Archive for October, 2009

Week of October 26, 2009. What about the Dollar!

Monday, October 26th, 2009

More a more foreign countries, who have traditionally been investors of US Treasury Securities, are expressing concerns about the weakness of the US Dollar in the global marketplace. China and oil producing countries are at the center of the debate and are encouraging international finance authorities to review the effects of the weak US Dollar.

Do you think we will see the Euro replace the US Dollar in international market transactions over the next decade? Why? Or, why not?
What effect can the current US deficit have on the US Dollar?
Why is it important for the US to maintain a strong US Dollar and why are monetary authorities not pursuing a strong US Dollar policy right now?
What kind of effect can a weak Dollar have in the US financial markets and the economic recovery as a whole?

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Week of October 12, 2009. The Future of E-mail Communications.

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

In today’s Wall Street Journal, you can find an article discussing the future of e-mail communications and how social networks are changing the way we communicate with others.

The article, The Email Reign Is Over , begins with the following paragraph:
“Email has had a good run as king of communications, but its reign is over. In its place, a new generation of services is starting to take hold— Twitter, Facebook and countless others. And just as email did, this shift promises to profoundly rewrite the way we communicate—in ways we can only begin to imagine.”

How do you feel about the changes discussed in this article? What kind of impact do you think these changes will have in the business environment? More specifically, in the way firms conduct business with consumers in the United States?

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Week of October 5th, 2009. What kind of business ideas can succeed in a recession?

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Some great ideas on generating long term sustainable economic growth were posted last week. I noticed that most bloggers talked about government intervention, either using fiscal policy or government spending to generate long term economic growth. Let’s assume for this blog that we don’t need to worry about government, taxation, or credit markets. In addition, let’s assume that this economic slowdown will last longer than anticipated. Under these conditions, is it possible to start a profitable business?

If you do a little research, you will find that some of the greatest business ideas were launched during a recession. Remember that solving society’s problems can be profitable! Can you find companies that are doing just that this time around?

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