Bill Kaye-Blake • Nov 20, 2013 •
Q: What statistics software do pirates use? A: ‘We use R, me hearties!’ Turn away now, it doesn’t get any better…. I’ve spent the last two days in a workshop on R, run by the lovely people at the New Zealand Social Statistics Network. It was billed as ‘Intro to R’, and ended up being […] … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Aug 17, 2013 •
Another business book review. This time, it’s Tribal Leadership, by Logan, King, and Fischer-Wright. The book is, helpfully, available as a free audio book from the website. Overall rating: good. useful. pretty smart. Yes, there are the annoying traits of pop-culture business books. There are beautiful anecdotes about teams that overcome adversity to realise the […] … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Apr 22, 2013 •
I posted flippantly last week about the Reinhart and Rogoff (R&R) re-assessment by Herndon, Ash, and Pollin. There’s been more bytes spilled since then. The Economist says it’s not such a big deal, because ’Ms Reinhart and Mr Rogoff acknowledge in their academic work that this conundrum “has not been fully resolved”, but have sometimes been less careful […] … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Apr 09, 2013 •
What should you charge? That’s a hard question, and it comes up all the time. Every project is different, every consultant has strengths and weaknesses. I’ve been thinking about the question because it’s time for my year-end accounting. Looking back over the year, I’m seeing where I’ve made money and lost money on projects. It [...] … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Apr 02, 2013 •
Dear Mr _____ : Thank you for your kind invitation to speak at your upcoming event. As you are aware, I have been doing some work on that topic and have some insights to share. As I am sure you also know, I recently approached your organisation with an application for funded work. That application [...] … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Nov 15, 2012 •
One of the curious stories out of the US presidential election is about the consultants on the Romney campaign. Apparently, they made a lot of money: Much of Romney’s operation, for example, appears to revolve around a close-knit group of insiders at American Rambler Productions, which took in more than $160 million through mid-October, records [...] … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Sep 13, 2012 •
The latest estimate of benefits costs has come out of MSD. The report is an actuarial estimate of the present value of future payments to beneficiaries. The headline number is $78 billion. I can save MSD 40% of those costs. I won’t even charge them for the advice — nope, this is a public service. [...] … Read More