Prohibition was repealed long ago, of course.   President Franklin Delano Roosevelt found it convenient to reintroduce booze into American popular culture for two reasons.  First, it won him votes.  Secondly, it brought in a windfall of tax revenues at a time when they were sorely needed.

With all levels of government — federal, state, and local — facing varying levels of fiscal crisis, and with faith in our elected representatives at a level so low as to border on outright contempt, might this move from FDR’s playbook be worth a look? Read the rest of this entry »

The National Center for Health Statistics released birth data for 2008, and to the surprise of some, births acutally fell compared to 2007 — by 68,000.   The New York Times writes, “In 2007, the number of births in the United States broke a 50-year-old record high, set during the baby boom.  But last year, births began to decline nationwide, by nearly 2 percent, according to provisional figures released last week.”

Interestingly, the birth rate shrank the most in the states hardest hit by the recession — California, Florida, and Arizona — giving credence to the belief that the decline was due to the bad economy.  After all, what would-be parent would want to have a baby knowing that they might lose their job…or home!

We agree with this analysis, though we would add one important caveat: don’t forget demographics! Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Economist covered several themes that we ourselves have been covering for the past several months, but we thought we’d start with this gem of a quote:

“The public is scared and uncertain; the politicians are panicky and confused. They are leading each other around and down a worrying spiral of ignorance.”  From “The Spiral of Ignorance”

This certainly seems to be the view of the market.  With the government reluctantly tiptoeing its way into a de facto nationalization of the banking system, the message being sent is one of uncertainty.  And the market hates uncertainty. 

Read the rest of this entry »

The Economist had some interesting comments on managing the careers of that young, self-absorbed generation we call the Echo Boomers. For Baby Boomer or Generation X managers, dealing with a generation of employees that was raised to believe that “everyone is above average and we’re all winners” can be a bit of a challenge. As the Economist writes,

“Managing the Facebookers”
Dec 30th 2008

Their defenders say they are motivated, versatile workers who are just what companies need in these difficult times. To others, however, the members of “Generation Y”—those born in the 1980s and 1990s, otherwise known as Millennials or the Net Generation [or Echo Boomers]—are spoiled, narcissistic layabouts who cannot spell and waste too much time on instant messaging and Facebook. Ah, reply the Net Geners, but all that messing around online proves that we are computer-literate multitaskers who are adept users of online collaborative tools, and natural team players. And, while you are on the subject of me, I need a month’s sabbatical to recalibrate my personal goals.
Read the rest of this entry »