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BUSINESS ARCHIVES — JULY 2010 [RETURN TO commentopia HOME PAGE]
JULY 19, 2010 -- AUGUST 1, 2010 BEN BERNANKE HOLDS COURSE AMID UNUSUAL UNCERTAINTY
There is a well-documented theory that the American prosperity of the quarter century ending in 2007 resulted from the baby boom following WWII. By the 1980s and 1990s, the baby boom generation was approaching its peak earning period. The boomers bought new and larger homes for their families, they bought their dream homes, they bought cars for their children, and they spent a fortune educating their children. Now, as they enter retirement, their incomes are dropping and they are saving for retirement, rather than spending. This means that our current “recovery” may have already reached its peak. It may be many decades before we see another period of prosperity as we had in the last quarter century. Government at all levels needs to adjust its spending accordingly. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Bernanke signals no policy shift during congressional testimony <> The reality is that we are coming off of and now need to pay the price for the massive deficit created by the Bush wars and tax cuts (See: Alexander's notes about the debt load of European nations in the great depression) - this, at the very same moment in history when we are going through a massive change in the way we do business that is just as "transformative" as was the invention of the internal combustion engine. We have massive numbers of people who are simply not equipped to compete in the digital age. We have eliminated thousands of clerical positions and photo processing positions as a result of the productivity that is now afforded to us via our personal computers. Commercial real estate will suffer for a very long time simply due to the fact that businesses are now relying upon the efficiencies of people who work from home and/or the smart phone that they carry with them all of the time. That "bunch of problems" on a multitude of fronts was not caused by the bad actions of Obama and the Dems in the immediate past 18 months. The issue, in my mind is not blame. The issue at hand is what, if anything, can the government to do to get Americans back to productive work. Bernanke, Geithner, and a bunch of smart folks are trying - they are NOT clueless.......at least, in my opinion. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Bernanke signals no policy shift during congressional testimony
And all this because of trying to solve moral problems with economic measures. Wall St. and the politicians pimping them just defrauded shareholders and taxpayers to the tune of at least a trillion dollars. Instead of setting an example with the American Justice System, and confiscating all those ill-got bonuses, salaries and profits from shady and extremely lucrative deals that finally filled the banks with holes and bankrupted the system, and of putting all those fraudsters in jail, the politicians are now trying to blot out the sun with their little finger by filling up all those holes with printed money and saving their friends', the fraudsters', bacon, and their own. The reason the US is going nowhere economically is that the trust is gone. Trust, not printed money, is the base of any economic system. Read the article GUARDIAN/Federal Reserve chairman warns of 'unusually uncertain' outlook U.S. economy SHADOWS BEHIND THE GREAT PAYWALL OF LONDON
It depends how much the advertising revenue falls. The Times Online just became a lot less attractive to advertisers. The question is obviously whether the subscriptions are worth more than the lost advertising revenue. This is not necessarily true. With a subscription model, your readers tend to be more affluent and more engaged with the content, compared with a "free" site. This makes them instantly more valuable to advertisers. You also know more about your readers, because they've all signed up, so advertisers have a clearer picture of who their ads are reaching. Again, this is not the case with a free site. So, just because The Times has lost 90 per cent of its online readers -- as expected -- doesn't mean it necessarily loses 90 per cent of its ad revenues. Still, the bottom line is that online ad revenues alone cannot sustain the current editorial budgets of national newspapers and show no likelihood of doing so in future. If you want serious journalism to survive, someone's got to pay for it. Read the article GUARDIAN/Times loses almost 90 % of online readership <> I find it odd that people are get so upset about a paywall, largely on the basis that it has been orchestrated by RM. Papers are bleeding money. One board of directors believes a paywall online is the way forward, the other board thinks that free is the future. RM is free to do what he wants with the paper he owns, and his model is the more traditional one. The one which papers were founded upon. If it works, it works. It's not like he is introducing a paywall to medical treatment for orphaned babies, it's for a newspaper, that's all. I think the more interesting question is; would you pay a few quid a month to carry on using The Guardian? I think I probably would. Read the article GUARDIAN/Times loses almost 90 % of online readership BOEING'S DREAMLINER BECOMES REALITY
