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Most recent blog entries
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Jobs and Trade Deficits |
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Russ Henke
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By Russ Henke on
10/9/2007 4:44 PM
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Most economic writers hailed the monthly unemployment report from the Labor Department last Friday October 5, 2007, as evidence that a US recession is now less likely. Net jobs created in September 2007 were a “healthy” 110,000, they gushed. The same writers also seemed pleased that the originally reported loss of 4000 jobs in August, was restated as a net gain for August of 89,000. The stock markets dutifully rose.
However, few writers pointed out the troubling facts behind those numbers. First, as has been mentioned in this blog space before, figures like 100,000 new jobs in a month are far below the levels needed just to take care of the number of people entering the US job market every month from sheer population growth. Indeed, the unemployment “rate” rose in September to 4.7%, the highest in just over a year.
Second, one has to look at exactly what sectors of the US economy are producing the gains. In September, the increases came from services th ...
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Second Singularity Summit |
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Joel Orr
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By Joel Orr on
9/24/2007
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(It's the second summit, not the second singularity.) The singularity is the putative "tipping point" that will occur when the combination of computers and networks get really smart and gain consciousness - whatever that means. The general assumption is that the processes leading to the singularity will include software that modifies and improves itself, and the general consensus is that this will be a development of the area of computation known as "artificial intelligence," or ai.
Now, ai, in its early incarnations, offered such things as "expert systems," "chess programs," "theorem solving," and other stuff that turned out to be difficult to commercialize. Its development continues, but for investors - and hence for startups - we've had an "ai winter" for the last couple of decades or so. To distinguish the magic that could lead to the singularity from that older stuff, proponents are using ...
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Autumnal Equinox – and All Is Not Well |
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Russ Henke
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By Russ Henke on
9/23/2007 5:26 AM
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Did your personal net worth increase by more than $300 million in the last 12 months ending August 31, 2007? No? Then you’re probably no longer eligible for the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans! Indeed, if your net worth is not greater than $1.3 billion, forget it! The collective net worth of America’s 400 richest people rose $290 billion, to $1.54 trillion from $1.25 trillion last year, or a 23.2% increase. What’s that you say? You didn’t even get a 23% raise in the last year?
Wall Street led the charge for wealth creation, despite the stock market problems of recent months. Nearly half of the 45 new members of the list of 400 made their new fortunes in hedge funds and private equity. The youngest member of the Forbes 400 this year is 33-year-old John Arnold, a former Enron trader who now runs hedge fund Centaurus Energy and has now amassed a $1.5 billi ...
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Microsoft Lifecycle repeats IBM’s History |
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Brian Seitz
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By Brian Seitz on
9/21/2007 6:49 AM
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Microsoft appears to be repeating IBM’s history as it goes through its lifecycle. From smart growth, having to learn new rules when you're the dominate player in the industry, appearance of arrogance from the same behavoirs when smaller, alienation of original market and new technology and market model challenges. It maybe Microsoft will continue to follow IBM's history into a major service provider instead of a technology providor role it is known for.
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Follow Up to Past Blog Entries -- September 1 |
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Russ Henke
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By Russ Henke on
9/1/2007 9:20 AM
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Among the many enervating political and economic factors that have emerged in the last six and a half years, is the unmistakable and increasing trend of a rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer US income distribution.
Over the last week, a report was issued by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy that revealed quantitatively what we have known qualitatively for a long time; namely, that chief executives of American companies made an average of $10.8 million in 2006, more than 364 times the average pay of American workers.
Moreover, according to this year's report, CEOs received an average of $1.3 million in pension benefits last year. By contrast, less than 60 percent of US households led by someone aged 45 to 54 had any retirement account at all.
The 20 highest-paid CEOs of US public companies were paid an average of $36.4 million, three times more than the 20 highest-paid European CEOs, and 204 times more than the 20 highest-paid g ...
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Laiserin joins CADALYST editorial staff |
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Joel Orr
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By Joel Orr on
8/28/2007
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Jerry Laiserin, a highly regarded AEC automation consultant, architect, and friend of mine, is taking over the "AEC in Focus" column at CADALYST. That's good news for CADALYST and its readers; Jerry's writing is clear, incisive, and authoritative.
Being around for a long time doesn't necessarily mean you've gotten better at what you do--but in Jerry's case, it does. His wisdom and insights have grown with the length and breadth of his experience. Having heard him speak many times, I've found that he always has something new to say, a fresh angle on the world of AEC automation.
Jerry is a leading proponent of BIM - building information modeling - and it will be interesting to read his views on this and other topics monthly.
Congratulations to Jerry and to CADALYST on this new arrangement!
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Memoirs of a Devil’s Advocate at IBM –Workstations and Space Heaters |
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Brian Seitz
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By Brian Seitz on
8/27/2007 5:25 PM
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Most of the time the term Devil's Advocate has a rather negative connotation inside the corporate walls, a phase used to demean someone that looks at alternative or contrary positions to the majority. However, sometimes having a Devil’s Advocate may be just the thing to prevent disasters in business and government. Centuries ago Roman conquerors would ride through the streets in triumph with a Slave whispering in their ear that fame and glory was fleeting --a message not to take their success to seriously—a Devil’s Advocate roll if you will. Corporations at times have recognized the value of such a roll at times. Below is one such example.
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