Opinion Polls and Share Prices Are Killing Our Future | BTalk

(MoneyWatch) 

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Miriam Lyons

(Episode 527; 15 minutes 29) Could short-term thinking be wrecking our future? It's a concern when a CEO has too much of a focus on short-term share price movement, rather than longer-term strategies. This last week has shown once again that opinion polls can lead to knee-jerk leadership changes in our Government.

The problem is that most people responding to opinion polls or trading in shares don't necessarily have the depth of knowledge on policies as the managers of the company or political party they seek to influence. What's more, they don't have the time, inclination or channels to lean more and develop an informed opinion on policies and strategies.

That could be changing, of course. Web 2.0 provides a new vehicle for the community to share its knowledge and enjoy open debate. So, is that happening, or is new media simply pushing the same preconceived notions around, only faster?

I ask Miriam Lyons, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Development, what she thinks. Miriam attended the 2020 summit, which was a token effort towards long-term thinking, but did it do any good? How many of the policies discussed at the event have seen the light of day? Can you actually arrive at sensible policy ideas over a weekend?

What do you think? Are people prone to more short-term thinking, or are more of us trying to see the bigger, longer-term picture?

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