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Economy
In reply to the discussion: Weekend Economists ask the Question of the Year (so far) July 11-12 2015 [View all]Demeter
(85,373 posts)57. The Quiet War Squirrels Are Waging on U.S. Stock Exchanges
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/squirrels-trading-new-york-stock-exchange/398108/
...Twice, U.S. exchanges have been halted by squirrels.
In 1987, a squirrelthrough methods that remain mysterious nearly 30 years laterdamaged the electrical system at a complex in Trumbull, Connecticut, where many of NASDAQs computers were at the time. This led to an 82-minute shutdown that affected exchanges around the country and is estimated to have forced NASDAQ to trade at about 85-percent capacity.
That squirrel died, but its legacy lived on: In 1994, another mischievous Trumbull squirrel caused a similar disruption after gnawing on a power line. This development, along with other shutdowns around that time, left the chairman of the House subcommittee that manages securities trading deeply concerned about NASDAQs overall stability.
As far as financial markets are concerned, these are freak occurrences, but squirrels commonly wreak havoc on Americas wiring systems, as Alexis Madrigal explained in The Atlantic in 2011. By August of that year, the rodents were responsible for 17 percent of the damage done to the fiber-optic network of Level 3 Communications, a company with 84,000 miles of cable. That was down from 28 percent the previous year. Honestly, I dont understand what the big attraction is or why they feel compelled to gnaw through cables, one of its vice presidents wrote at the time.
Squirrels are also responsible for many power outages across the country, and Jon Mooallem suggested in The New York Times in 2013 that theyre frequent power-line chewers because their incisors never stop growing, so they constantly need to wear them down by teething. Also, squirrels are naturally drawn to transformers, whose nooks can be similar to the hollow spaces in trees....
...Twice, U.S. exchanges have been halted by squirrels.
In 1987, a squirrelthrough methods that remain mysterious nearly 30 years laterdamaged the electrical system at a complex in Trumbull, Connecticut, where many of NASDAQs computers were at the time. This led to an 82-minute shutdown that affected exchanges around the country and is estimated to have forced NASDAQ to trade at about 85-percent capacity.
That squirrel died, but its legacy lived on: In 1994, another mischievous Trumbull squirrel caused a similar disruption after gnawing on a power line. This development, along with other shutdowns around that time, left the chairman of the House subcommittee that manages securities trading deeply concerned about NASDAQs overall stability.
As far as financial markets are concerned, these are freak occurrences, but squirrels commonly wreak havoc on Americas wiring systems, as Alexis Madrigal explained in The Atlantic in 2011. By August of that year, the rodents were responsible for 17 percent of the damage done to the fiber-optic network of Level 3 Communications, a company with 84,000 miles of cable. That was down from 28 percent the previous year. Honestly, I dont understand what the big attraction is or why they feel compelled to gnaw through cables, one of its vice presidents wrote at the time.
Squirrels are also responsible for many power outages across the country, and Jon Mooallem suggested in The New York Times in 2013 that theyre frequent power-line chewers because their incisors never stop growing, so they constantly need to wear them down by teething. Also, squirrels are naturally drawn to transformers, whose nooks can be similar to the hollow spaces in trees....
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Weekend Economists ask the Question of the Year (so far) July 11-12 2015 [View all]
MattSh
Jul 2015
OP
Europe is blowing itself apart over Greece - and nobody seems able to stop it - Telegraph
MattSh
Jul 2015
#2
Article: Is this taking democracy too far?: The Greek People Have Said 'No!' to Austerity and Econom
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#3
Robert Mundell, evil genius of the euro | Greg Palast | Comment is free | The Guardian
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#4
Charles Hugh Smith: Maintaining the Illusion of Stability Now Requires Ever-Greater Extremes
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The U.S. Navy’s Big Mistake — Building Tons of Supercarriers — War Is Boring — Medium
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Startup CEO (Unwittingly) Explains Biggest Problem in America’s Unemployment Crisis | Wolf Street
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#16
Who really thinks Greece should stay with the Euro? Only the Greek people, with debt restructure...
mother earth
Jul 2015
#24
"A Hostage Situation": Greece Yields to Austerity Demands Just Days After Historic "No" Vote
mother earth
Jul 2015
#25
From Fri's Dow I'm guessing the 1% is thrilled at Greece's subjugation?
bread_and_roses
Jul 2015
#33
Tell it, Pepe Escobar! Well done & TY, MattSh, great reading, all of these.
mother earth
Jul 2015
#44
William Hague warns Greece debacle is a 'minor rehearsal' for coming Euro crash | Daily Mail Online
MattSh
Jul 2015
#35
Greek government insider lifts the lid on five months of 'humiliation' and 'blackmail'
MattSh
Jul 2015
#36
Germany won’t spare Greek pain – it has an interest in breaking us | Yanis Varoufakis
MattSh
Jul 2015
#37
Germany enjoys its domination over the working class in their own country & all of the EU...Heiner
mother earth
Jul 2015
#47