January 2011
36 posts
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Taxing, Spending, Slowing
Amplify’d from www.bostonherald.comMassachusetts’ economy is slowing down as the national economy is finally showing signs of picking up a little steam.The major Massachusetts slowdown comes as President Obama has embraced Gov. Deval Patrick’s agenda for improving the state economy by focusing on innovation, education and infrastructure improvement.Michael Lynch, an economist at IHS Global Insight...
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Police Officer Challenges Chris Christie About Pay →
“this is the economic reality we live in now”
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The Moral Heart of Economics
Beautifully-written essay on economics, liberty and the public welfare by Harvard economics professor Edward Glaeser.
HT @TimHarfordAmplify’d from economix.blogs.nytimes.comEconomists often present a cold public persona, emphasizing dollars and sense over the rousing rhetoric of moral argument. But by appearing as technocrats who seem concerned only with the bottom line, we allow ourselves to be...
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Contempt for voters, thy name is Kay Khan
I was tempted to say ‘unbelievable’ - but in this state it’s all too believable.
November was how long ago exactly?Amplify’d from www.wickedlocal.com Although voters opted to repeal a year-old sales tax on alcohol, Rep. Kay Khan said Tuesday she has introduced legislation to reinstate the tax, as well as several other tax proposals she said should be part of the state’s...
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Chaffetz calls for FOIA to apply to Fannie,... →
“The American people have a right to know what activities their taxpayer dollars are bailing out”
Damn right they do.
“While the Fed refuses to extract its head from deep within the sand of ignorant...”
– Interactive Map Of Recent Food Riots And Price Hikes | zero hedge (via jnolan)
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Get Out The Scissors -- It's Time to Start Cutting
straight talk and common sense - as usual - from John StosselAmplify’d from stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.comWe heard a lot of flowery, sweeping language last night in the State of the Union. Some grand visions were laid out. President Obama says Americans should get 80% of our electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. He says 80% of Americans should have access to high speed rail within the...
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Is Quora the anti-Demand Media?
I’ve been playing around with the incessantly-hyped Quora now for a few weeks, and continue to find it a not-particularly-enjoyable - and not-particularly-useful - place to spend my time. It’s pretty clear that I’m not the only one who feels that way, yet there are others who aggressively advocate for the site - to the point where debates about Quora have gotten almost as...
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Where Did the Stimulus Go? →
During the recent recession, the U.S. Congress passed two large economic stimulus programs. President Bush’s February 2008 program totaled $152 billion. President Obama’s bill, enacted a year later, was considerably larger at $862 billion. Neither worked.
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Why The MA Legislature Should Not Have Blocked... →
Couldn’t agree more - extraordinarily dumb move. So much for government ‘transparency’.
Advice for the day
from a Canadian oilfield worker I once met… “If you get lost in the cold, find an outhouse. The decomposition creates heat and will keep you warm.”See this Amp at http://bit.ly/ggQtI2
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Unintended cornsequences
Of the many dumb things our government ‘invests’ our tax dollars in, ethanol subsidies are among the dumbest.Amplify’d from www.wallstreetjournal.comThe global economy is getting back on its feet, but so too is an old enemy: food inflation. The United Nations benchmark index hit a record high last month, raising fears of shortages and higher prices that will hit poor countries...
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Amazon Throws LivingSocial A Big Bone - and Throws... →
When I first heard that Amazon & LivingSocial are, in effect, giving away money, the first thought that came to mind was ‘BUBBLE’.
Which may very well be the case, but it’s also a very aggressive and potentially brilliant marketing move. The cost of customer acquisition almost always makes the first sale for any company - particularly in a market as competitive and...
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Koch defends Palin
Exactly.Amplify’d from www.realclearpolitics.comAs I see it, in the current battle for public opinion Sarah Palin has defeated her harsh and unfair critics.Why do I defend Palin in this case? I don’t agree with her political philosophy: She is an arch conservative. I am a liberal with sanity. I know that I am setting myself up for attack when I ask, why did Emile Zola defend Dreyfus? ...
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Budget Crisis Rhetoric
Must-read from Thomas SowellAmplify’d from townhall.comPolitics being what it is, we are sure to hear all sorts of doomsday rhetoric at the thought of cutbacks in government spending. The poor will be starving in the streets, to hear the politicians and the media tell it. But the amount of money it would take to keep the poor from starving in the streets is chump change compared to how much it...
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“People so love their devices from Apple that they... →
Ouch
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Let's see your iPhone do this →
One of the criticisms of Android has been that, by giving it away, Google ‘loses control’ of how it’s deployed.
Yes, that’s an issue when one thinks narrowly of phones - allowing the carriers to ‘customize’ (i.e. lobotomize) the OS can impose unwelcome restrictions - and costs - on customers.
But here’s the flip side - new kinds of applications on all...
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"a virulent inflation will occur after the votes...
When you’re paying $10 for a gallon of milk or gas after the 2012 election, you can thank Ben Bernanke & the Fed and their current battle against ‘deflation’.
In other words, “Ben, just make it look like we’re recovering and get me re-elected”Amplify’d from www.investors.comAs the media look for signs the economy is heating up — and whether a recovery will...
