Well, as Steve said earlier – we are at it again.
Welcome the the June 5th edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists. Lots of good things to read and plenty of information for everyone.
My special thanks to Brian Gongol who posted the spreadsheet template that we used to create this weeks edition. It has been a crazy week and weekend – without the template, it would have been a very long evening last night.
And… without further ado… the Carnival of the Capitalists.
| Daily Dose of Optimism | Tadawul (Saudi Arabia) Stock Market Crashes; Saudi King Abdullah Plans "Risk-Free Fund" | |
In the past three years, up to nine million Saudis, or half the population, have started playing the market in the conservative desert state, whose strict brand of Islam outlaws standard forms of gambling. They were encouraged by a government which hoped the bourse would enable citizens to share in the economic boom that has come with a rise in world oil prices not seen since the 1970s. It hoped that would help to iron out some of the country's huge disparities of wealth. | |
| Ask Uncle Bill | Taxes Country by Country | |
There will be a lot of debate in the next few years over taxes. Some tax cuts expire in 2010, I think, and two--the 15% tax on capital gains and 15% tax on dividends-- have been extended for at least two years. People get all exercised about taxes with the fat cats not paying their share (actually 5% of the taxpayers pay about 50% of the taxes) or somebody yelling about taxes killing them. | |
| The Boring Made Dull | Doha and Agriculture Subsidies | |
One of the few positive things that can be said about American agricultural policy is that it’s not as bad as Europe’s. So, not only does this toxic mess run up the prices of food around the world, create environmental problems, and generally harm poorer countries who could be exporting food, it now threatens the Doha round on tariff reductions. | |
| Mover Mike | Lawrence Kudlow Wears Rose Colored Glasses | |
Larry Kudlow says Capitalism needs a moral core, and the G-Men are restoring the rule of law and re-moralizing our economic system. | |
| The Business of America Is Business | Terrorism as Economic Warfare | |
Two American academics, James and Brenda Lutz of Purdue University, have recently published a very thoughtful and insightful analysis of the choice of economic targets of terrorist attacks. | |
| Passionate America | Passionate America Joins Wide Awakes Radio | |
Blogging leads to work at home opportunity. I will be hosting my own internet radio talk show. | |
| Big Picture, Small Office | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | |
Big Picture Guy comes down on the side of angels, acknowledging that customers are people. But being people means having certain foibles, like expecting freebies from suppliers. This has led to a couple of uncomfortable situations and unfortunate exchanges. | |
| Purple Motes | Sensory Ecology | |
Lessons from the failure of AT&T's massive investment in PicturePhone in the early 1970s | |
| Personal Finance Advice | Fuel Bank - Hedge On Gas Prices | |
A new gas distibution system will be introduced this fall where you can prepay for your gas at a set price and hedge against higher gas prices in the future. | |
| Kicking Over My Traces | Evaluating Affiliate Ads | |
A method to help in choosing among different affiliate ads for your website. | |
| Crossroads Dispatches | Losing My Mind, Coming to My Senses | |
Looks at a new renaissance of sensual, aesthetic, abundance themes in companies from coffee to chocolate to 'green' architecture. (Ongoing series) | |
| Execupundit | Beware of Good Examples | |
The dangers hidden beneath good performance. | |
| Photon Courier | Coal-Powered Jets: Update | |
Within a few years, you may be flying on airlines whose fuel is derived from coal. | |
| GT | Nonviolent Communication | |
It can be incredibly effective in the pursuit of developing oneself as an Authentic Leader. Institutions would be much healthier and much more fun places to spend time if we could all operate in the ManyOne-ness and communicate on a needs level. | |
| InvestorGeeks | A Progressive take on Dividends | |
Do aggessive companies pay dividends? Frank shows that companies like Progressive Insurance can stay lean and provide a dividend to shareholders. | |
| The Browster Blog | Web 2.0 is Bottom up | |
Web 2.0 is Bottom up. No, not "belly up", bottom up. User generated content is driving the growth. The idea that the users at the perimeter of the web, not the publishers in the center, are really the ones who create the web, blogging being a great example. | |
| Jack Yoest | Bribery as a Cost of Doing Business In Washington, DC | |
In India it's called "Speed Money." In Mexico it's call "Facilitation." In China it's called a "Relationship." In the US of A, it's called a "Bribe." Except in Washington, DC, where it's called "Love." Frank Robinson, an Inspector... | |
| FiveCentNickel | Wire Transfers When Closing on a House | |
Gone are the days when a cashier’s check was essentially treated like cash — while they’re still written against certified funds, there’s been so much fraud in recent years that most banks subject cashier’s checks to the same funds availability rules as plain old personal checks. | |
