Mar
28
Wahlbörsen genauso gut wie Umfragen (Hamburg)
March 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Ich hab mir mal die Mühe gemacht, die Werte aus dem Wahlumfragen im Vorfeld der Hamburger Bürgerschaftswahlen mit denen von zwei (online) Wahlbörsen zu vergleichen. Dabei gibt es aus meiner Sicht zwei wesentliche Ergebnise: 1. Die Wahlbörsen können genauso gut (oder schlecht) wie Umfragen das Wahlergebnis hervorsagen und 2. Die Nähe zum Wahltag hat nicht [...]
Mar
21
Everyone is talking about it. Berlin is doing it: the first specialised venture capital fund for creative industries (Kreativwirtschaft). This new offer has been designed by Berlin’s state-owned investment bank and comes in maybe Europe’s most attractive city for creative people at this point in time. The fund called “VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft Berlin” aims at [...]
Mar
21
EU leaders call for realisation of 5th freedom for knowledge
March 21, 2008 | 1 Comment
In their conclusions of the European summit from 13-14 March 2008 our dear EU leaders introduce the idea of a fifth freedom for the free movement of knowledge. The Presidency conclusions read like this: 8. In order to become a truly modern and competitive economy, and building on the work arried out on the future [...]
Mar
13
Am Rande des Brüsseler EU Gipfels wurde die neue Initiative für EINEN Präsidenten der EU vorgestellt. Die Website whodoicall.eu beruft sich auf das bekannte Henry Kissinger Zitat “Wen rufe ich an, wenn ich Europa sprechen will?” und fordert eine Personalunion von Kommissionspräsident und dem zukünftigen Posten des Präsidenten des Europäischen Rates. Nur so kann eine [...]
Mar
10
US and EU (presidential) elections are really very similar
March 10, 2008 | 3 Comments
Few recent nominations in the US have been as exciting as the current Clinton vs Obama run-off for the Democrats. Equally exciting are current speculations about the first “EU president” (see my previous blog entries about this), a post that has to be filled by 1st January 2009. However, there is a crucial difference between [...]
Mar
7
Check your own energy consumption at home – easy game
March 7, 2008 | 1 Comment
I came across these practical tools in an article in today’s Economist. There are two devices which help you to check your energy consumption at home. The Owl and the Wattson are both connected to your power transmitter (Zähler) and then you can put a remote anywhere in your house/flat and see at what rate [...]
Mar
3
The EU should take over the energy grid
March 3, 2008 | 2 Comments
Eon’s announcement last week to sell its grid was a massive blow in the face of the German government. Now German consumer groups and SPD MPs demand that “the state” should buy Eon’s grid in order to avoid Gazprom and alikes to buy themselves into the German market. I think that the EU should float [...]
Mar
2
Europe needs One President – campaign launch: WhoDoIcall.eu
March 2, 2008 | 1 Comment
Recent speculation about names for the post of EU “President” suggest media interest in names – but little thinking about the implications of the new job. As I have argued in an earlier comment, I am strongly convinced that only ONE President of the EU can improve institutional shortcomings and bring executive in line. It [...]