Imagine the following: You are on the operating table as surgeons perform a delicate procedure on the artery supplying blood to your brain, when, without warning, the lights go out. For 10 terrifying minutes you wait – fully conscious, as you have been throughout the operation – as computerized medical equipment re-starts, using power from…
His loved ones are crying. The media is high.His company has a headache.The death of Heath Ledger.
That's probably what the Fed chairman said this morning when he woke up and saw the headlines. As it turns out, Jerome Kerviel is a 31 year old Frenchman who enjoys judo and sailing. He worked as a trader at Societe Generale, and somehow managed to lose almost €5 billion in a series of complex,…
Photo:devan78, Creative Commons, Flickr Trends return every twenty years, and in 2008, people are blowing like it's 1988. If you are in the party circuit, you might notice the white powder on somebody's nose, and it ain't powdered sugar. Cocaine is back.
Advertising agencies, as satirized on the television series "Mad Men," are rooted in, and drive, consumerism. "Mad Men" won a few Golden Globe awards this past week. I suppose it's only a matter of time before CorpWatch gives one of these agencies its tongue-in-cheek Geenwashing Academy Award.
Stock markets have been catching up to reality over the last few sessions. Up until recently there had been an argument that even if the U.S. economy performed poorly, there would be a decoupling and other countries would be alright. This assumption is now being questioned, leading to a global market meltdown.
Some people who have been taking certain antidepressants might begin to ask that question after reading an article on The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) today. The story goes that these drugs might not be as effective as the companies would have you believe.
When most people think of retirement, early bird dinner specials in Florida or Arizona come to mind, for they are the expected destinations of the recently retired. Now that Bill Gates has just made his final appearance at the CES, the world should ask what’s next for Gates instead of what is the future of…
I recently speculated as to whether or not Christmas is wasteful. In writing about this, I spoke to my environmentally aware 17 year-old cousin about whether or not everything we do, to some extent, is wasteful, and what's realistic to expect of ourselves in terms of social and environmental consciousness. He made the very good…
“Climate change will likely affect economies and financial markets by causing shocks to long-term growth prospects and shifts in the relative price of carbon-intensive goods,” said Morgan Stanley’s Elga Bartsch in a recent research report. “Globally, climate change will likely cause stagflationary pressure.”
With the fate of our nation's energy policy hanging in the balance, the latest iteration of the 2007 energy bill presses on through Capitol Hill. With an overwhelming vote of 85-12, the Senate passed their version of the bill last Thursday night and, as of Tuesday, the House approved it with a 314-100 vote. Now all that needs…
"Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them" – Oscar Wilde
Why all the fuss about the dangers of a U.S. recession? Some academics point out that recessions are an important part of the business cycle because they help squeeze out economic excesses. When the Fed unexpectedly cut interest rates by 50bps in August, the organization made it clear that it was going to do everything…
Photo:Grooble, Creative Commons, Flickr If you are predicting an Armageddon-style collapse of the once glorious U.S. dollar, it may be time for a reality check. The most recent Economist points out: The dollar's place as a reserve currency always seems to be questioned when it falls. Weakness in 1977-79, 1985-88 and 1993-95 was each time…
Photo:Manuel Van De Weijer, Creative Commons, Flickr After a brutally volatile year in financial markets, U.S. stocks are now back to levels from the start of the year. Wall Street's dreary performance in 2007 will inevitably lead to a lot of soul searching among investors, and a lot of questions remain unanswered. Now that the…
On Friday afternoon, May 17, 2002, a butcher named Edwin Lopez was alone in his downtown Los Angeles butchery. He was about to close shop for the weekend when he accidentally locked himself in a walk in freezer. He spent hours yelling and banging on the door, but to no avail. There was no way…
A picture, even if it is as aesthetically pleasing as this piece of garbled mish mash, says a thousand words. In a previous article I suggested that coordinated central bank intervention to save the U.S. dollar from its slippery slide could be an effective tool to knock down lofty oil prices. Lower oil prices would…
I was otherwise busy, but Irene had time to catch Jim Lehrer's lecture to the Journalism school this evening. (He gave a similar talk at my alma mater last month.) Lehrer upheld the conventional tenets of journalism; he is alarmed at the decay of discourse, but it seems Gore and Gingrich agree on that too.…
As we can attest at The Panelist, the list phenomena is not new. And for many genres it provides a great jumping-off point for selecting a book, movie or travel destination. It also creates a lot of buzz and debate. But when it comes to CSR, I have begun to wonder if these lists are…
Early Monday morning the new Fox business channel officially began airing at 4am. Now there is a new kid on the block for financial news media, and my biggest problem is which channel to set my television to during the trading day.
Wow! Such a serious title, and its only about 10 in the morning. At first I wanted to call this piece something wacky like How Many Bureaucrats Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?, but changed my mind after reading Lehmans (LEH) climate change report. Now is unfortunately not the time for How Many…
Is it fair that America, with 4% of the world’s population, uses 25% of global energy? As a South African, I don’t think so. I am excited about the prospect of economic growth in my home country, but I sometimes wonder where the energy will come from if America keeps unfairly extracting energy at the…
Photo:slopjop123, Creative Commons, Flickr It is human nature to look towards religion or a higher power to help us overcome circumstances that are beyond our control. History is rich with examples where gods have been created to try to understand the mysteries of nature. As long as we believe that there is a higher power…
Someone once joked that the best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep, but somehow I don't find that funny at the moment. If you're a homeowner in pain, you might also be struggling to sleep. You might be dreaming of a parallel world where Fed chairman Ben Bernanke saves the day,…
When you see "Made in China" on a product, what is your first instinct? Put the product down and move on to another? Barely notice and put it in your shopping basket? Look at other products, realize how much more they cost, and begrudgingly buy the Chinese one? While the desire to avoid Chinese products…