Description: Long-range forecasts suggest a decline in the unemployment rate due to a number of aging workers leaving the workforce. While this is good overall for the economy, let’s consider it from the standpoint of individual companies.   Source: J. Lahart, “Aging Population Eases Jobless Rate,” Wall Street Journal Date: November 4, 2011 Article Link:… Read more »

Description: Conventional baseball wisdom holds that teams leading their divisions on Labor Day make the playoffs. The St. Louis Cardinals were not leading the National League Central nor were they even in contention for the wildcard. Yet today the Cardinals are world champions, completing improbable comebacks to gain a playoff berth and then advance through… Read more »

Description: Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner is an engineering marvel, but is also seen as the future of affordable luxury. Source: B. Mutzabaugh, “First Dreamliner Passengers Sing New Jet’s Praises,” USA Today Date: October 27, 2011 Link: http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011-10-27/First-Dreamliner-passengers-sing-new-jets-praises/50963896/1 Questions for discussion: The Boeing 787 is a technological marvel. What type of manufacturing technology does Boeing utilize?… Read more »

Description: Weeks of disruptions by union employees resulted in a decision by Qantas Airlines to ground all flights and lock out workers. The Australian government held an emergency hearing to consider whether to order the airline to resume flights. Source: Associated Press, “Qantas Airlines Grounds Global Fleet in Employee Lockout, Says Strikes Are ‘Crisis’ for… Read more »

Description: It is that time of year again – when people want to be scared to death and will pay for the experience. Source: L. Petrecca, “Economy Doesn’t Keep Visitors From Haunted Houses,” USA Today Date: October 19, 2011 Link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/story/2011-10-17/halloween-haunted-houses/50806578/1 Questions for discussion: The concept of the haunted house has been around for decades…. Read more »

Description: Tim Tebow’s storied collegiate career has yet to propel him to stardom in the National Football League, but when he starts, he wins – in dramatic fashion. For Video: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7141158 Source: ESPN.com Date: October 23, 2011 Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=311023015 Questions for discussion: The jeering crowd seemed to believe that Tim Tebow was incapable of performing… Read more »

Description: New dot com startup TaskRabbit seeks to provide safe, reliable help (for any circumstance) to customers in need of assistance. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Source: FoxNews.com (Business Section) Date: October 15, 2011 Link: http://video.foxnews.com/v/1219460049001/new-website-aims-to-make-life-easier/ Company website: http://www.taskrabbit.com/ Questions for discussion: Which leaf of Handy’s Shamrock Organization do workers like Neville Clubwala represent?… Read more »

The annual World Wide Developer Conference is a much anticipated event because it has been the venue of choice for Steve Jobs to announce new offerings by Apple. However, this year’s event has been preceded by carefully timed “leaks” of information indicating that the new announcement by Jobs will relate to the launch of iCloud,… Read more »

It seems the “new China” is where the old China is focused. Africa is the new emerging economy and China appears to have an early foothold in many markets that American companies would like to tap. Some big names – Wal-Mart, Harley-Davidson, and Google – all want a piece of the action. Apparently, similarities between… Read more »

The world-wide recession was driven in large part by numerous failures in two key industries – banking and automotive. In the United States, many of the big players in both industries required substantial bailouts from the Government to survive. On the financial side, J.P. Morgan Chase was considered one of the more stable banks, as… Read more »