Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Interactive | State of Working America

Interactive | State of Working America

When income grows, who gains?


When income grows, who gains?

Source: The data come from this table: http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~saez/TabFig2008.xls

on Emmanuel Saez’s website at University of California, Berkeley. Methodology

Norton's comment: Try this chart on the website. Notice the the income disparity get worse as you move the bar forward from 1917 to the present!  This is no accident.  It is a reflection of Democracy being hijacked, of the already rich getting richer; i.e., the Wall street financiers, brokerage firms and banks. Then when WE bailed them out we gave more money to the people who were most responsible for the melt down.  And did they make loans MORE available to the working class? No, they continued the derivativeness investment game that got us in the mess. Now, the diversion is to blame union workers, teachers and public servants for it by laying them off and battling the Unions and right to work laws.  This is to keep the public off balance so we do not think to hold the real people responsible, throw them out! Ugh!

Across the Generations in the Workplace - new creativity and calm



by Anne Houlihan

"Put a group of strangers together, ask them to work side-by-side in the same building or office for eight or more hours each day, and you're bound to have some conflict. And when that group of people contains people from differing generations, all with different values and views of the world, the amount of conflict your office experiences can greatly multiply.
Managing and motivating a diverse workforce can certainly be challenging. As more and more people from the youngest generation enter the workforce and work alongside the most senior employees, many managers are learning that a one-size-fits-all management style simply does not exist. That's because each of the four generations now working side-by-side bring unique viewpoints to the table and let generation specific values guide their daily actions.
If you want to effectively lead your staff despite any generational differences and encourage others to learn from the diversity of the group, then consider the following guidelines..."

Credits:
By Anne Houlihan
Anne Houlihan is President of Satori Seal, where she tripled revenues in one year and increased profits 140% with her innovative budgeting and leadership techniques. Anne combines more than 25 years of hands-on corporate experience and coaching to help companies of all sizes. With her speaking and consulting, she helps improve management techniques, empower employees to be decision-makers, bridge the generational gap and overcome adversity. For more information on her speaking and consulting, go towww.goldenkeyleadership.com or call 951-235-5405.

This article appeared in Supervision a publication of the  National Research Bureau.  Used by permission of the author. (Thank you Anne!)

Norton's comment: Please see my website offering help for seniors aging at home at www.LifeinBalance-consulting.com

The Media's Role in Constructing Generational Labels

The Media's Role in Constructing Generational Labels:
"In her excellent article 'Generational Identity and Memory in American Newsmagazines,' Carolyn Kitch describes the role the media plays in constructing generational labels. One paragraph in particular caught our eye in light of the recent 60 Minutes piece on the Millennials (Gen Y):


“A fourth similarity in each generational narrative is the progression of its tone from negative to positive This has nothing to do with whether or not a group is actually ‘new’ in American culture when it is first named: in the late 1990’s, the Greatest Generation was hardly a new phenomenon as a cohesive social group, nor was the Baby Boom by the time the oldest members turned 40 in the 1980’s. Each generation has been portrayed first as problematic (part of the journalistic ‘surprise’ at its discovery) and then, increasingly, as more acceptable and admirable. The common storyline begins with each group’s selfishness or irresponsibility and its inexplicability to other generations. Then its image improves, as subsequent coverage discusses the generation’s achievements, character, and merit. Those positive qualities, however, are described as ‘different’ than the qualities of the immediately preceding generations, allowing novelty to remain part of the story.”

To what extent does the media affect our thoughts about other generations?...
"



Norton's Comment: Even forward thinking employers often miss the potential benefits of having multiple generations working together. In a collaborative and team oriented work environment this mix of generations can prove to be both a calming influence and foster more creative solutions for roadblocks to sales growth and product innovations.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Leading Indicator: Baltic Dry Index



Yes, notice the little red dot at 1.47 ! today it dropped 99 PERCENT TO 1.47 FROM 1500 !

