« December 21, 2008 - December 27, 2008 | Main | January 04, 2009 - January 10, 2009 »
January 02, 2009
Greenspan: "I made a mistake."
In Salon, see Andrew Leonard's excellent "The Economy Crumbled"--but then let's get busy cleaning up our mess. WAC? prefers Pollyannas who like to solve problems. Excerpt:
There were warnings along the way. Cassandras who feared that exotic financial innovation, specifically unregulated at the behest of both Democratic and Republican politicians, was setting the stage for a major systemic shock. But their voices were drowned out by a chorus of status quo defenders who told us, again and again, that financial innovation was making the world a safer, less risky place.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 04:07 AM | Comments (1)
December 31, 2008
Getting America back to work.
See yesterday's piece at London's The Economist, "The People Puzzle". Excerpt:
An energetic debate on displaced workers—on the role of the private sector, for example, or which training programmes give the best return to workers and taxpayers—has yet to emerge. In the meantime some 608,000 Americans, 74% more than last year, are not seeking work because they think no jobs are available. Their label is simply “discouraged”.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2008
The man, the firm and the blog to watch in 2009.
It's Pat Lamb, his Chicago-based firm Valorem and In Search of Perfect Client Service, his well-regarded and enduring blog. Together they give us all we may ever need on (a) leadership, (b) law firm models that work and (c) the art of the client at the Terrible Crossroads of 2008/2009. We all face recovering economies, changing markets, new markets, new governments, and new ideas on economic growth, monetary policy and regulation. Watch Lamb closely. We don't agree on everything. But if anyone can make value billing work, and the Billable Hour go away, it's Pat. And then on to the next Dragon.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
Keith Richards is 65.
NPR: "Let me repeat that: Keith Richards is 65."
It happened on the 18th. But what's the real news story here? That it finally happened (i.e., boomers are now officially old)? Or that Richards, who "cannot be killed by conventional weapons", is still alive?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)
December 29, 2008
Darwinian
Associated Press (Ellen Simon) piece of December 26:
NEW YORK (AP) - Economic cycles are Darwinian, picking off weak companies and leaving survivors stronger.
More than a year into the recession, solid retailers have their pick of mall space. Respected banks are getting an influx of deposits. Tech companies with money to spend are having an easier time hiring.
It's been a year of brutal losses. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)