Palantir

Fixing Budget Deficits -- The Humorist's Solutions!

2011-02-01T04:45:00.000-08:00

Scott Adams on How to Tax the Rich - WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

Try giving them perks and privileges (an extra vote?) in return, says Dilbert creator Scott Adams.

Exam Humor

2011-01-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

Grades are in. The wait is over!

Writing exam questions made me go looking for exam humor!

Online Education: Putting YouTube videos to use

2011-01-16T12:55:00.000-08:00

khanacademy.org has excellent videos for a variety of topics in math (and recently other disciplines). Its a great way to learn/refresh particular topics-- if you prefer to learn from a teacher in place of just reading a text. It was one of the innovations I highlighted in my recent post -- 2010: Higher Education News

I'm highlight two videos for my BUSI681 students who are looking for a quick math refresher:

Slope of a line

Derivatives

Random US Behavioral Statistics

2011-01-16T06:34:00.000-08:00

Some fun facts -- laugh, learn, explore!

My favorite is the comparison of young adults who bowl vs bicycle...

Organizing for Productivity

2011-01-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

I was talking about "The Workforce of the Future" with an engaged group of students today. As we discussed different organization structures for promoting productivity I was reminded of the "Fastest House Contest" in San Diego.

How fast could an average American home be built -- from the ground, not pre-fab, given any amount of skilled labor you want? (caveat: you're allowed fast-setting cement so that won't be your rate limiting step).

I was way off with my estimate. Guess and verify below!

Global Economic History of 200 years in 4 minutes

2011-01-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

Hans Rossling is back with his "sportscaster" videos -- using data from gapminder.org to show trends over time. Well worth the 4 minutes!

What Motivates Us? (Dan Pink's TED Talk)

2011-01-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

As I get ready to teach managerial economics and give some lectures on The Workforce of the Future, I was reminded of Dan Pink's talk on worker motivation. Its contrarian for some, thought-provoking for others, and at least an excellent articulation for leaders who believe in the importance of mission in motivating teams.

2011: Whither Policy?

2011-01-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

As we enter the season of prognostication the mood in US financial markets is bullish, the main street numbers (unemployment) remain bearish, and the US political establishment is decidedly undecided. The central political comprise is an agreement to "kick the can down the road" -- with the responsibility squarely resting on the 2012 electorate. Unfortunately price signals -- arguably the most critical benefit of market economies -- have been severely compromised by the various "bailout" programs of the last couple years.

Will the Fed continue with its (almost) stated intent to manipulate interest rates, asset prices, etc?
Will the global financial regulators continue to bailout senior creditors at the cost of tax payors?
Will political bodies show any appetite for making choices and trade-offs on citizen services/entitlements, tax policy, etc to achieve some degree of sustainability in the medium term?

The bi-partisan Simpson and Bowles commission recommended policy measures that would require all of the above to be addressed -- and perhaps therefore have been largely ignored since their release. The central policy question now is a political one, more than an economic one. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on which direction US economic policy will take in 2011...

2010: The Economic Picture Book

2010-12-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

David Leonhart of the NYT with 6 graphs summarizing 2010 for the US economy.

The Workforce of the Future

2010-12-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

Some student teams in my course last semester presented HR strategies for the future. Its an area of active research and I'll be presenting on the topic in January.

One topic of special interest tends to be "What motivates Gen Y?"
1500 of them express a loud and clear opinion in the McKinsey survey from 2010 -- non-financial factors relating to identity, networks, and personal challenge. Look at the attribute rank to the right -- the financial attributes ranked in the lower half! And this after a couple years of recession with unemployment hitting recent graduates pretty hard. Will these preferences remain as Gen Y gains experience in the workforce?

2010: Higher Education News

2010-12-22T17:44:00.000-08:00

There is significant disruption brewing in the education (particularly higher ed) sector with many technology enabled experiments establishing nascent scale. A mix of instructional technology, customer experience innovation, curriculum innovation, globalization of demand, and new financing are serving as catalysts in the education sector. Will disruptions truly gain momentum in 2011 and hit the steep part of the S-curve? Or will inertia continue forward?

5 trend-makers in the education sector in 2010.

#5. Wharton announces Free lifetime executive education for its graduates -- Actually a week every seven years, but that's a start! Its time we acknowledge the need for "life-long knowledge partnerships" and innovate to deliver an appropriate business model.