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A VC: Skip The Water →
Great read - and a must-read for entrepreneurs
Don't Mind Me, I'm Just Raising our Debt Ceiling
via townhall.com
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Inflation's not a problem, as long as you don't...
Our government continues to devalue the US dollar using the blatant lie that ‘deflation’ is our problem.
INflation - and devaluation - helps the government deal with its giant deficit (since that is valued in dollars too), but the effect on We the People isn’t nearly so pleasant.
It may be time to toilet paper Bernanke’s house - while we can still afford it.Amplify’d...
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Green Jobs - in China
$58.5 million of taxpayer money handed over in 2008
800 layoffs yesterday.
Industrial Policy FTL. Nice ‘investment’ governor.Amplify’d from www.boston.comEvergreen Solar Inc., which received $58 million in state aid to open a factory in 2008 at the former military base in Devens, announced today it would shut the plant and let go 800 workers by the end of this quarter.The company...
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Narcissism isn't a killer app, but curation might...
I’ll fully admit that when I first became aware of Paper.li, I dismissed it. I didn’t see any value in the ‘Chris Selland Daily’ BUT then as I noticed how my friend Barb French uses their product (http://paper.li/bfr3nch/think-influence) I decided to do the same for some of my own curated lists.
Specifically, I built ‘papers’ for:
* Cloud Computing &...
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Buckle Up for Round 2
So much for ‘deficit reduction’ - but out of this will come a better, if not perfect, solution.Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com
The health care reform law was signed 10 months ago, and what’s striking now is how vulnerable it looks. Several threats have emerged — some of them scarcely discussed before passage — that together or alone could seriously endanger the new system. These...
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don't validate the madness
Must-read editorial in today’s WSJ.Amplify’d from www.wallstreetjournal.comOn all available evidence, Jared Lee Loughner is a mentally disturbed man who targeted Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and anyone near her in Tucson on Saturday because she was prominent and they were tragically accessible. He joins Sirhan Sirhan, John Hinckley Jr. and many others whose derangement led them to...
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Cwora (ht @mkrigsman) →
“A continually spamming collection of unanswered questions
created, edited and organised by no-one who uses it.”
Very funny stuff…
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Of Facebook and Goldman Sachs - Both Too Big To... →
brilliant post from my fellow Enterprise Irregular Anshu Sharma - spot on
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Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior (HT @pkedrosky) →
generally speaking, I’m a believer in rigor & discipline - but this still has me speechless
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Social Marketing Hangover - @pgillin gives some...
Among the social media cognescenti, Paul Gillin stands out for his clear thinking, and for asking the questions that need to be asked.
Great piece on the Social ‘hangover’ - which echoes numerous conversations I’ve had with clients and other companies over the past few months.
As I mentioned in my comments, I question whether the Marketing department should be the place where...
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Why Are Taxpayers Subsidizing Facebook, and the...
Why indeed? I have no issue with Goldman risking its own capital - or its shareholders or clients - but the fact that it is risking taxpayer dollars - even indirectly - is infuriating.
Thanks to James Governor at RedMonk for the link.Amplify’d from economix.blogs.nytimes.comGoldman Sachs is investing $450 million of its own money in Facebook, at a valuation that implies the social-networking...
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The New Congress
exciting indeed - we should all hope it lastsAmplify’d from stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.comIt’s very exciting to hear so many new Congressmen talking about “free markets” and “free enterprise.”I’m skeptical about how they will vote once the media smears them as “cold-hearted” and their own funders say “you can’t cut that,” but at least they now use the words “free market.” I never used to...
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The Inequality That Matters →
Lengthy but worthwhile read on income inequality. As the essay makes clear, bailouts are the problem - not the solution.
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Facebook’s $50 Billion Valuation: That Sounds... →
Good stuff from my fellow independent analyst bud Dr. Disruptive a/k/a Jonathan Yarmis - puts the valuation conversation in perspective. Well done.
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"The Rational Optimist" looks like a must-read
Looks like a great read - engaging in some trade and buying this today. As I posted last week, I am also an optimist and believe mankind will find a way to overcome, despite the many ‘parasites’ we are currently saddled with.Amplify’d from www.realclearmarkets.comIt’s easy to get discouraged watching the fiscal slow motion train wreck consuming most western democracies. Will...
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ChromeOS is a Very Big Deal - @cwood on $GOOG
Charlie Wood is one of the smartest guys I know - read his excellent post on Google’s ChromeOS. Aside from us geeks ChromeOS isn’t on many consumers’ radar screens right now, but expect that to change over the next few months.
Now if Google would just send me a Cr-48…Amplify’d from www.globelogger.comSo imagine a group of very clever people sitting down with a blank...
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Enterprise Cloud Adoption - is 2011 'the year'?
I agree with most of the points and the fundamental premise of this article. Enterprise cloud adoption is clearly on the rise - I don’t know whether 2011 is (or 2010 was) ‘the year’ that we reach the tipping point, but the trend is, as this piece says, undeniable.Amplify’d from techcrunch.comThe cloud has tipped for the enterpriseIDC forecasts that worldwide IT spending will...