“Douchebag spreadsheet manipulation is not in high demand right now…”

There is an interesting discussion of the merits/value of an MBA at Business Insider.
As a MBA holder, there is much I regret about the time and effort that went into it. The cost was partially on me, partially on my employers. I had already devoured my company’s business library and was reading/practicing other stuff [...]

One Way Investment Banks looted their customer: The IPO Process

I am just capturing my comment at TDAXP:

One area in which Investment Bankers did great harm to the US Economy was in the area of handling IPOs.
Investment Bankers essentially used the process as a mean of looting wealth from the entrepreneurial firms going public for the benefit of the investment bank and some its choice [...]

Protectionism Rising?

I am troubled by the by the anti-free trade signals being made by USGOV toward Mexico as documented by TDAXP.
I think the default view of many Americans (maybe all humans) is that of protectionism. I think our brains evolved in a zero-sum economic world, and while we are still evolving this is still la hard [...]

Washington Math Sucks: $30,000 (On the Bailout)

$275 Billion / 9 million = $30,000 (rounded down)
I am a sucker. Partially I rent becuase I didn’t buy becuase I didn’t want to buy into a bubble.
$30k is essentially being given to those that bought houses they couldn’t afford with the money taken from those who did not behave that way.
WTF is going on [...]

The PurpleStimulus or Let Banks Fail…but fast and other goodies (“On The Bailout” Series)

This started out as a comment at TDAXP [1].
Here is what the USAGOV should do (not what they plan to do [2]) – and it should be done quickly and without mercy:
1) Have Bank regulators set the appropriate capitalization level for the bank
2) Assuming level not met, declare bank insolvent.
3) Wipe the shareholders (common and [...]

“Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce”

I have been running through all of the old Ted Talks via my iPod. It was a joy to hear this one again: “Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce”.
Here is the video version from youtube:

I am being abused by Verizon mentally

Verizon, you suck.
I am on-hold right now with the Verizon Business technical support super secret escalation number.
I am being abused by their on-hold music.
It is playing a disco/techno instrumental version of Stairway to Heaven.
Why would a business do this? Do they want their customers to hate them more?
By the time I am brought off [...]

Creative Destruction Example in Milwaukee

The local Schwartz’s bookseller chain just died (it couldn’t compete with B&N in the fleshspace, or Amazon.com in cyberspace), but its 800-CEO-READ:

At a time when independent, bricks-and-mortar general bookstores all over are closing, 800-CEO-READ is an independent that’s thriving. With just 15 employees and 3,000 square feet in a renovated office building in the Third [...]

Is VisiCalc responsible for the Current Finacial Crisis? (“On the Bailout” Series)

John C. Dvorak thinks so. He makes an interesting case.

Misleading Headline on the Madoff scandal that I wish was true

The US case for radical energy use efficiency and for switching to alternative energy sources

I have been looking to blog on this for sometime, but it came out in a comment at TDAXP:
The best case for the US to move to radical energy use efficiency and to switch a lot more to alternative energy (while sharing or selling the techniques and technology to the rest of the world to [...]

Kohl’s caught screwing with its customers…

…here.
It only takes little actions like this that become widely known to destroy consumer confidence in a store chain, in a brand. Consumer can and will vote with there and take there money elsewhere.
If this is an isolated issue, Kohl’s should very publicly fire the management of that store.
If it is not isolated, that is, [...]

Entrepreneurship News: “NASA Outsources ISS Resupply To SpaceX, Orbital”

This is great news (from SlashDot):
“NASA has signed two contracts with US commercial space ventures totaling $3.5 billion for resupply of the International Space Station. SpaceX will receive $1.6 billion for 12 flights of SpaceX’s planned Dragon spacecraft and their Falcon 9 boosters. $1.9 billion goes to Orbital for eight flights of its Cygnus spacecraft [...]

GM Death Wish

Found on Instapundit:

VOLT ENGINE PLANT ON HOLD: “Word is that GM has shut down construction because it doesn’t have the cash to pay for steel structural members.” Ouch.
At The Truth About Cars link:
The new Flint, Michigan engine plant slated to build the ICE for the Chevrolet Volt has been put into deep freeze. AP (via [...]

