledgling firms.

Despite its crucial function, though, the field of angel capital is obscured by a mantle of rumor and anecdote rather than fact and data. An exemplar lies in the U.S., where concrete data on angel capital is hard to come by. Not surprisingly, the scrappy state of affairs is even worse in the rest of the world.

On the upside, however, the dearth of knowledge has become less acute in recent years. A good example is found in an incisive program of research pursued in America. The probing has shown, for instance, that business angels have a penchant for investing in stable firms as well as newborn ventures. Moreover, the usual preference is to invest in a company that has attained a positive cash flow rather than a venture on the verge of bankruptcy.

As a group, business angels invest in a broad spectrum of industries in addition to the pacesetters in the technology sector. At the level of the individual, a cherub is apt to favor the industry they know best from their previous experience in the field.

The angels resemble other sources of informal capital in a number of ways. In particular, the cherubim usually have no more experience, expertise or capital than the friends and relatives of the entrepreneurs.

Read more on Real Story behind Angel Investing.


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