Category Archives: Economics

CEOs Want Health-Care Reform

Decades ago Dr. Deming emphasized the deadly disease of excessive health care costs in the USA. Since then, year after year, the situation has become worse (reaching $2.2 trillion in spending in 2007 – 16.2% of GDP). During that time … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Economics, Health care | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Google’s Innovative Use of Economics

Secret of Googlenomics: Data-Fueled Recipe Brews Profitability Google depends on economic principles to hone what has become the search engine of choice for more than 60 percent of all Internet surfers, and the company uses auction theory to grease the … Continue reading

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Toyota Posts Loss of $6.9 Billion in Last Quarter

Toyota Posts Loss of $6.9 Billion in Last Quarter For January-March, Toyota booked a $6.9 billion loss, in line with consensus estimates, and cut its annual dividend nearly 30 percent — the first cut since at least 1994, when it … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Investing, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Why Congress Won’t Investigate Wall Street

Why Congress Won’t Investigate Wall Street The famous Pecora Commission of 1933 and 1934 was one of the most successful congressional investigations of all time, an instance when oversight worked exactly as it should. The subject was the massively corrupt … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Another Year of CEO’s Taking Hugely Excessive Pay

I continue to do my part to publicize the abusive CEO pay packages that the current crop of unethical CEO’s, and those sitting on corporate boards have supported (Tilting at Ludicrous CEO Pay 2008 – 2007 post on CEO pay … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Management, Management Articles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

USA Spent $2.2 Trillion or $7,421 Per Person on Health Care in 2007

Health spending in the United States grew 6.1 percent in 2007, to $2.2 trillion or $7,421 per person. For comparison the total GDP per person in China is $6,100. This continues the trend of health care spending taking an every … Continue reading

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Community Banks Ask Why They Must Pay for Wall Street Greed

Minnesota Bank Asks Why It Pays for Wall Street Greed TCF is among more than 8,300 banks and lenders insured by the FDIC facing increased fees and a one-time “emergency” charge designed to raise $27 billion this year for the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Warren Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders 2009

Warren Buffett published his letter to shareholders yesterday. As usual, it is of great interest to anyone interested in the economic, investing and management ideas. In 1995, MidAmerican became the major provider of electricity in Iowa. By judicious planning and … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Economics, Investing, Management, Respect | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Cost Cutting is Much Different than Waste Removal

Cost Cutting is Much Different than Waste Removal by Jim Womack The very last thing to consider is the one thing managers seem to embrace most readily: cost cutting. This means leaving out steps and features that actually create value … Continue reading

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Looting: Bankruptcy for Profit

Looting: The Economic Underworld of Bankruptcy for Profit by George Akerlof, University of California, Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Paul Romer, Stanford Graduate School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). George Akerlof was awarded the … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Economics, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments