Ethical finance: who benefits from our spending?Written by Rachel Lane
On one hand consumers are being universally criticised for running up significant amounts of debt on credit cards, yet conversely many companies are capitalising on growing credit card debt, from charities and political organisations to football clubs, Association of Surgeons and somewhat ironically ActionAid, an international development agency whose aim is to fight poverty worldwide. Financial comparison site moneynet.co.uk provided 226 credit cards in a general credit card search, from which consumer could choose a product to suit their lifestyle, as well as their wallet. Credit cards with charity branding involve many major organisations including Amnesty International, Christian Aid, WaterAid, RSPB, Save The Children, Ramblers Association, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Vegetarian Society, RSPCA, ActionAid, Children In Crisis, Help The Aged, Tearfund and Terence Higgins Trust. Perhaps it is fair to say that if people are going to spend on plastic, they should be helping charitable organisations on way and should they feel inclined to contribute to a political institution, donating a small % of each transaction is a convenient method. If most consumers were ethical spenders, then associations between transactions and third party beneficiaries would inherit this quality, but as debt spirals out of control, is it responsible or ethical that someone should benefit at cost of someone else?
| | Fibonacci - Who was he and how could he improve my stock market profits?Written by Chris Towland
The word Fibonacci means a lot of things to a lot of different people. For mathematicians, Fibonacci is an important number sequence. For some painters, sculptors, and other visual artists, Fibonacci is a principle theory of arts. For traders, businessmen, economists and like, Fibonacci is a system that can efficiently predict market trends. Yet, for most of us, Fibonacci sounds incredibly complex and something that we'd rather not discover. But what exactly is Fibonacci? What does it mean and for what is it used?Fibonacci, which means son of Bonacci, is actually a nickname used by famous Italian mathematician and businessman Leonardo Pisano. Bonacci, on other hand, is nickname of his father and it means 'good natured' or 'simple'. While Fibonacci was born in Italy, he spent most of his childhood years in Bugia (now Bejaia), a Mediterranean port in Algeria where his father, Guilielmo, worked as a consul for merchants of Pisa. It is in Bugia where he learned Arabic numeral system, and later as he traversed rest of Mediterranean world, he learned more of Arabic mathematical system and its practical uses. In 1200, Fibonacci ended his travels and returned to Europe. There he wrote a number of books that disclosed mathematical skills he had learned in his Mediterranean travels. Among his works that were published are Practica Geometriae, Flos, Liber quadratorum, Di minor guisa, and his commentary on Book X of Euclid's Elements; last two mentioned, unfortunately, are already lost. His Liber quadratorum, or Book of Squares, is probably his most magnificent book, but it was not his most popular work. His most popular work was rather Liber Abaci, his first book that was written in 1202 where he introduced to Europeans Arabic numerical and mathematical system. In this book, he also taught Europeans how to use such mathematical system in accounting and in trading. Most importantly, it is in Liber Abaci where he introduced Fibonacci numbers and sequence for which he is best remembered today.
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