Tired in London or Tired of London?
Samuel Johnson’s famous remark went – “Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all…
mrmainelli
I Think I’m Turning Koreanese, I Really Think So
Had The Vapours had their hit a few years later, who knows how it might have gone. I went with my friend Mark Yeandle to launch Global Financial Centres Index 17 (yes, 17 since we started in 2005 and published from…
Lady Daphne On Heir (Sic)
We were delighted with today’s BBC1 coverage of Lady Daphne in Heir Hunters, Series 9, Episode 5 (of 20), “Morris/Evans” (09:15, Friday, 27 February 2015). Not only did they have a great case to solve with Robert Evans, and made it…
Knightian Ignorance – “Are You Not Thinking What I’m Not Thinking?”
Voltaire said, “Doubt is not an agreeable condition, but certainty is absurd.” I was asked to share my ignorance by speaking about uncertainty and finance at the Calculating & Communicating Uncertainty Conference on 27 January 2015 at BIS, London. The event was sponsored…
Sir Thomas Gresham: Tudor, Trader, Shipper, Spy and the Ladies of Dulwich
What a most interesting talk to give. My dear friend, Robin Sherlock KCLJ MA, former Chief Commoner of the City of London Corporation, asked me to speak at the Ladies’ Dinner of The Dulwich Club where he has been Senior…
Honorary Furniture Maker
Today was one of the most delightful days for me. The Furniture Makers made me, as their Alderman, an Honorary Liveryman. It was a lovely ceremony done both in good taste and a speed just below haste and well above boring.…
CISI Annual Integrity Debate 2014: Do UK Savers & Investors Get A Fair Deal?
One of the more difficult tasks can be substituting at the last moment in a debating team. It happens more than you wish. You haven’t worked on creating the question and always wish it was different. The person for whom you’re…
The Disunited Kingdom Tour
The observant among you may have noticed that the Mainelli’s spent two weeks of August in Scotland, followed by Wales, and sailing in England. We left in early August when polls for the Scottish Referendum predicted a 22 point “No”…
Piering Ahead
One of the joys of restoring a Thames Sailing Barge, our beloved S B Lady Daphne, is racing her. Racing her? Indeed. Thames Sailing Barge racing is the oldest continuous boat racing in the world and, despite the size, slow turns,…
City Shuffles
The City of London is a fascinating study of two millennia of urban development. I finished my first year on the Planning & Transportation Committee this month. Inthe 1970’s I spent quite a bit of time working at the Harvard…