The impressive part of this airplane is not the interior or the exterior, it is the savings in operation of the aircraft, in fact it will change the status quo once it is delivered. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Boeing 787 lands in Farnborough <> In today's airline market both of the major manufacturers have to outsource some of their manufacturing, because the airlines in key areas demand it. In Asia, particularly, the airlines and government are much more closely aligned than in the U.S. These governments want their national manufacturing champions to have a piece of the manufacturing action, and will make it known that whoever best helps the local economy will win airplane orders. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Boeing 787 lands in Farnborough THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL REFORM PACKAGE SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION
This bill will force banks to actually be – well – banks! Small business owners don’t need banks to make risky investments in hedge funds and private equity funds. Whenever I put my money into a bank, I expect it to stay there! We’ve had enough of banks using our money to make long-term bets. Good job, Obama. Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Senate passes financial overhaul bill <> This is a political victory, and perhaps a real economic victory in the long run; however, in the short-run all this will do is to herald in an era of deflation. Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Senate passes financial overhaul bill <> I have a job and gladly pay my taxes. And I'm anything but wealthy. I suppose one could call me "one of the little people." Fact of the matter is, I'm not at all ashamed of that label. And as such, I'm pleased with the passage of this bill. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Wall Street reform passes <> "All told, the bill directs regulators to write 533 rules, according to an analysis by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. By contrast, the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley accounting law mandated 16 rule-makings. " Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Senate passes sweeping finance overhaul
JULY 5, 2010 -- JULY 18, 2010 IPHONE 4 GETS POOR SIGNAL FROM CONSUMER REPORTS
The real test begins.... NOW. <> Stuff happens, therefore I won't blame Apple too much for the antenna issues. That said, the explanation offered by Apple is a complete slap on the face. There is simply no excuse. Beside thinking of its customers as total idiots, I can't think of any other reason why Apple would offer such a lame excuse for the problem, or, the problem is so fundamental in the design that admitting it would be the recall of all iPhone 4 and complete overhaul of the design.... Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/ Consumer Reports won't recommend IPhone 4 <> This whole debacle reminds me of a (possibly apocryphal) story about Frank Lloyd Wright. He designed a home for the industrialist Hibbard Johnson. One night, not long after the house was completed, the roof began to leak. Johnson, furious, called up Wright and told him he had friends over and that the roof was leaking right over his head. Wright's reply: "Why don't you move your chair?" Read the article BOING BOING/Consumer Reports "can't recommend Iphone4 after antenna tests SHOULD ANNUAL JOB REVIEWS BE SCRAPPED?
I always hated the annual performance review. Like professor Culbert says "they are total baloney". The bosses already have their minds made up or their opinions formed. Good or bad, the thing is a fait accompli. What are you going to write in there for your own score, all areas "outstanding"? Any area "weak"? Then comes the best part: "what you are going to do to "improve" yourself.." and "what are your goals and objectives?" how crazy is that, there is precious little you can do as far as attending conferences in your field or getting training or schooling to improve or stay current with your skills without management support. In my experience, they rarely if ever make time or budget available for continuing education or special training. Also, any goals and objectives can only be accomplished with management support and encouragement.
