Branding can be horribly misleading. The official logo of the Salvation Army, a charitable organisation that these days deals mainly in jumble sales, involves crossed swords and the slogan "Blood and Fire". Meanwhile, G4S, the world's largest private security company, whose operatives provide hired muscle to asylum detention centres in the UK, private prisons in America and government facilities in West Bank settlements, has just a neat black-and-red slash and the words "Securing your world". It even has a jolly theme tune, an apparently unironic track called "G4S: securing your world", which involves pounding synths and teeth-clenching rhymes like "let your dreams unfurl". It's hard to say whether this has done more damage to the company's reputation than the case of Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan asylum-seeker who died while being deported by G4S employees in 2010.
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What difference does it make if the men and women in uniform patrolling the world's streets and prison corridors are employed by nation states or private firms? It makes every difference. A for-profit company is not subject to the same processes of accountability and investigation as an army or police force which is meant, at least in theory, to serve the public. Impartial legality is still worth something as an assumed role of the state - and the notion of a private, for-profit police and security force poisons the very idea.

The state still has a legal monopoly on violence, but it is now prepared to auction that monopoly to anyone with a turnover of billions and a jolly branding strategy. The colossal surveillance and security operation turning London into a temporary fortress this summer is chilling enough without the knowledge that state powers are being outsourced to a company whose theme tune features the line: "The enemy prowls, wanting to attack, but we're on to the wall, we've got your back." If that made any sense at all, I doubt it would be more reassuring.

I would plan to relax on Tuesday, but I have jury duty....  it's gonna be a long week...

Montoro añade una subida del IVA extra para "peluquería, estética, discotecas, teatros, circos, servicios funerarios y otros espectáculos".

Soon, however, I realised that this bunch of people were not just weird but also wonderful and, to boot, that what they were describing, the digital community they had facilitated into existence, was an economist's dream-come-true. Think of it: An economy where every action leaves a digital trail, every transaction is recorded; indeed, an economy where we do not need statistics since we have all the data!

For the first time since I switched from mathematical statistics to economics (around 1982), I saw an opportunity for scientific research on some really existing (albeit digital) economy. For let's face it: Econometrics is a travesty! While its heavy reliance on statistics often confuses us into believing that it is a form of applied statistics, in reality it resembles computerised astrology: a form of hocus pocus that seeks to improve its image by incorporating proper science's methods, displays and processes.

Now, the beauty of digital economies is that we have all the data at our disposal. We can actually observe how far or how close to equilibrium our economies are. So, one of the first things I did at Valve was to put the TF2 economy under the microscope to see whether it is in equilibrium or not. Guess what: it is nowhere near it. So, folks, it is official: There is plenty of room for arbitrage. Moreover, this arbitrage window varies in size constantly - as we shall see below via the medium of some nice graphs.