| Career Intensity Blog - David V. Lorenzo | The Eight-Step Process to Manage Your Emotions | |
The most sound strategic thinkers make decisions based upon a harmonious blend of emotional and intellectual drives. Their passions incite them to act, and their minds guide them in navigating and making solid choices. Neither force overwhelms the other. They exist in peaceful synergy. | |
| SportsBiz | World Cup: The Real Battle is Stripes v. Swoosh | |
The attention of the world will be focused on Germany for the next month as the World Cup gets underway. Adidas and Nike take their marketing battle to a new level as they battle for the largest audience in sports | |
| Patent Baristas | USPTO Biotech Backlog: Bad, Getting Worse, No End in Sight | |
The San Francisco Business Times ran an article reiterating what patent practitioners already know. That is, the increasing backlog at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is bad, it's getting worse and the new set of proposals meant to reduce the waiting time will not provide relief. | |
| In Cash Flow We Trust | Personal Finance Tip: What Do You Need to Let Go Of? | |
I believe we all have something we need to let go of to achieve the next level of financial success. When I was clawing my way up the corporate ladder at Merrill Lynch my partner looked at me one day and said:"Can you clean those things up-they look like hell." I sat there in stunned silence for a moment and looked at my crutches. | |
| Blog Business World | Blogging: The lazy person's way | |
Are you getting lazy about regular posting to your blog? Are you feeling that it's just too time consuming to find topics and then have to develop them into worthwhile ideas? Do you think your time could be better utilized in some other manner than writing yet another blog post? | |
| Coaching4Lesbians | You Can’t Rush a Boiling Egg | |
I find the busier I get, the more I want to make things happen on my time frame. I want to make that 30 minute commute in 20 minutes (all while still doing it at a leisurely pace) when I’m running late. | |
| Econbrowser | M3 or not M3? | |
Econbrowser takes an objective look at the growing urban legend about the money supply measure M3. | |
| Slow Leadership | Start-Up Sanity | |
Advice for entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses (especially start-ups) on how to retain sanity and balance. | |
| The Coyote Within | Common Mistakes in Self-development | |
Adrian Savage lists some common mistakes in setting out on a program of self-development that lead to wasted time and frustration. | |
| Wordlab | Apple Dei | |
Wordlab points to an excellent parody. Is it defensible as a parody of Opus Dei, The Da Vinci Code, or Apple's marketing style? | |
| Jim Logan | Billing For Your Time Is Like Clubbing Your Next Meal | |
Billing for your time is like clubbing your next meal. And the time sheet is a modern version of drawing a picture of the hunt on your wall. Clients are interested in buying results, not your time. | |
| Bizinformer | Just the Facts Maam - Union Facts Part II | |
Ok, I admit it, I am not a union proponent and let me explain why from both an individual point of view and a business owner point of view. | |
| My Financial Awareness | It Is Never Too Late To Save | |
Over the last few years, the discussion has been on how much money we can have if we only save early. In some articles, it talks about how we can be millionaires if we only save $2,000 a year for 5 years from age 21 to 25. The articles go on to discuss how if we save $2,000 from age 36 to 64, the amount saved would be less than ½ at age 65 than what would have been saved if we only saved from age 21 to 25 instead. | |
| Lip-sticking | Look, Dick. See Jane. See Jane Blog. | |
Anyone who thinks women aren't blogging - in droves! - needs to wake up. We're online, in large communities, blogging about -YOU, maybe. Pay attention, we like to share product reviews - both good and bad. | |
| AllFinancialMatters | How Much Can You Save in a Lifetime | |
Life savings calculator. | |
| Searchlight Crusade | Recurring and Nonrecurring Closing Costs | |
Many people are uncertain as to what closing costs are. | |
| voluntaryXchange | ABAnomics | |
When the NBA absorbed the ABA 30 years ago, one owner opted out for a share of the TV revenues. It's a great sports story, but the sportswriters have grossly overstated the profitability of the deal. | |
| Blueprint for Financial Prosperity | Vonage IPO Starts To Get Ugly | |
Vonage sends over Bruno to collect on all its customers who got in on the IPO (and promptly lost a bundle). | |
| Pacesetter Mortgage Blog | Is Traditional Journalism Dead? | |
Will professional businss blog do away with the need of many of our nations journalists? | |
| The Entrepreneurial Mind | Is it Time for the End of the SBA? | |
The SBA is a mess. Outgoing Administrator Hector Barreto is only part of the problem. The very concept of the agency itself is flawed. | |
| Simple Thoughts | Corporate Blogging: Meet Fortune 500 Blogger - Sun’s CEO Jonathan Schwartz | |
