I watched a sixtyish Oklahoma businessman flawlessly perform a business card exchange with an Asian gentleman this week. Cultural awareness can be an important business skill.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Michael Lewis, author of “Liar’s Poker” (and if you don’t know what that is, go get a copy and read it), writes about the end of an era on Wall Street. He traces much of the wreckage to the decision to take the investment firm Salomon Brothers public, a move that eventually was emulated by all the large investment banks.
From that moment, though, the Wall Street firm became a black box. The shareholders who financed the risks had no real understanding of what the risk takers were doing, and as the risk-taking grew ever more complex, their understanding diminished. The moment Salomon Brothers demonstrated the potential gains to be had by the investment bank as public corporation, the psychological foundations of Wall Street shifted from trust to blind faith.
It’s a good read. Take some time and head over to Portfolio.com and check it out.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Forbes.com has published a story that includes some interesting math about efforts to stem the financial crisis. Although the $700 billion rescue package left many aghast at the sheer amount of cash involved, the story notes that the government already has spent a good deal more than that. Like $5 trillion.
From Forbes.com:
According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system.
The estimate includes many of the various solutions cooked up by Paulson and his counterparts Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve and Sheila Bair at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as the credit crisis continues to plague banks and the broader markets.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
If you haven’t seen Toyota’s “Saved by Zero” commercials on television, consider yourself lucky. There is nothing remarkable about the ads, which feature Toyota vehicles zooming in and out of the frame while the phrase “Saved by Zero” is sung repeatedly. The “zero” refers to zero-percent interest rates.
The commercial, which plays incessantly during nationally televised sporting events, has prompted the creation of online petitions and Web sites aimed at stopping the ads. Now, a member of the band that originally recorded “Saved By Zero” tells the Las Vegas Sun that while he enjoys the attention and royalties from the ads, he’s not a fan of the commercial. Cy Curnin, lead singer of The Fixx, particularly doesn’t care for the use of another singer in the car commercial.
He’s amused at the irony of using the song to tout 0 percent car financing.
“It’s a bit cheesy,” he says. “It was about looking at your own life, not so much about amassing material things but about experiences that lend you to be blissful. It’s peeling away illusions we pick up along the way. Our identity isn’t the suit we wear or the latest gadget. Our identity is the freedom to pick and choose from all aspects of humanity and to make a stand.
Click here to see and hear the original version of “Saved by Zero” by The Fixx:
and here’s the ad:
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Leave it to The Onion to break down the competition between two computer operating systems that don’t even exist yet.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
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Bad buzz words
Oxford researchers have compiled a list of the top 10 most irritating phrases in the English language. These are plenty annoying, but I might also nominate “going forward” and folks who use “paradigm” but who aren’t entirely sure what “paradigm” means.
The list:
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It’s a nightmare
8 - Shouldn’t of
9 - 24/7
10 - It’s not rocket science
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
The Wall Street Journal writes that this may be a tough year for Santa — or at least for the folks who get paid to act like Saint Nick.
With budgets tightening and corporate sponsors vanishing, communities from coast to coast have moved to trim the trimmings. They’re hiring fewer elves and renting smaller floats for their Christmas parades. They’re stringing fewer lights.
Meanwhile, a survey by Consumer Reports reveals that three out of four respondents plan to cut back on holiday spending, and Charity Navigator foresees a lean year for America’s charities. Yes, Virginia. There is a recession.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
PC World reports on a new iPhone app that solves a age-old problem — how to escape endless, irrelevant, time-wasting meetings:
Have you ever been talking to someone and hoped your cell phone would ring so that you would have an excuse to leave? Well, start up company Magic Tap has developed an iPhone application that lets you do just that.
Click here to purchase the application (by clicking, you will open the iPhone app store.)
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Just for fun, a Web site with photographs of 50 unusual structures. Some are familiar, many are not.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
