“If you build it, they will come” is usually not a good piece of business strategy. Detroit’s big three auto manufacturers have learned this lesson many times (and seem destined to have to learn it many more times) as witnessed by the consistent failure of new models to grab the attention of the customer base. But, in some [...]
They laughed when I said sex and basic finance/economics could be merged (maybe we should call it sexonomics? sexynomics? econosexia?), now others have caught on! From an email forwarded by my co-worker S. Friedman comes the first part, a young, misguided damsel in distress asking Craigslist for some help: What am I doing wrong? Okay, I’m tired of [...]
That’s what Monday, September 17′s issue of PhD comics asks:
If you were to ask a Democrat about the success of President Bush’s “surge” in US troops, (s)he’d (probably) tell you the Surge is a failure. If you ask a Republican, (s)he’ll (probably) tell you the Surge has made progress. Both sides can cite valid statistics which seem to tell contradictory messages. Yes, civilian casualties are down without [...]
I’m someone who thinks that economics and markets are more than just ways to make money. I find them interesting in and of themselves. Sadly, not too many people feel that way. So, on one of my interminable commutes home, I came up with a (what I think is a) brilliant idea to make markets [...]
Accounting is a useful tool for understanding how businesses work; after all, companies spend millions hiring financial consultants, banking groups, and auditors all for the purpose of financial reporting and strategy. In theory, the three basic financial statements (across time) — balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement – should give a very good picture of a company’s performance. The [...]
This past Thursday, I attended a seminar presented by Kent Thiry, the CEO of DaVita, a dialysis company and former partner at the management consulting firm Bain & Company. Thiry presided over a stunning turnaround at the firm, but the focus of his presentation was not so much on the corporate specifics [which while impressive, [...]
For those of you who are interested, I was staffed the day after the Fourth of July on an internal project. But… shhh… if I tell you any more, I might have to kill you. While doing research for the secret secret internal project (I’m sorry, if I tell you, I do have to kill [...]
I ran into a remarkable bit of trouble trying to explain to people that I, now finally finished with the first round of new hire training, was “on the beach.” More than a few of my friends (even some new hire consultants! — they were of course, at rival firms) thought the phrase was meant literally. So, for [...]