Jonathan Schwartz is probably the highest profile individual to blog as CEO of Sun Microsystems, a Fortune 500 company. But that is not what this article is about. It is instructive to note how he leverages his blog to communicate with share-holders and Sun customers. | |
| Business & Technology Reinvention | Planes and Trains | |
The lessons of Enron and Katrina have not been learned. So here's steps your your organization can take to prevent repeating those mistakes. | |
| BOB - Business Opportunities Blog | New Business Idea - Ultimate Kid's Restaurant | |
Every month or so I'm going to try and suggest a new business idea or concept that has yet to be developed. If it's already out there, let me know. If not, try and add to the idea. By the way, feel free to start the business yourself! | |
| Paul's Tips | The easiest way to fool smart people | |
There’s a saying among con-men that smart people are easier targets, because they don’t think they can be conned. | |
| Philosophy, et cetera | Costs and Regulations | |
Let's distinguish two forms of regulation, reflecting the statist vs. Hayekian distinction. One option is to make the undesirable activity illegal. The alternative is to make it costly. More generally, we can regulate activities either by using the blunt instrument of the law, or else by the more subtle manipulation of market forces. I think the latter will often be preferable. | |
| MineThatData | Business Review: Sharper Image | |
A new feature at MineThatData looks at the successes and failures of various businesses. This week, we take a look at Sharper Image. | |
| Free Money Finance | It's Not What You Make, It's What You Spend, Part 437 | |
A couple makes $165,000 a year but is going backwards financially. Just another example of "it's not what you make, it's what you spend." | |
| CaseySoftware | Non-disclosure Agreements | |
This is the first of a two part series about NDA's and some things that are good and bad about them. | |
| David Maister's Passion, People and Principles | Don't Compromise - Take Turns | |
As part of leading discussions on the keys to great business relationships, I often ask seminar participants what they think the keys to great relationships are in personal life. | |
| My 1st Million At 33 | My experience of 100,000% of inflation in 4 years | |
Do you know what it is like to experience an inflation of 100000% in four years? Oh no, I did not mis-type the number of zeros. It’s 100000% or 1000X in four years, or 562% in 1 year, or 1.4% daily. It sounds crazy, but that was in the late 1980, once when I lived in a Latin America country. | |
| InsureBlog | Arrested Development | |
Bob Vineyard asks "does crime pay?" His answer: it sure does if you're sick. | |
| GT | Authentic Leadership | |
What is Authentic Leadership? To answer this question we can start first by answering what it is not. Authentic Leadership is not the behavior most are familiar with in modern day institutional life (business, government, education, etc.) It is not a relentless focus on quarterly earnings. It is not growth by all means necessary. It is not “The business of business is business.” It is not ignorance of human and natural capital. It is not egoism. It is not unilateral decision making. It is not homogeneity or inequity. It is not a short-term focus. It is not borrowing from the unborn to lavish upon the born. It is not classism, hierarchy, dominance, imperialism, exploitation. It is not carrot and stick. It is not fake, phony, disjointed or disintegral. It is not a growing wage gap, an increasingly undereducated population, ideological supremacy or trickle down. It is not my way or the highway. | |
| Stock Market Beat | SAP Only Imitates Oracle’s Bad Moves | |
SAP claims independence when it comes to M&A but follows Oracle down the price-cutting path of doom. | |
| Resistance is futile! | We'd have more money if we were gay | |
Tax breaks for same-sex couples, but not for heterosexuals -- how is that fair? | |
| Servant of Chaos | Ideas are Cheap | |
Ideas are a dime a dozen, the challenge is implementation. What you need is a "Compliant Idea". Is that the sound of a steam train? | |
| New Development Homes Blog | Flipping off plan property and new homes | |
Property speculators place deposits on units before they are built (off plan), with the intention of selling them on at a healthy profit before they have to pay the rest of the purchase price. | |
| Matt Inglot | The Top 5 Points A Venture Capitalist Wants To Hear | |
A list of the top five things venture capitalists look for in a desirable investment. As an entrepreneur you should be hitting every point in your planning even if you don’t intend to seek venture capital, as these are key criteria for an idea that has strong chances of success. | |
| Consumer-Driven Finance | Consumer-Driven Finance 2: Preemptive Strikes Against Medical Debt | |
Consumer-Driven Finance shows how people can bargain and negotiate to get better prices for expensive healthcare services just like everybody else bargains and negotiates to get better prices for things like cars and homes; maybe medicine is more like other economic goods and services than we think! |