Tag Archives: Economics

Lean Inventories Do Not Excuse Failing to Deliver

Posted on November 20, 2009 by John Hunter

Low inventory levels do not mean failing to have products available for customers. Now, if you manufacturing in huge batches and can’t respond to customer feedback then it might mean failure to predict customer demand does mean failure to deliver. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged Customer focus, customer service, Economics, lean management, lean manufacturing, Lean thinking, Process improvement | 2 Comments

How ‘Buy American’ Can Hurt U.S. Firms

Posted on September 16, 2009 by John Hunter

How ‘Buy American’ Can Hurt U.S. Firms Canadian communities angered by perceived American chauvinism have started a Buy Canadian campaign to exclude U.S. bidders from municipal contracts. “If that sticks, well, there goes 25% of my business,” said Mr. Pokorsky. … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Economics, Lean thinking, Systems thinking | Tagged Economics, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Systems thinking, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

Loan Default Rates Continue to Increase

Posted on September 9, 2009 by John Hunter

Chart showing loan default rates for real estate, consumer and agricultural loans for 1998 to 2009 by the Curious Cat Investing Economics Blog, Creative Commons Attribution, data from the Federal Reserve. Default rates on commercial (up another 151 basis points) … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Tagged economic data, Economics, economy | Comments Off

Blame the Road – Not the Person

Posted on August 19, 2009 by John Hunter

The system is responsible for 90, 92, 94, 97% of problems – W. Edwards Deming. Fix the system, don’t blame the people. When you seek system fixes you approach situations differently than if you search for people to blame. By … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Deming, Economics, Health care, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged Creativity, Deming, Economics, Health care, health care system, Innovation, Systems thinking | 5 Comments

CEOs Want Health-Care Reform

Posted on May 28, 2009 by John Hunter

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 Deming, Economics, government, Health care, health care system, leadership | 6 Comments

Why Congress Won’t Investigate Wall Street

Posted on April 30, 2009 by John Hunter

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 Economics, ethics, government, Public Sector, regulation | 2 Comments

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

Posted on March 16, 2009 by John Hunter

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 →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Health care | Tagged economic data, Economics, Health care | Comments Off

Looting: Bankruptcy for Profit

Posted on December 19, 2008 by John Hunter

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 Economics, ethics, executive pay, overpaid executives | 7 Comments

Big Failed Three, Meet the Successful Eight

Posted on December 15, 2008 by John Hunter

Big Three, Meet the “Little Eight” The 1,300-acre plant, in which Toyota has invested $5.3 billion, produces a car roughly every minute. Georgetown’s population has doubled. In fields where farmers once grew tobacco and raised cattle, McMansions, apartment complexes, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged cars, commentary, Economics, Manufacturing, Respect, Toyota | 1 Comment

Thanksgiving: Micro-financing Entrepreneurs

Posted on November 28, 2008 by John Hunter

This is a post from my Curious Cat Investing and Economics Blog. For me, giving back to others is part of my personal financial plan. As I have said most people that are actually able to read this are financially … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Respect | Tagged charity, Economics, respect for people | 3 Comments