The Delphi Roar: November 17, 2024
Like most if not all neoliberals, I have learnt the painful lesson that firing one’s seemingly un-essential and expensive admin staff makes you feel good for a bit, but you then notice that things are getting “wobbly”…Last week, I had my first “double booking” in a while (this is when I book two events at the same time, which is clearly not possible without a time machine) and I suddenly realized that unless I got my calendar seriously under control, there would be a host of others.
To make things worse, it’s also bonenkai season, so venues are filling up. However, in the end, disaster was narrowly averted and my calendar now looks pretty solid until Christmas. Fortunately, my invoicing has not suffered any similar decline, although that is historically a weakness, too, with members not being invoiced until two years later! Fortunately, and typically of the high human quality of Delphi members, there was never any problem about paying for the two years in one installment.
In any case, I have been recommended an English intern, a 20-year old Geographer from Durham University (one of the better ones) in the UK, Conall Comley. He will be attending events and helping with the scheduling for a few months at least.
Seen in the Network
“The corollary of the weak yen is supposedly rising prices. Forget it. Japanese people are not going to accept rising prices simply because of a little (!) imported inflation. ”
“The weak yen is going to carry on for another 10 years - from the CEO of a huge Japanese company, who should know what he’s talking about! I tend to agree, because it’s a policy favoured by the well-connected Japanese exporters.”
“To illustrate, I will give you a story. I approached a billionaire Japanese real estate mogul, and I told him I was from America (soon after Covid I was transferred to Japan). I told him “I am from the future. A huge wave of inflation is heading your way. Rejoice! And raise your prices - you will make a fortune”. He was obviously very happy to hear this news and rubbed his hands with glee. I then told him we had to raise the prices of the exclusive spa/club that we managed for him in Tokyo. Oh dear! His reaction was very different! We had more than 100 meetings (I am not joking) before we were able to somewhat raise prices for the spa/club members, who by the way, are all millionaires and billionaires. Even when we did raise prices by a 1000USD or so, we had to give them the same amount in coupons to spend in our other facilities!”
