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August 24, 2005
implementing effectively anything
(On Google's trajectory towards IBM-ness or Microsoft-ness)
In the 1990's, he said, I.B.M. was widely perceived in Silicon Valley
as a "gentle giant" that was easy to partner with while Microsoft was
perceived as an "extraordinarily fearsome, competitive company wanting
to be in as many businesses as possible and with the engineering
talent capable of implementing effectively anything."
--- Joe Kraus, a founder of the 1990's search firm Excite.
cf capable of implementing anything effective.
Posted by omor at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2005
Bubble after bubble (Steven Roach)
Bubble after bubble has since percolated to the surface during this
period of extraordinary monetary accommodation -- especially in a
multitude of fixed income products (i.e., Treasuries, investment-grade
corporates, high-yield bonds, emerging market debt, and a host of
credit instruments). With overnight money basically free in real
terms, the “carry trade” was a no-brainer -- investors and speculators
alike could pocket the spread anywhere on the yield curve. This
created an artificial demand for fixed income securities that was
quick to take on bubble-like implications of its own.
Out of this same mania, the property bubble was borne. Behavioral
economics tells us the American consumer should have been decimated
once the equity bubble popped in 2000 -- the pain of loss should have
been far greater than the ecstasy of gain. But US households never
skipped a beat. House price inflation took over where the equity
bubble left off, and the Fed’s post-bubble rescue plan facilitated the
greatest bonanza of them all -- a massive wave of home mortgage
refinancing that became a powerful supplement for an income-short US
consumer.
The home became the cash machine -- the manna from heaven
that drew its sustenance from rock-bottom interest rates. And it
became contagious -- as most bubbles do. The more consumers succeeded
in extracting purchasing power from their assets, the greater the
demand for the asset. Once borne out of a legitimate effort at
post-bubble life-style defense, the asset-based consumption mindset
took on a life of its own. Like the carry trade in fixed income, this
phenomenon created an artificial demand for the underlying asset. We
now call it a property bubble.
-- Steven Roach (Morgan Stanley)
Posted by omor at 02:54 AM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2005
Grudging admiration for Robert Novak
CNN had launched a revolution in cable news, but it was
struggling to compete in the world of political commentary,
and network executives jumped at the chance to put one of
the country's most prominent—and pugnacious—conservative
pundits at the heart of their lineup.
Novak had heart.
Novak did not disappoint: On the Thanksgiving broadcast of his
new program, “The Capital Gang,” he complained that his holiday
dinner had been ruined by the sight of so many homeless people on
television.
Via Washingtonmonthly ( * )
Posted by omor at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2005
Market for uncomfortable truth
The argument that competition increases polarization assumes that
liberals want to read liberal newspapers and conservatives
conservative ones. Natural as that assumption is, it conflicts with
one of the points on which left and right agree - that people consume
news and opinion in order to become well informed about public issues.
Were this true, liberals would read conservative newspapers, and
conservatives liberal newspapers, just as scientists test their
hypotheses by confronting them with data that may refute them. But
that is not how ordinary people (or, for that matter, scientists)
approach political and social issues. The issues are too numerous,
uncertain and complex, and the benefit to an individual of becoming
well informed about them too slight, to invite sustained,
disinterested attention. Moreover, people don't like being in a state
of doubt, so they look for information that will support rather than
undermine their existing beliefs. They're also uncomfortable seeing
their beliefs challenged on issues that are bound up with their
economic welfare, physical safety or religious and moral views.
Posted by omor at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2005
jumpy and nervous
Chrenkoff explains how many are jumpy and nervous.
Posted by omor at 02:51 AM | Comments (0)