Read the article NPR/Annual job review is 'total baloney,' expert says <> To really improve performance, feedback should be immediate. That means telling the person that they did a good job when they did it--not one week, six months or a year later. Read the article NPR/Annual job review is 'total balcony,' expert says <> The author's theme about managers being unwilling to hear employees' side of the story really resonates with me, as I recall one review in which I was criticized for following a policy that was in force at the time, and changed 6 months later -- in other words, I was criticized for not knowing that this policy was going to be changed 6 months in the future. Read the article NPR/Annual job review is 'total balcony,' expert says <> I do wonder if the author has ever seen a review system that actually is objective. I wonder if he knows that some organizations lend themselves to quantifiable and results driven ratings. I wonder if he has ever seen a review system that could connect employee performance with customer satisfaction. If he sees so many problems with top-down review processes, why not recommend 360 reviews rather than scrapping reviews completely? Frankly it sounds like he is making a one-size-fits-all recommendation, and that in and of itself sounds suspicious. Read the article NPR/Annual job review is 'total balcony,' expert says
THE JOBS REPORT - GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REPORT JUNE 2010 I am not trying to be incentive here, but really enough is enough with the economic reporting. Pessimism, as studies have shown, simply breeds more pessimism. This is a good report, even with Census jobs ending, unemployment is going down and the private sector is creating jobs. The big problem is that consumer spending, which drives about 70% of the US economy is still lagging. Why is that? Could it be that ever glimmer of economic hope is portrayed as a bad thing in the media? Last month, the media narrative was that Census jobs accounted for all of the hiring. Now, this month, even though about half of those temporary jobs ended, private sector employment increased. What is the headline? Not unemployment down for third consecutive month, not Unemployment drops to 9.5%. Not most private sector jobs created in X months. Instead, we get Economy sheds 125,000. (Which, by the way, were TEMPORARY anyway!) Personally, I am sick of the media trashing the economy. It is time for some positive reporting. The miracle that is America and the miracle that is America's economic engine is working and as soon as we start getting some news with a more positive message, things will begin to improve exponentially. Read the article WASHINGTON POST/June unemployment rate drops to 9.5 per cent but 125,000 jobs lost <> Our company makes specialized machinery for the food processing industry. Orders are up, and have been all year. We've posted 10 jobs in the last 2 months to fill a growing work load. We are a small company. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/The recovery is losing steam <> This Govt, and the major corporations who lobby it, don't care about employment. Read the articleHUFFINGTON POST/Unemployment rate drops but economy sheds 125,000 jobs
JUNE 28, 2010 -- JULY 4, 2010 SIZING UP THE DEAL FROM WALL STREET TO MAIN STREET
This should not be considered a "domestic victory" for the President. Enforcing existing laws and regulations and seeing that regulatory agencies do what they are charged to do do would have been a "victory". This is a defeat for the American public as it just adds another layer to the incompetent bureaucracy Higher fees, higher taxes, higher incompetence. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/U.S. lawmakers reach accord on new finance rules <> Isn't it always the cry of "big government" whenever legislation aimed and protecting citizens and the country from outrageous practices that led to the recession and the Trillions in bailout and stimulus packages (and a huge addition to our Debt) is even being considered? Yet, AIG execs can have their millions in bonuses and their million dollar retreats on the taxpayers dime, that's OK? Heaven forbid any "new" rules are put in their way. This bill is maybe a beginning, but in and of itself it is a watered down version of what is truly needed. Read the article CNN/Wall Street Reform: What's in the Bill? <> I think this bill is a start, and I am amazed at the negativity of so many of the comments. And remember, we ordinary Americans contributed to this mess by buying, buying, buying stuff we couldn't afford, so therefore bought on credit we couldn't afford. Nor did we bother to stand up to our Congress when they deregulated the banks at the behest of the fat cats, because we were too busy to be bothered with politics. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/House and Senate in deal on financial overhaul <> "...it deals with every single aspect of our lives" Chris Dodd
Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/U.S. lawmakers reach accord on new finance rules <> The legislation is so vague and weak as to be laughable. The primary result will be an increase in bank and credit card fees to the consumer - to compensate the financial institutions for the increased costs imposed by the bill itself. In other words, we the consumers get shafted to pay for this wishy-washy reform effort. Much like Obamacare, it costs lots of money, lets the fat cats off the hook, makes good headlines but does darn little to solve actual systemic problems. All show and darn little go which is the hallmark of the administration. Read the article DAILY BEAST/Congress reaches deal
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