Washington Post (November 25)
The Iran nuclear talks have been extended, which may prove a good thing. The talks resemble “a labor negotiation in which it’s too costly for workers to go on strike or for management to impose a lockout, so the two sides continue without a contract while negotiations proceed.” Whether this will ultimately lead to success, however, will largely depend on whether Iran decides to be a nation or a cause, pragmatic or zealous.
The Economist (November 22)
It has become fashionable to praise long-termism and deplore the corrosive influences of short-termism, but this is simplistic. “Long-termism and short-termism both have their virtues and vices—and these depend on context. Long-termism works well in stable industries that reward incremental innovation.” In other businesses, however, long-termism “is a recipe for failure” and success goes to those who can constantly “abandon their plans and ‘pivot’ to a new strategy, in markets that can change in the blink of an eye.”
Tags: Failure, Incremental innovation, Long-termism, Markets, Pivot, Short-termism, Stable industries, Strategy, Success
Financial Times (March 27)
Abenomics “has been judged a qualified success but there are concerns the effort will peter out.” The upcoming consumption tax increase ranks high among these and an even more fundamental concern, that higher inflation would make the government’s debt burden unsustainable, remains untested. If the latter holds true, however, “it is precisely when Abenomics reaches its stated aim that it will begin to unravel.”
Tags: Abenomics, Concerns, Consumption tax, Government, Inflation, Success, Unsustainable
Washington Post (January 4, 2014)
On January 31, Ben Bernanke’s term as chairman of the Federal Reserve will come to an end as Janet Yellen’s begins. “Americans have been uneasy about central banks since the days of Thomas Jefferson and Jackson. But looking at Bernanke’s record, even the skeptics should grant that the country was lucky to have him when the crisis hit.” Bernanke “may go down as the most radical innovator in the Fed’s history — and one of the most successful.”
Tags: Andrew Jackson, Ben Bernanke, Central banks, Chairman, Crisis, Fed, Innovator, Janet Yellen, Radical, Skeptics, Success, Thomas Jefferson, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (December 16, 2013)
“China’s first lunar probe touched down over the weekend and deployed an endearingly named rover, Jade Rabbit. Congratulations are in order for this space success, all the more so because it was a peaceful exploration mission…. Mankind in general should benefit from more such risk-taking.”
Tags: China, Exploration, Jade Rabbit, Lunar probe, Mankind, Mission, Peaceful, Risk-taking, Rover, Space, Success
The Economist (September 21)
“Nine of the world’s ten most valuable firms are American.” A rising stock market and the euro crisis are partly responsible, but the reasons go deeper. “First, America’s mix of resilience and renewal. Three of its nine biggest firms have their roots in a 16-year period in the late 19th century—Exxon, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. Their durability reflects their powerful corporate cultures. But the country still does creative destruction, too. IBM and Intel have slid down the rankings to be replaced by Apple and Google. Chevron, an energy firm, has gone from a laggard to a world-beater. Success has been anything but parochial. Six of the nine biggest firms sell more abroad than at home.”
Tags: Apple, Chevron, Corporate culture, Creative destruction, Durability, Euro crisis, Exxon, General electric, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Rankings, Stock market, Success, U.S., Value
Forbes (March 25)
The world’s ranks of billionaires has expanded to 1,426 and as a group they are richer than ever. “The impressive increase in the net worth of the world’s billionaires and the fact that there are 200 more of these folks than there were a year ago will have leftists everywhere decrying the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots…. But don’t blame these rich…. The overwhelming majority of these people have moved ahead through meeting the needs and wants of other people, not through inheritances or crony capitalism. Their successes didn’t come at the expense of everyone else. Free-market capitalism is not a zero-sum system.”
Tags: Billionaires, Capitalism, Free market, Have nots, Haves, Inheritance, Success
