Those readers who always keep a spare pair of undies handy, should they find it necessary to get their knickers in a knot, will no doubt find this post deliciously offensive. I want to state at the outset that this is not an argument, or a justification, or an excuse. It is merely an observation, […]
Business
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Exploiting of new technologies for common good
Alan Greenspan observed that, “… New technologies that evolved from the cumulative innovations of the past half-century have now begun to bring about dramatic changes in the way goods and services are produced and in the way they are distributed to final users. Those innovations, exemplified most recently by the multiplying uses of the Internet, […]
Posted inBusiness
Of irrational apathy and exuberance!
In 1996 Alan Greenspan, then the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, when addressing the American Enterprise Institute enquired, “… But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in Japan over the past decade?” Just over a month […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
The 4-Hour Work Week
Sound like a dream? Nope, it’s a book by Timothy Ferriss. And a pretty inspiring one at that. “Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich” it promises. I know what you’re thinking — just another cheesy motivational book. But this one’s a little different. One of my favourite, cheesy, motivational business books, […]
Posted inBusiness
Globalisation and the challenge of needs
The exponential changes in production, distribution of goods across continents, dominance of the world economy over the last thirty years, collapse of beacon institutions of the capitalist world (Bear Stearns, etc) make the analysis of globalisation somewhat of a moving target. This post will clearly not attempt to present a detailed analysis of globalisation — […]
Posted inBusiness
G8 fallout: 3bn people want a go on the roller-coaster
Submitted by Patrick Carmody “Globalisation is making low-impact people into high-impact people faster, in greater numbers, and with greater impacts than at any other time in the history of the world.” — Thomas L Friedman, The World Is Flat Imagine telling a couple of kids that have been patiently waiting in line for the roller-coaster […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
The ANC’s newspaper for people who don’t read newspapers
The easiest way to make a small fortune from newspapers, a wise man once said, is to start with a large fortune. The ANC would do well to keep this advice in mind as it considers a proposal to acquire its own newspaper. Despite the sensational headline in The Times, the so-called “detailed plans” to […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
How have the current tough economic times affected your lifestyle?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: How have the current tough economic times affected your lifestyle?
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
To BEE or not to BEE?
The brouhaha surrounding the Pretoria High Court’s ruling to reclassify South African-born Chinese (pre-1994) as coloured is turning into a “broken telephone” message — ironically, also known as a “Chinese whisper”. When viewed from outside the country, the issue would seem quite farcical, if only it were not so tragic. The nitpicking and mud-slinging that […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Values and the price of capitalism
The recent release of Naspers’ results was marred by a reputation scandal after it was revealed that Paarl Web, a subsidiary of the Cape Town based multinational media company, printed Zanu-PF pamphlets for the Mugabe regime. Read Naspers and the trail of Mugabe’s blood money as well as Mugabe’s man unmasked on MoneyWeb for background. […]
Posted inBusiness
Have you been flogging a dead horse lately?
This really funny bit of Western Wisdom popped up in one of my social bookmarking collections. It’s all about this old wisdom that says when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, this article says that in business or in life generally we often try a myriad […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
The joy of officespeak
Many writers decry office-speak such as “going forward” or “step up to the plate” as “useless” or “irritating”. Let’s celebrate it instead. There are many uses for office-speak, or biz-speak, or buzzwords. “Going forward” has especially come in for criticism as a kind of nervous tick in business speech, a filler phrase without any meaning […]