Here's a quick update on the risk of recession. The Wall Street Journal's survey of economists shows the risk of recession is believed to be about one chance in four, down from one chance in …
Fortune has a good article profiling the agricultural processor Cargill. I can't help but to note the hubris in vice-chairman Paul Conway's statement: "As far as how our corporate strategy works we don't say, 'We …
The European financial crisis has sent jitters around the world. For corporate financial managers in the United States the crisis raises questions about the availability of credit for mergers and acquisitions, operating lines and other …
People are asking about measures of income inequality, so I left my camp in Occupy Lake Oswego to gather some information for you. A good summary of what we know is in this article from …
Analytics are essential to corporate profits today. (My past comments on this include a review of Competing on Analytics, a link to Thornton May's comments on analytics, and my own thoughts on the growing need …
A number of us economists are very worried about the prospects of recession. Most of us are not actually forecasting a recession, but on average we figure the odds are about 30 percent that we’ll …
The greatest risk to the United States economy right now is a recession triggered by the European financial crisis. Even though my best estimate is that we will avoid a recession, the risk is certainly …
Mother Jones has a cool chart of bank mergers explaining how the big four banks (Citi, Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) got where they are. (Click on chart for larger image.) Consolidation has …
I'l be speaking to a class of MBA students this afternoon, and I'll begin by posing the following question: You're CEO. Your division heads are preparing budgets and plans for 2012. You gave them guidance …
There's more talk about a new recession these days, even though nobody feels like we have fully recovered from the last recession. Goldman Sachs apparently says the probability of another recession is 40%. The Economic …
It's hard to be optimistic about the economy, and my own economic forecast is fairly conservative. I look for optimists, but can't find any. The closest thing I've found is three contributors to The Wall …
Dave Spaulding had an idea so good that I wish I had thought of it myself. I was briefing the directors and senior executives of Red Canoe Credit Union at the beginning of their strategic …