I have a new iPhone which looks as though it might replace my much-loved Blackberry. One of its advantages is that I can write and manage this blog whilst on the move.
iPhones come with 'apps' - applications. These packages come with the phone or can be downloaded at a small cost or often for free. One of my free apps tells me how stock markets around the world are behaving so I can tell you that the FTSE 100 share index closed 17 points up on Friday at 5,142 - in fact 5,142.72 to be ridiculously precise.
And my app tells me that the Dow finished up on Friday too, and the Dax did well as well. And I've already heard the value of the London Stock Market mentioned on the radio this morning.
These financial numbers are an every day part of our lives - they are in the newspapers, on the radio and often form part of the tickertape of news on the TV. Yet I don't have any real understanding of what they mean. I have a vague understanding that a rising FTSE means that something called 'the economy' is doing well (and it does mean that my FTSE share-tracker ISA has made some money for me). Economists tell me that these figures, updated in real time, have no real significance at all. It's a bit like the farmland bird index - if we could tell you how many birds there were every few seconds of the year then maybe we might - but it wouldn't mean anything at all. It's the seasonal and annual and long term changes that are significant. But with financial numbers - we can tell ourselves what's happening every few seconds and so we do.
At a deeper level I refer you, again, to that speech by Bobby Kennedy which pointed out that financial numbers can go up when the world gets worse, and down when the world becomes a better place. And then there is that great phrase that 'the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment'. If you would like decision makers to take account of the natural world when spending your money and shoring up the economy then please sign the RSPB's Letter to the Future.