The “I am too Lazy/Busy to post” Open Thread & Linkspasm

I have been both too busy at work to post or read much and also too tired/lazy in the evenings to post, so here are a bunch of issues that might interesting. I will make updates in the comments.
I will engage in comments here and elsewhere, but I most likely won’t post much if anything [...]

WTF: “Jay Leno is staying at NBC, will be in prime-time”

Huh?

Jay Leno is staying at NBC, and he’s moving to prime time. The network announced on the “Today” show Tuesday that Leno will host a show on weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern, after he leaves the “Tonight” show.[...]The deal not only prevents Leno from moving to another network and competing with O’Brien, it also has [...]

Cringley on the Failure in Detroit: “It’s the cars, stupid”

He writes:

My hobby is building small airplanes and one of my favorites is a Davis DA-2A, winner of the Outstanding New Design contest in 1966, the same year my Oldsmobile (and my current Thunderbird convertible) was built. That little Davis can teach us a lot about cars.
I didn’t build my DA-2A, but I am rebuilding [...]

The Folly Of USGOV Stimulus packages and Keynesian Economic Theory: (On the Bailout, Part 31)

Stimuluses (Stimuli?)  don’t work from an economics PoV.
As blogged here, it may sounds good…
An economist named John Maynard Keynes argued that the economy could be boosted if the government borrowed money and spent it. According to this Keynesian approach, this new spending would put money in people’s pockets, and the recipients of the funds would [...]

“The Credit Card Bailout” and the failure of Business/USGOV Leaders (On the Bailout, Part 30)

TDAXP covers it all:
What is disturbing about our President, and our even worse Congress, is that we are throwing good money after bad in a way that is not only wasteful, but also foolish.
The purpose of the credit card bailout is obviously to increase spending. The credit card bailout does so by socializing the losses [...]

Stimulus Package: “spending in the range of $500 billion to $700 billion”

Jeez.
I predict every Democrat special interest will come out for their payoff handout.
Most of this spending will crowd out other spending and investment. Capital Investors will be more likely to sit out given the uncertainty of USGOV actions.
I laugh (sadly) when I hear politician talk about the jobs they will create. These will not be [...]

Public Policy Guidance on “Too Big To Fail” (On the Bailout, Part 28)

Note for Public Policy going forward:
If a business enterprise (public, private or GSE) is or becomes Too Big To Fail, then it needs to be broken apart into smaller components.
If this can’t be done under current anti-trust legislation, then new legislation is needed to support this – perhaps in a mostly pre-canned way.

On the Goals – US Auto Industry Bailout Notes No. 1

Goals
1) Re-establish and maintain going forward a viable domestic US auto industry capability that can successfully compete domestically and globally.
2) Minimize the net disruption to the US economy while transitioning and recovering.
Goal #1 Implies:
- products that consumers want to buy- reasonable profitability above the cost of capital- private ownership- robust product development and R&D- efficient [...]

“Monetize the TARP” (On the Bailout, Part 27)

What a fascinating idea from Ray Hennessey!

What’s the best way for the government to exit these investments and give back the money (and interest) to the taxpayers?
Here’s a thought: Make it a big closed-end fund and sell the shares to the public. That’s right. Make TARP the biggest-ever initial public offering.
Already, TARP will have the [...]

Good News: “Treasury Secretary Paulson Says Government Won’t Buy Troubled Assets” (On the Bailout, Part 25)

This is good news!

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that original plan to purchase distressed mortgage assets from Wall Street firms is not the best use of the $700 billion financial rescue package, and officials will now focus on direct capital injections into the struggling financial firms.
I always preferred something like secured loans (along with [...]

On the Bailout, Part 24: Rewarding the wrong people at taxpayer expense

I found this via TDAXP:

Have you been paying your mortgage? Then it sucks to be you
Read it and the discussion and be pissed off like me:

GRRRR!!!!! How about for $400, me and a few buddies rough them up and shove a copy of Personal Finance for Dummies up there….well I digress.
The essentials: USGOV will pay [...]