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BUSINESS ARCHIVES — APRIL 2010 [RETURN TO commentopia HOME PAGE]
APRIL 26, 2010 -- MAY 2, 2010 GM REVS UP RENAISSANCE WITH $5.8 BILLION PAYBACK.
If you live in this area, the fact that GM and Chrysler are doing better than expected is good news, period. Look, I don't care if you hate unions, drive a Japanese car, think Obama is the second coming of Hitler, are stockpiling gold and ammo for the apocalypse - whatever, big deal! Read the article DETROIT NEWS/GM to invest $275 in Detroit, Kansas plants <> They HAD to be bailed out. If GM went under, it would have made the recession much worse. Think of all the lost jobs at GM, the dealers, the suppliers, etc. The effect on the economy would have been devistating. As distasteful as it is, we had to do it. Read the article DETROIT FREE PRESS/G.M.'S Whiteacre: U.S. may recoup all costs
COUNTING ON THE ABACUS AT GOLDMAN SACHS
I worked on some of these Abacus deals as a corporate lawyer (not for Goldman, but another party). I remember seeing Mr. Egol's name on the giant email lists and seeing it in this article brings me back to those days. The deals were insanely complicated and it never intuitively made sense to me that people would want to invest millions in these "synthetic" transactions. These deals took "making money out of thin air" to a whole new level... Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Top leaders at Goldman had a role in mortgage unit <> It is time that we regulate the financial institutions to the utmost. We have penalized Toyota that has a world-class transparent process and provides a great product. However, the banks smack of a crony system and their processes are not transparent. The resultant lack of checks and balances has led to the global financial crisis. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Top leaders at Goldman had a role in mortgage unit
APRIL 19, 2010 -- APRIL 25, 2010 "YOUNG, EXHAUSTED AND DISPOSABLE:" LIFE AND WORK IN A CHINESE FACTORY
NATIONAL LABOR COMMITTEE REPORT This is our problem, and we do have a direct hand in the unacceptable and deplorable working conditions of those people who manufacture the products we purchase. Read the article ENGADGET/ National Labor Committee report on Chinese CE factories uncovers deplorable conditions <> As "deplorable" as these working conditions are, it is probably better than the conditions they came from...which is pretty much from nothing. Read the article ENGADGET/ National Labor Committee report on Chinese CE factories uncovers deplorable conditions <> Why is anyone surprised by this? Read the article ENGADGET/ National Labor Committee report on Chinese CE factories uncovers deplorable conditions
I don't doubt for one second that Microsoft is being truthful here. It is extremely common for Chinese companies hired by outsiders to do everything they can to mislead auditors. They keep double books, they give auditors tours of their nice factory, then switch to outsourcing the work to their cousin's sweatshop as soon as they aren't looking. The factories change the design/formula of products to be cheaper/inferior/unsafe on a whim without consulting the US company that they are working for. The local police almost never enforce national labor laws, and are often in bed with the companies. Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Microsoft investigates as sweatshop spotlight shines on supplier
APRIL 12, 2010 -- APRIL 18, 2010 TWITTER BEGINS TO SING FOR ITS SUPPER
I think we have to accept that Twitter really needs to have an income and advertising makes sense. I can also understand why they have been treading carefully with this as they don't want to kill their market. I can live with ads as long as they don't take over my timeline. However I would be prepared to pay for an ad-free version, particularly if it came with other premium benefits (longer tweets? better facility to sort through followers/following etc) but again that would depend on how much they charged. Their end-point may be free with adds or paid with no ads - similar model to a lot of other organisations. Read the article GUARDIAN/Twitter unveils 'promoted tweets' ad plan <> The New York Times report on this says that after a period of trying the "conservative" plan, where advertisements only show up in search results, Twitter will then begin to insert unsolicited ads to users' Twitter streams -- sometimes sending "sponsored Tweets" to you even if you don't follow the advertiser. Twitter says they're going to send you ads based on your interests, which I assume means they'll look at your Tweets and who you follow. Sounds like the end of Twitter as we know it. Read the article THE ATLANTIC/Twitter's 'promoted ads' biz model is conservative, smart <> Like all technologies, Twitter is what you make of it. It can be incredibly inane, narcissistic, and trivial, if that's how you choose to use it. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Promoted tweets: Twitter ad program to draw money from corporate advertising
APRIL 5, 2010 -- APRIL 11, 2010 WHY ARE WE SINGING THE RECOVERY BLUES?
