Business is flush for Joe the Plumber – the one in Amarillo, Texas not the one made famous by John McCain. So far, the offers to purchase is web site, www.JoeThePlumber.com, are up to $800,000. Is this a great country or what?
All of us are trying to to do things differently, break old habits and transform our personal and professional lives to avoid that definition of insanity by doing the same thing over and over hoping for different results.That's why, for example, we seem to talk about the methodology of Getting…
There's not much Bullish news to go around these days but that's one of our missions nonetheless. The legendary Jack Welch apparently couldn't agree more. His The Welchway column in this week's BW, The End is Not Here, should be required reading. I love his paraphrase of FDR's famous prescription,…
Rising voices in mutual support? Yesterday, I referenced Joe Nocera's column in the NY Times. Today, Gretchen Morenson weighed in with much the same disappointment as she explained why her "hypocrisy meter konked out last week." It's another chronicle of Washington-boggled notions, the SEC's failure to regulate, the rating agencies…
I’ve been saying for weeks, in various conversations, that one reason the “crisis in confidence” has transformed fear into anxiety, is the Fed’s feckless attempts to “cure the economy”. The initial bailout plan stalled as cooler heads insisted on accountability and a clear plan of action, but the tide of uncertainty washed it ashore in some vague $750 billion bailout.
The stated intention was to buy toxic mortgage securities to relieve the liquidity crisis. Many of us were dubious in the ensuing days and weeks because the markets did not react favorably to the bailout. In addition to the history of failed government programs, my skepticism was fueled by the shortsighted decision to let Lehman fall, the fact that AIG burned through its $85 billion in a few weeks and needed $40 billion more and the surprise, at least to many, of the overnight fall of Washington Mutual.
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There’s a parable that’s been kicking around for years that I ran across recently and wanted to share with you. I haven’t seen it in years but it’s an insightful parody of our tax system with a golden nugget of truth at its core.
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Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: (more…)
A UCLA professor has written on the MITSloan web site that it's time to get rid of Performance Reviews.This is an important topic because performance management is a critical linchpin to holding people accountable, one of the the most common failings acknowledged by middle market executives.Is the professor ahead of…
Can a President Tame the Business Cycle? is the headline in the recent NY Times article on Sunday about several economic indicators and how they have fared during various Presidential terms. Many of us have believed this for years, but it's clear that most informed observers believe that the President…
Gretchen Morgenson's column in yesterday's NY Times offers an interesting summary of the Executive Compensation guidelines that accompany the taxpayer's investment in the capital markets. A government rescue effort looks appealing in broad economic areas where a central bank fuels the capital markets and where individual investments need safeguarding. The…