Archive for May, 2010

No Pain, No Gain

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

The P90X workout, which is extremely tough but creates results, can be seen as the metaphor for the future of financial fitness.

The workout program, created by Tony Horton, has sold more than two million sets of its DVD series, at $119.85 per set. The selling point is that the workout is really, really hard. Some of the comments from those who do the program include: “When I first started the leg workouts, it made me want to puke in the middle”; “It’s awful. It doesn’t matter how many times you do it, it still makes you cry.” (Miami Herald, 5/18/10)

When will individuals and government leaders determine that in order to correct financial excesses (debt and spending), a painful but effective discipline is necessary? And who will be the Tony Horton of the program? One workout attendee, whose shirt was sopping-wet after the strenuous ordeal, proclaimed; “Tony is the man. Tony is the man”. Who will be “the man” (or woman) of financial fitness?

Charles Hess

Posted in Global Economy, State and Local Governments | No Comments »

North Dakota Leads the Way?

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Bank of North Dakota (BND), the only 100 percent state-run bank in the U.S., plows about half of its profits into the state budget and takes cues from the governor, who acts as chairman. The bank spins tax revenues into loans for in-state farmers, students and small-business owners. During the recession, BND has propped up more than 100 privately held community banks and has kept credit flowing to small, local businesses. Washington State has recently proposed its own version, and Hawaii has commissioned a report on doing the same. (Newsweek, 5/3/10)

North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the country and one of the largest budget surpluses. In this economic and political environment, could this state-run bank model spread? Will this unique creation be seen as too “socialist” for the mainstream? What would be the impact on national, regional and community banks?

Eric Zavolinsky

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Posted in Finance, State and Local Governments | No Comments »

Car Hacking

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Cars: just another electronic device subject to the risk of cyber warfare.

Researchers at UCSD and the University of Washington discovered that certain late-model cars with wireless connectivity can be hacked.  The researchers were able to remotely disable the brakes, stop the engine or make other adjustments to cars’ operations.  (New York Times, 5/13/10)

Nissan, believing that there will be great value in marketing cars based on the information they can remotely deliver to drivers, is building a “secret” data center from which it will connect to all of its future cars. Is there a potential for such a network to be maliciously attacked? There may be franchise risk not only in the increase of computerized car components but also in their Internet connectivity.

Michael Hines

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Posted in Cyber War | No Comments »

Labor Getting Crowded Out?

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Companies have gotten lean during the recession, and in many cases that has led to increased profits. Technology has advanced to the point where mobile applications, real-time online collaboration and video conferencing provide inexpensive alternatives to having workers in an office, and the Internet allows companies to easily access brain power across the globe.

Tom Ringo, the head of IBM Human Capital Management (the consultancy arm of the company), said the firm’s global workforce of 390,000 permanent employees could be reduced to 100,000 by 2017, the date by which IBM is due to complete its HR transformation program. Ringo said the firm would employ “crowd- sourcing” and re-hire workers as contractors for specific projects when necessary, adding, “There would be no building costs, no pensions, and no healthcare costs, making huge savings.” An IBM spokesman later said Ringo’s comments were without merit. (Personnel Today, 4/23/10)

Whether IBM actually makes the transition to a mostly crowd-sourced workforce or not, the fact that it has discussed the possibility is significant. The expectation has been that hiring would increase not long after economic growth, but has this recession taught companies new lessons about the merits of lean staffing and the possibilities of technology? Might we see a significant segment of the U.S. labor force become permanent freelancers, doing work on demand?

Eric Zavolinsky

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Posted in Brain Trade, Business Spending, Global Economy, Internet, Tech, Telecom, Media | No Comments »