Perhaps the sad reality that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer with the aid of our elected Senators, Congressmen and Presidents is depressing. Perhaps the fact that the United States is a plutocracy has dimmed people's hopes for the future. Perhaps the fact that America doesn't really have a sense of community or true social fabric woven into its core is upsetting. Perhaps we're all upset that the herculean Wall Street thefts of the rich always seem to be legal while petty stealing is worthy of immediate incarceration. Perhaps the duplicity of life is a bit sickening to those with a sense of right and wrong. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Why so glum? Numbers point to a recovery <> Please remember what Ronald Reagan said, "when your neighbor is unemployed it is a recession and when you are unemployed it is a depression." Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Why so glum? Numbers point to a recovery <> History may prove different this time, as it sometimes has a perverse way of doing. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Why so glum? Numbers point to a recovery FATHER TO SON -- RE-BRANDING THE TIGER
This is so wrong as to be comical. First, Nike has no brand strategy, which is why they risk their fate to celebrities who are only human -- and make the mistakes humans do. Second, celebs only distract from the brand, not enhance it. Third, the ad is not as creepy as it is curious: no message, no sell just more typical Nike obliqueness that says nothing, but paralyzes the public into recognizing that fact. Have to hand it to Nike on two counts, though: One is for sticking by their investment (Woods) and the other is innovating by using a seance as a selling tool. Read the article NPR/An ad man on Nike's new Tiger Wood's commercial <> Here is a man, almost preternaturally gifted in his craft, living a life that almost none of us will rise to, seeking reconciliation to the masses through the vehicle of crass commercialism. Because it would just be too bad if he just had to live on his winnings as a tour golfer - what a shame THAT would be, eh? Can't have that. I don't care about Tiger, one way or the other - but maybe, next time, Mr. Millions can pay for his own commercial. It'd impress me more as far as the genuineness of his intentions go. Read the article THE NATION/Tiger the brand, Tiger the Man <> Creepy ? I am not sure about that. Have we all not done something we know is wrong, and the one person who could have gave you the best advice in that situation has passed away. You would have wished to hear what they would have said. I know I am not the only one. He is a celebrity, but a human being first. We all know Tigers father was a huge deal in his life. His voice of reason. The one person who he would have turned to in this situation. I think it is brilliant on Nike's behalf to do this commercial to start cleaning up Tigers image. It shows his vulnerability (his father). I think most people can relate. There is not one person out there who is perfect. Read the article CNN/Nike releases a statement explaining Tiger Wood's ad <> I think the 'new' Nike ad commercial on Elrick "Tiger" Woods' and his late father is pointed at all of us. What are we doing with our lives and what have we learned ? Have we learned from our mistakes ? Hope so.. You can sure tell that Tiger is still trying to figure things out. This may be a long road for Tiger. Nike sales, marketing and public relations departments were shrewd with this commercial. This is a base for future Nike commercials on Tiger Woods' and Nike products. Smart move on their par t.., especially if Tiger 'wins' the Masters. Read the article CNN/Nike releases a statement explaining Tiger Wood's ad
<> I think it was Groucho Marx who said "Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you've got it made." Read the article CBC NEWS/What do you think of the commercial?
NEW PRESCRIPTION FOR STUDENT LOANS
I couldn't be happier still paying off my college loans; there is a world of difference between private v.s federal run loans. From my vantage point, I have been extremely impressed by the efficiency and flexibility of the Federal Direct Loan Program. I was amazed how poorly run some of the private lenders are; the efficiency of the Federal Loan Program puts them to shame. When I was fresh out of college, had a mountain of student loan debt, and making little money the Federal Loan Program was willing to work within my budget while the Private Loans tried to squeeze every penny they could out of me. My private loans were no better than dealing with a local loan shark. Federal Loans are still making a healthy profit off my interest payments and I do not cringe when I write them my monthly check as opposed to my Sallie Mae and AES payments. Read the article POLITICO/President Obama takes final steps on health reform <> Can anyone name one Government run program that has come in under budget than advertised and is run efficiently? Didn't think so. This is another bad move by the Obama Administration. We are giving more and more control over our lives to the government. When are people going wake up and see that our Country is becoming more and more of a socialist nation. These jerks in Washington are mortgaging our future and our kids future. Government regulation and involvement should be put in place when the private sector fails and only when it fails. Yeah, the feds took over Student Loans. Who is taking on the issue of how expensive higher education is? Most kids are in debt for a decade or more after college. Let the private sector work as it has in the past. This country was built on it. We need capitalism, we need Rich people, because I've never received a job from a poor person.......have you? Read the article ATLANTIC ONLINE/Three cheers for new student lending law <> A true "shake-up of the student-loan marketplace" would consist not of a government takeover, but government entirely terminating its involvement. Let colleges and universities themselves cope with financing their consumers. Thanks to government subsidies, too many unqualified students go to college, too many fail, tuition is inflated, and professors live in a protected cocoon of tenure. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Obama signs healthcare-fix, student loan bill <> Until I retired recently, I was Senior V.P. in charge of lending at a large bank. Back in the 70's and 80's when there were strict regulations on what banks could and could not do, banks made good profits, and few failed. When the feds opened the doors to do almost anything they wanted, the crooks took over, and treated the banks as if they were their own piggy banks. It was "make a quick buck for themselves", (the directors) and no concern for the long-term health of the banks or safety of the depositor's money.
