Stilltitled

But we cannot rely upon special favors granted by private companies (and quasi-monopoly collecting societies) to define our access to culture, even if the favors are generous, at least at the start. Instead our focus should be on the underlying quandary that gives rise to the need for this elaborate scheme to regulate access to culture. However clever the settlement, however elegant the technology, we should keep Peter Drucker’s words clear in our head: “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

—Lawrence Lessig: TNR

But the true mental captivity of our time lies elsewhere. Our contemporary faith in “the market” rigorously tracks its radical nineteenth-century doppelgaenger—the unquestioning belief in necessity, progress, and History. Just as the hapless British Labour chancellor in 1929–1931, Philip Snowden, threw up his hands in the face of the Depression and declared that there was no point opposing the ineluctable laws of capitalism, so Europe’s leaders today scuttle into budgetary austerity to appease “the markets.”

—Tony Judt, reflecting on Czeslaw Milosz’ Captive Mind, with perhaps a slight degree of relevance to the questions posed by Lessig: via NYRB

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.

—Henry Ford

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all

—Peter Drucker

VC firms do not have a value by themselves but because they interact with others.

—Mark Granovetter, The Role of Venture Capital Firms in Silicon Valley’s Complex Innovation Network

Soggy sideways is my outlook for the economy. I think we’re going to go sideways for a very long time because generally final demand is weak and consumers are still deleveraging….We’re a little more defensive about going too far down in credit risk within high yield, so we would not be as interested in CCC credit.

—Curtis Arledge, CIO of Fixed Income at BlackRock: Bloomberg

We’re actually starting to see companies upgraded from junk status to investment grade, which can be a boon obviously for the bondholders. High- grade investors tend to have a very hard line that they draw in the sand, discerning between investment grade and high-yield companies.

—Michael Collins, senior investment officer at Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential, $240b of fixed-income AUM: Bloomberg

Last year in the rebound it was all about how many CCCs could you buy. This year it’s much more about which names or sectors you’re exposed to in the rating class. Managers who can choose securities on a more granular level are being rewarded.

—Matt Toms, head of U.S. public fixed income investments, ING, $550b AUM: Bloomberg

Home price levels remain close to the April 2009 lows set by the S&P/Case Shiller 10- and 20-City Composite series. The April 2010 data for all 20 MSAs and the two Composites do show some improvement with higher annual increases than in March’s report. However, many of the gains are modest and somewhat concentrated in California. Moreover, nine of the 20 cities reached new lows at some time since the beginning of this year. The month-over-month figures were driven by the end of theFederal first-time home buyer tax credit program on April 30th. Eighteen cities saw month-to-month gains in April compared to six in the previous month. Miami and New York were the two that fared the worst in April compared to March. New York is the only MSA to have posted a new relative index low with April’s report. Other housing data confirm the large impact, and likely near-future pull back, of the federal program. Recently released data for May 2010 show sharp declines in existing and new home sales and housing starts. Inventory data and foreclosure activity have not shown any signs of improvement. Consistent and sustained boosts to economic growth from housing may have to wait to next year.
—David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s: S&P

I think we all underestimated his political skill coming in. You can’t deny that he’s been a tour de force in Trenton. He has managed to control the legislative agenda more than other governors, despite having a Legislature controlled by the opposite party.

—Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University, on Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey, and the legacy of complaints: NYT

He’s a much better communicator than we realized, and people seem to be willing to go along with him for now. He uses clear language, he doesn’t mince words, he’s funny, and he says what he thinks.

—Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute: NYT

It just comes down to this macro viewpoint that we’re going into a double-dip recession, and the world’s going to go to hell, and people are going to stop buying iPads and smartphones and computers. That’s kind of a farfetched conclusion.

—Paul Wick, the Menlo Park, California-based manager of the $3.3 billion Seligman Communications & Information Fund: Bloomberg

While we still see a lot of weakness in some euro zone bond markets, the outright pressure of the dissolution of the currency union has disappeared…The underlying fundamentals for the euro remain, unfortunately, negative for the euro. Those fundamental issues remain the sustainability of debt in countries like Greece. The imbalance in the region persists. The tighter fiscal policy will lead to weaker growth, which means the ECB will have to keep its policy looser for longer. This will push the euro lower against the dollar in the second half of this year.

—Mansoor Mohi-uddin, Head of FX Strategy, UBS: Bloomberg

We are firmly committed to our view. Inflation is going to stay low for a long period of time, so is the interest rate.

—Hans-Guenter Redeker, head of global FX strategy, BNP Paribas: Bloomberg

You’re starting to see that collapse in property and it’s going to hit the banking system.  They have a lot of tools and some very competent management, but it’s not easy….The bad news is the recoveries are very slow…the fact that we’re not growing super fast, doesn’t necessarily say well therefore we’re about to enter something worse.

—Ken Rogoff: Bloomberg

The psychology of the stock market couldn’t be worse, yet the valuation probably couldn’t be a whole lot better. Because corporate earnings estimates are rising, there’s a significant valuation imbalance that suggests later this year stocks are going to start going up again, and they’ll probably go up sharply.

—Philip Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated, which manages $350b: Bloomberg.

The second-quarter increase in analyst estimates reflected in part an extrapolation of the cyclical bounce into a durable, robust recovery. We expect analysts to revise down their estimates in the weeks ahead as the economic data confirm that the cycle bounce has run into significant structural headwinds.

—Mohamed El-Erian: Bloomberg

The traditional models of market research are outdated.  Many management decisions fail due to out-of-context decisions made with outdated, inaccurate, or speculative information. All professionals- including  executives, product managers, consultants, and asset managers- need up-to-date insights, not published reports that are outdated before they even reach the market. Maven brings access to real-time ‘in-the-trenches’ perspectives to the fingertips of all professionals.

—Rich Wong, Partner at Accel Partners, on his recent seed-financing of Maven Research: PRN