Image of the week:The happy man on the telephone is Lloyd Shapley, who teaches at the University of California in Los Angeles. This is him minutes after he was notified on Monday that he had won the Nobel prize for economics, together with Alvin Roth, for their independent work on the "market design" field of economics, which is something to do with the efficient allocation of resources. Mr Shapley (89) said he was "surprised" and "delighted" by the call.
Photograph: Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters
The lexicon: Tiger Óg
Who can resist a neologism that riffs on that old cliche, the Celtic Tiger? “Tiger Óg” was the phrase used by ex-Unilever boss Niall FitzGerald in a recent speech to describe the next generation of economic leaders, which unlike the last lot who claimed that title, will be honest and socially responsible.
“The earlier version of the Celtic Tiger pranced about on a bed of sand. Tiger Óg must have a firmer footing to sustain opportunity and prosperity for generations to come,” he said. “Leaders must commit to leaving a mark on society, which is beyond the accumulation of personal wealth.”
In numbers: Thriving?
51
Percentage of Irish people classified as “thriving” by a Gallup poll that asks individuals to rate their lives on a scale of 0 to 10. The other two categories are “struggling” and “suffering”.
21
Percentage point decline who are described as “thriving” since a similar survey was conducted in 2008. This was the third biggest decline in EU countries over that period.
38
The EU27 average for the percentage Gallup rates as “thriving”.
Getting to know: Igor Sechin
When the words “a close ally of Vladimir Putin” appear in someone’s bio, you just know they’re going to be in the market for a purchase or two. As well as being deputy prime minister of Russia, Sechin serves as chief executive of Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer. But what’s he like as a person? Well Russian press references to him as Darth Vader and “the scariest person on Earth” may be a clue. In his Rosneft role, Sechin flew into London this week to discuss buying BP’s 50 per cent stake in joint venture TNK-BP – an acquisition that would turn Rosneft into the world’s largest publicly-traded producer of crude oil. Sechin, a former KGB officer, had no previous experience of the energy sector before joining Rosneft’s board, but with a reputation for being a hard-line statist, that probably didn’t matter.
The list: Celebrity-sponsor divorce
Proving almost as loyal to Lance Armstrong as his own mother, sports firm Nike was among the sponsors that only got round to severing their ties with the disgraced cyclist this week. These five brands were somewhat quicker off the mark to dump their celebrity faces:
1 Nivea:The skincare brand parted ways with superstar Rihanna, seemingly on the grounds that she was too sexy for their family values. Hey, Nivea, she's a popstar.
2 Accenture:The global consulting firm was the first company to cancel its sponsorship of Tiger Woods in the wake of revelations about his personal life.
3 Coca-Cola:In July, Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho made the classic mistake of drinking Pepsi on camera. Coke said it was "impossible to continue the partnership".
4 Chanel:Kate Moss enjoyed a "cocaine bounce" in earnings after she was filmed snorting white stuff in 2005, but Chanel was among the brands that said goodbye.
5 Christian Dior:It didn't quite agree with its advertising star Sharon Stone's claim that the 2008 Sichuan earthquake occurred because the Chinese were "not being nice to the Dalai Lama".