Read the article ATLANTIC ONLINE/Three cheers for new student lending law
MARCH 29, 2010 -- APRIL 4, 2010 U.K. TIMES TO GO BEHIND THE GREAT PAYWALL OF LONDON
The history and purpose of the Internet has been the free flow of information. No newspaper "has" to be on the Internet. They "want" to be. I've worked in the ad industry 24 years. Newspapers could give their paper away for what they charge in ad rates and still be profitable. The digital/Internet age has swept in many changes, including communication and production, that have greatly reduced costs. There's an old saying "today's news wraps tomorrow's fish". Pay for news that has ads on every page? I'll pass. Read the article THE SUN/The Times they are a charging <> It is a sign of things to come though.....as time goes by more and more sites will charge. Read the article CBC NEWS/U.K. Times to charge for web content <> Sure, there are plenty of online sources for national and world news. But the only major source of local news is newspapers who should have never put their product online for free. All that did was cause people to cancel print subscriptions in droves to save money. Newspapers pay millions of dollars in reporter's salaries and other expenses to investigate and report stores and employee countless local citizens. Why on Earth should they be expected to give their "product" away online for free and die a slow death? Read the article ABC NEWS/U.K.'s Times newspapers to charge for web access
THE SOMALI PIRATES' BUSINESS MODEL -- CLASS A OR CLASS B SHAREHOLDER?
There is clearly a lot of intelligence and sound management in these operations. Because they have been characterized by very little violence against the captured crews, as far as I can tell from news reports, we don't see massive military action being taken against the pirates. While this hardly condones their actions, it is remarkable, especially in contrast with the incredibly violent ongoing horror of the Mexican drug wars and behavior of the drug cartels. I expect that there will be massive escalation by the US and Mexico against the latter, with the goal of their physical eradication by all possible means. If the Somali pirates continue their hostilities in a way that focuses on money and not mayhem, they may succeed in making it a very long-term business. But -- where is that money going? Schools, medicine, clinics, education? Or weapons, drugs, and prostitution? Read the article U.N.DISPATCH/The Somali pirates' business model <> They are not "driven" to piracy. They engage in it because its VERY lucrative, and the risks are LOW. There is not much we can do about law enforcement on land - but I'm sure if international forces declared a free-fire zone in the waters off Somalia, piracy would stop overnight. Read the article U.N.DISPATCH/The Somali pirates' business model <> Is it surprising they have a system? Thought that was part of the idea behind "organized" crime. I live in Nairobi. Not sure if I have seen any of the pirates around these parts. There are however quite a few wealthy Somalis. Guess you could say that the trickle down effect is boosting Kenya's economy. These guys spend their money on land, houses, vehicles and loads of other stuff. I spoke with a Kenyan Somali living here. He mentioned that an interesting effect of the piracy in regards to the Somali coast is that a lot of the fish have come back. The pirates have scared off all the foreign fishing boats. Not sure if this can be verified or not. Read the article BOINGBOING/Profit sharing arrangement among Somali pirates.
REACTING TO GOOGLE'S CHINA SYNDROME
I was initially cynical about Google's motives when they first mentioned doing this. However, now that they have indeed walked the walk, I have changed my mind. Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Google sends China users to Hong Kong for uncensored results <> As part of the "new" (read: current) constitution of HK (Hong Kong Basic Law), China agreed to allow Hong Kong to have autonomy in pretty much everything except foreign affairs and defense for 50 years after the 1997 hand-off. So in theory, China doesn't have any 'control' over HK affairs. So they can't exactly 'crack down' on Google HK without going against the constitution and definitely upsetting (the already mostly anti-PRC) 7 million HK people. Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Google sends China users to Hong Kong for uncensored results <> What we have here is an attempt by Google to politicise business in the interests of their own future profit. Whilst Google's motivations may seem altruistic, they are in fact ultimately driven by commercial success and hence share value and little if anything else. Whenever a commercial enterprise enters a foreign market it is bound by the laws of that market. It has no place being there if it is not willing to operate within the laws of any foreign market. Whether or not you and I sanction the laws or political motivations of any foreign country is wholly irrelevant. I certainly do not support the Chinese government or the way it operates. Quite the opposite in fact. I fully understand and support the need for pressure to be put on the Chinese government in respect of human rights and other such matters, however politicising business matters, such as Google are doing here is not the way to address such matters. This is more about Google future share value that it is anything else. At the end of the day, China does not need to hop into bed with Google and Google knows this, hence we have yet to see Google fulfil it's threat to pull out of China. Finally, for those of you not yet old enough to wear the t-shirt of the seasoned cynic, you do not get to be big in business by doing no evil. Read the article THE REGISTER/Google redirects China to uncensored Hong Kong servers <> Google is an independent entity, and they have certain values that may conflict with those of the Chinese government. I am glad that Google is standing by its values, as they should. I do not believe in censorship. I believe that the Chinese people have the right to full access to the same search results that we have access to in most of the rest of the world. I really don't see what the debate is about. Censorship is a kind of imprisonment, and is a violation of human rights. If Google is dedicated to the free and open sharing of information, then how can they continue to operate in a context where this is not permitted? Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/ China counters Google move by restricting Hong Kong site
<> I am an American professor living in China. I rarely run into the firewall, even when I am looking up info on Tiananmen. English sites are rarely blocked. It was not always that way. Some years ago many news sites were blocked, even HP for a while. But that all ended a couple years ago. I think the blocking is much more targeted today. I have VPN service if I need to get past blocking, but is is rarely needed except for facebook and porn. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Google China News Updates
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