If you are banking on corporate executives to make the high-level market decisions that will pull the world out of this spiraling recession, you’re betting on a nag. Most executives not only don’t know how to do executive-level work, they couldn’t do it if they did.
Executive work is not line work, nor is it very similar to that of lower-level managers. Executives should be looking out past two…
The disaster in Japan is devastating to see. Although my friends in Japan are all safe, many of their friends and family are still missing. The death count is high. The destruction is staggering.
I don’t want to make light of the horrible tragedy, and indeed I pray for them and wonder what we can do to help. This is a discussion about some of the after effects based on scenarios run years…
For my American readers, you may be interested in a recent post on CalculatedRisk where CR graphs the recent BLS data on unemployment. The interesting things for you are the positive states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Virginia. And possibly Vermont.
Oklahoma looks pretty good to me too, having just talked to my old friends in Michigan.
Another interesting place is ShadowStats to…
Sociopaths see the financial collapse as a way to despotism, with them on top. It’s an opportunity for Hidden High Potentials with moral compasses, too. Some notes from a colleague on what’s going to happen and how long it may last.
One of my associates chimed in recently with his latest thoughts on the collapse. He’s had some interesting achievements, like selling off his two biotech startups…
I’ve mentioned the idea that XLF must lose at least 80% of its value from peak for the US economy to have bottomed out. Yesterday, perhaps as a house-warming gift to Pres. Obama or a moving present to Pres. Bush, the markets tanked and XLF fell to its all-time low of essentially 8. Since it peaked at almost 32, that’s close to 20% of its value.
Two ways to look at this:
XLF has hit 20% and…
For everyone who thinks that my economic outlook has been bleak, I offer you Saxo Bank’s (Switzerland) predictions that 2009 is when we will see the worst. Their 10 Outrageous Predictions are unfortunately within the realm of reasonable speculation at this point.
No one can predict the future. However, we can say that the level of uncertainty has increased to a point where outlier arguments hav…
I asked Warren Kinston about something I had recently written regarding Imaginist thinking and Obama’s success. (He points out that Imaginist isn’t appropriate at societal level; I was wrong and should study more.) But that got me thinking about the values in play, and I returned to his Working With Values to look at Ethical Choice. Warren is describing the Conventionalist approach but quotes…
Several weeks ago I threw my hat into the ring as the best choice for the US Vice President candidate of either party. Today, in an effort to extend my patriotic efforts to serve my country.
In exchange for a properly renumerated position, I am willing to come on board for the next year and take full blame for the entire financial mess. As an accomplished speaker and raised acting, I will go on…
In comparing this current collapse to 1929-1932, you hear economists talk about how the unemployment rates are so different. Back then, almost a quarter of the workforce was out of work. Today, the number is still below 7%. (I’m America, so these arguments are all US-based.)
There’s a problem with this thinking, because the current unemployment statistics no longer adequately measure the number…
There’s a lot in the press these days about the irresponsibility of CEOs who lied, covered-up and generally made a lot of cash while destroying billions of dollars of value. For example, here’s something from the Vault’s article on “Are CEO’s Ready To Face Career Instability?”:
As [reviled Lehman Brothers CEO] Richard Fuld’s Congressional testimony aptly underscores, if ever a job requires…