Words About Things

A recent report quoted in the Times says that one in five men have a savings account that their partner knows nothing about. These accounts contain on average around £2000 hidden away from prying eyes. Whilst it is not unusual to have separate savings accounts it may come as a surprise to some women that their boyfriend or husband has a secret account. In contrast only 10% of women had an account that their partner did not know about.

One theory is that men wish to have a portion of their savings which are not accessible to their partners. This isn’t necessarily just money to spend in strip clubs and on the horses.  The accounts may be more symbolic than useful although they may also have practical uses. They may be long term investments or instant access savings accounts for day to day spending. They could be used for a variety of reasons:  guilt free spending, risky investments or just to ensure a feeling of independence. The fact that it is men who are more likely to have these accounts  sheds a little light on the differences between how men and women think about money:

“It comes as no surprise that more men have a savings account unknown to partners, and more men make major financial decisions without their partners. Both on a biological and societal level, men perceive such concepts as ‘success’, ‘dominance’, ‘ambition’ and ‘money’ to be bound up together, leading men to view money as the tangible proof of their personal and work success. The more money that is stashed or negotiated, the higher a man deems his self-image and social standing to be.” – Psychologist Donna Dawson

It might not entirely be based on self image however, consider the rise in divorce rates. A secret account may be a less offensive step for a man to take than a prenuptial agreement.  Your partner discovering your secret account may be worse however than both agreeing on a Pre-Nup. Hiding savings (or even worse, debt) is never a good idea however, being open and discussing money must be the best policy.

So if your partner turns out to have a secret savings account should you be worried? Perhaps not but you should necessarily be excited either, only 7% of people with a secret account said that they were saving money to spend on a present for their partner.

This is one of those stories which stops you in your tracks, when I read the words ‘Swedish model Lucky Farmhouse’ I almost spat out my coffee. Surely this is a made up story? After some preliminary research (typing ‘Lucky Farmhouse’ into Google Images repeatedly) the facts didn’t quite add up. Even so, here is the story as reported by Thaindian News:

A Swedish model and former girlfriend of an arrested Israeli drug dealer has alleged in an email interview that a son of a “big politician” was linked to the drug mafia in the state [Goa]. Spycam videos by Lucky Farmhouse, 33, of notorious drug dealer Atala uploaded on Youtube.com resulted in him and half a dozen policemen being arrested for their links to the mafia in March this year. In an email interview, Mangarda has said that she is in possession of more videos of a Goan politician’s son and several policemen who came to collect bribes from Atala.

The corruption Miss Farmhouse has uncovered appears to go right to the top of the Goan police force with bribes being taken at every level.  She is now concerned for her safety after revealing the widespread nature of the corruption:

They have my name and know who I am and Atala has threatened by phone that he will finish my life. I’m not afraid of Atala, but I’m a little afraid of this police and what they can do.

A little more digging shows that Lucky Farmhouse is not the Swedish Model’s real name (no really), she is actually called lucky Mangarda. Lucky has now returned to Sweden and has offered to discuss her findings with the police in Goa although they have yet to contact her. She is laying low whilst the dust settles.

Like most people when I learned that the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (pronunciation tip) in Iceland was erupting I didn’t really expect it to effect anybody outside of Iceland. A week later stranded holiday makers are only just starting to arrive home and airlines are struggling to cope with the backlog. Whilst air travel has been most effected by the cloud of ash released by Eyjafjallajökull it is not only passengers who where stranded. Those who rely on exporting perishable good by plane have had a tough week.

According to the Wall Street Journal, less than 3% of cross-ocean exports travel by air. Most exports are able to travel by boat but some perishable goods exporters rely on flights to get their produce to Europe before they expire. Kenya in particular relies on air transport for exports. Fresh flowers and vegetables are exported from Kenya to the EU on a daily basis, in fact 82% of Kenya’s fresh produce is exported to the EU. The grounding of all European flights has therefore had a massive effect on thousands of Kenyans.

Kenya is in the unfortunate situation of having lots of high value produce but not being able to sell it to anyone. With no flights able to leave for Europe tons of flowers and fresh vegetables have been perishing before they can be exported. The New York Times says that Kenya’s horticulture industry has been losing 3 million dollars a day. The fruit washers, flower pickers and temporary workers of the Rift Valley have been sent home without pay as produce piles up. Space on outgoing flights is hard to come by now that flights have resumed in the UK. Exporters are desperate to get their stock moving again before it becomes unusable, flowers do not sell well in Kenya where the average wage is only $400 a year.

Kenyan Flower Pickers

You may have noticed a lack of fresh flowers and certain vegetables in your local shop as a lot of the produce exported from Kenya ends up on supermarket shelves. Marks and Spencer for instance, has a banner on their site’s flowers page explaining that ‘some flowers, bouquets and plants may be unavailable due to recent flight cancellations’. This is likely to be the only symptom of Kenya’s week without exports for us in the UK but in Kenya the effects will be felt for some time.