The Most Important Chart No One is Talking About | Daily Trade Alert

The Most Important Chart No One is Talking About | Daily Trade Alert: "You can see this trend in the two-year performance chart below. It charts the performance of the benchmark commodity index (black line) against the benchmark U.S. stock index (blue line). You’ll note both asset classes sport nearly identical returns… and similar ups and downs. We highlight this trend again because it’s an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind when constructing an investment portfoilio."

The message?

So building a portfolio profile must include investments that are a hedge against a broad market crash.

Consider this chart:coming

How the "American System" Was Corrupted and Destroyed

DailyWealth | Investment Newsletter, Advisory & Investment Analysis: "This Is How the 'American System' Was Corrupted and Destroyed
By Porter Stansberry with Braden Copeland Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Who is the world's most influential investor?
 
Most people would say Warren Buffett. He is a living legend – probably the most successful investor in history. He is the CEO, chairman, and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, which controls more than $60 billion of publicly traded stocks and holds total assets of around $370 billion....

hat all changed in August 1971. Rather than cut the government's spending and raise interest rates to slow demands from our trading partners for bullion, President Nixon took us off the gold standard. From that point, our creditors had no legal claim to our gold reserves. And the banking system had nothing but the Federal Reserve to limit the creation of additional credit and money.

You can see what happened next in the chart below...

Monday, March 21, 2011

It Started With 'No Child Left Behind' - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

It Started With 'No Child Left Behind' - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com: "Although politicians and corporate leaders claim they want to reform education, it is impossible to see how the campaign against teachers will advance that goal. No high-performing nation in the world is reducing the status and rights of the teaching profession."

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Our school system teaches virtually nothing about money !

RICH DAD ROBERT KIYOSAKI BLOG: "TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2011

Our school system teaches virtually nothing about money

Robert Kiyosaki :
Robert Kiyosaki: ..... it is a value system, and it's something we learn as kids. So that's what 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens' is about because our school system teaches virtually nothing about money. Why, I don't know. I studied calculus for two years at school, and I never use calculus. But whether we're rich or poor or stupid, we're all going to use money. But our school system seems to treat money the way my poor dad treated money--was that money was an instrument of evil, it corrupted you and made you greedy, so they just didn't talk about money."

International Comparison of Math, Reading, and Science Skills Among 15-Year-Olds

Read more: International Comparison of Math, Reading, and Science Skills Among 15-Year-Olds — Infoplease.com

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Unanticipated Consequences of MERS

New Economic Perspectives: The Unanticipated Consequences of MERS: "MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) sought to privatize key aspects of the public title system. The primary purpose was to avoid recordation fees when interests in real property were assigned or transferred. MERS' founders read like a who's who of the entities who caused the recent financial crisis, so some scholars view its creation as an example of a private sector action intended to harm the public. This column assumes that MERS' harms were, originally, unintended. It focuses on the insanity – from the standpoint of honest lenders and investors – of MERS' devastation of a public system of recordation that had served business, particularly lenders and investors, brilliantly.

MERS' problems are legion, but .......more

"

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Did You Notice This Change in the U.S. Dollar?

Did You Notice This Change in the U.S. Dollar?
Did You Notice This Change in the U.S. Dollar?
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Did you notice the U.S. dollar changed in the last few weeks?

I don't mean that it changed colors, has new security features, or has different words.

I mean something far more important... I'm talking about the way the U.S. dollar acts in the world.

You see, in the past, without fail, the U.S. dollar has been what the Big Money runs to in a crisis. Always.

Always, that is, until this latest crisis in the Middle East. In this crisis, the dollar is down.

Let's figure out what's going on here...

Let me explain why the Big Money has historically run to dollars first... And then we'll consider why the Big Money might not do that in the future... starting with this current crisis.

It's a subtle change in the world. But if it's true, the implications are quite serious... If foreigners don't want dollars in a crisis, when do they want them?....."