THE ENTERPRISE—OBSERVATIONS OF THE SCENE
Note: I am not emailing this directly to regular subscribers due to a technical issue with the Comcast email here in FL. I have Webmail email access, but my regular Apple Mail system (where the Address Lists reside) cannot be used to send from here.
BREAKING NEWS: KEITH OLBERMANN IS OUT AT MSNBC
How sad [NOT], to lose the leading light of this misguided network. Or, as we used to say, "don't let the door hit you in the A--!" Good riddance to another unqualified big mouth.
DOES A LEOPARD CHANGE ITS SPOTS? IS OBAMA NOW A BUSINESS FRIENDLY CENTRIST?
We used to speak of people who either “walk the talk” or not. Charles Krauthammer coined a great phrase tonight to describe Obama’s recent centrist and seemingly pro-business shifts. When asked if this was a good “start” for Obama’s move to the center, Charles said, “It’s less of a start than a ‘pose’.”
WHEN YOU ARE IN DANGER OF BEING RUN OUT OF TOWN, GET OUT IN FRONT AND PRETEND YOU ARE LEADING A PARADE
This simple phrase describes a wise move and a succinct way to explain Obama’s recent choices for staff (Daley) and counsel (Immelt) from the business community. Nobody in his administration has ever run a business, and few (including Obama himself) understand business more than theoretically or superficially.
AMERICAN MANUFACTURING SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE
Sooner or later, the strong American companies come back to life and reinvest in factories to make products in the USA. Caterpillar, Ford, Whirlpool and Intel are leading this round of US manufacturing expansion. There are many others without the marquee names too who will be expanding US production and employment.
CAN AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS COMPETE WITH ASIANS?
Not so well. Some problems will not go away. Labor rate differences in a range of 10:1 up to 30:1 are hard to overcome, but the real killers are the US’ taxes, socially regulated costs, regulations and unions—all penalties—compared Asian subsidies which provide economic advantages. Together, these factors contribute to creating a US Overhead structure that is nearly impossible to overcome vs. the negligible ones in Asian countries.
LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES WILL DEVELOP--EVENTUALLY
As those countries keep developing, their “overheads” for benefits, environment, safety, etc. will grow, but it will take decades. Meanwhile, clever design and replacing labor with capital (automation and mechanization) and advanced methods such as lean production, and self-directed, empowered teams of employees seem to be the best way to “compete” in manufacturing
SOCIAL MEDIA—THE NEXT “MINE-FIELD” FOR COMPANIES
If you “friend” someone of the opposite sex at work a bit too aggressively, have you committed sexual harassment? Maybe! If you post stories or photos or videos of you misbehaving on personal time, have you damaged your career opportunities or possibly even the reputation of your company? Maybe, probably! Might there be liabilities you could suffer from this kind of action. Sure!
REPUTATION DAMAGE IS IRREVERSIBLE
Could an active life on Facebook or a hyperactive, but ill-advised stream of Tweets on Twitter expose you to reputation damages? Absolutely. Is it “fixable?” NO! And how does your social media presence expose you to identity theft? A lot of ways, since personal content on Facebook might also contain hints to security questions/answers in your private banking life. Conclusion: once you do this—expose your personal life on Facebook—there is no undo, erase or “rewind.” What’s out there stays out there, visible to many, at any time.
UNIONS ARE KILLING AMERICA’S UNION (OF STATES)
Public sector unions have an incestuous relationship with their “bosses.” The “Bosses” are essentially politicians, who must run for reelection every 2, 4 or occasionally 6 years. Union dues, collected from workers are used to fund political campaigns, thus making the politician who gets elected “beholden” to the Unions who supported him/her. Thus negotiations over wage and benefits are not balanced or even in the best interest of the citizens of the state or local government these people are elected to represent. They are slanted to benefit the unions and thus pay and benefits for public union employees have grown and grown and grown, crippling many municipalities—large states and smaller towns or counties. This is a dangerous, unhealthy situation, which must be addressed—and fast. It will be emotional and tough, but it is a ticking time bomb.
JOBS ARE FLOWING TO STATES WITH LOW TAXES AND LOW UNION POWER
Northern industrial strongholds like OH and MI are losing jobs constantly to southern states like AL, MS, and TX where taxes are low, wages are lower and unions are much less prevalent and/or weaker due to Right to Work laws in those places. Nature is at work. Work will flow to the most competitive places, both within the USA and outside the US. Worst of all for American workers, those who have skills and are willing to move to where the jobs are cannot, since they are trapped in homes with “underwater” mortgages or facing a loss of equity on a sale. Thus jobs go unfilled in some places and people remain unemployed in others.
LOTS MORE TO CONSIDER ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN WASHINGTON AND IN OUR ECONOMY—BUT THAT IS FOR NEXT WEEK’S EDITION.
BEST, JOHN
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