#4. Education Finance has been called (by Steve Eisman and others) the next sub-prime sector (similar fraud concerns). 2010 was the year "for-profit-colleges" came in conflict with their usage of government sponsored education loans. The heat and light coming to this issue will hopefully bring the right focus and reform. It's critical to continued progress in universal education.

#3. Short Executive Certificate Programs are combining logistical flexibility and academic rigor to create a different-in-kind experience for executives. Expect a proliferation of certificates, channels, and technologies. My own personal favorite is the University of Maryland's miniMBA2.0 (disclosure below)

#2. Online Degree Experiences from High-Ranked Universities are bringing technology enabled instruction, social learning, and a more engaged experience to students. Business schools like IE (Spain), UNC (MBA@UNC) are pricing online degrees at par/premium to reflect the stronger value proposition.

#1. Open Courseware sites are achieving critical density. In the K-12 space Khan Academy has the near-complete high school math curriculum in a set of You-Tube videos. MIT Open Courseware provides lectures, problems, exams, etc for a deep set of courses across a very wide range of disciplines. I wish I had access to these during my MIT days, but now find them invaluable for my own teaching. There are many other great examples that should eventually allow for a "best-in-breed" curriculum for individual degrees.

Disclosure: I am affiliated with UMD and the miniMBA2.0. This is the start of an ongoing series of discussions on innovation in education -- I welcome your comments and critiques.

2010: The Financial Picture Book

2010-12-21T04:08:00.000-08:00

A year that started with many bearish predictions (including mine) is ending with the bulls (and the politicians) firmly tossing the bears into the snow. Loved this chart instantly -- simple time series, visual factoids across the chart, multiple years kept in perspective with inset, humorous story told across the graph!

via Phil Davis

Zoom Maps of American Demographics

2010-12-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

The newest mapping tool from the NYT lets you explore demographics across America at any level of granularity -- pick a state, a city, a neighborhood. And being a resident of DC, the picture is fascinating, if not surprising. Click link to access tool.

via Nathan Hau

"Matthew Bloch, Shan Carter and Alan McLean apply their cartography skills to US Census data and let you explore a variety of demographics. It's like a demographic buffet. There are multiple maps across four topics: race and ethnicity, income, education, and housing and families"

End of Semester Humor!

2010-12-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

via xkcd

Strategy Consulting for IT executives

2010-12-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

A friend's company does good strategy work for IT Executives (CIO's, etc). They are hiring -- so this post is mostly a "public service announcement" for my students and former colleagues.

Description of the Metis Strategy Associate Position:

Metis Strategy is a Washington, DC area based strategy consulting firm serving mainly Fortune

500 companies on issues related to business strategy, information technology strategy,

international growth strategy, and organizational change strategy. Our consultants have

worked in a wide variety of industries in the United States and abroad, helping business and

IT executives with strategic planning and execution as well as with aligning corporate strategy,

divisional strategy, and divisional investments.

Metis Strategy is currently looking for an ambitious, bright, curious, analytical, and motivated

individual to join our team as an Associate or as an Independent Consultant (independent

contractor) for individual or multiple client engagements. Associates and Independent

Consultants will serve as members of our team of consultants. As such, they will use the firm’s

analytical frameworks and methodologies on various aspects of selected client assignments,

led by and under the auspices of a senior consultant of the firm. Associates and Independent

Consultants will be responsible for primary & secondary research, data collection and synthesis,

researching company and industry trends, analysis and modeling, assisting with client

presentations and reports, idea generation, formulation of hypotheses, and communicating

recommendations to clients. Additionally, Associates and Independent Consultants will be

heavily involved in the finalization and launch of Metis Strategy’s STAR Software, a project

portfolio management tool based on Metis Strategy’s proprietary STAR Methodology.

independent Consultants will have the potential to become a full-time employee upon

demonstrated ability and continuing demand of his or her services.

Qualifications:

Metis Strategy is looking for a diverse blend of skills and talents in independent contractor

candidates. These include intellectual abilities and curiosity, strong analytical skills, business

and technology acumen, resourcefulness and creativity, strong oral and written communication

skills, high motivation, entrepreneurial and innovative problem-solving skills, professional

integrity, exceptional interpersonal skills, and the ability to work in an energetic team

environment. While a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 is expected, Metis Strategy

is also looking for concrete examples of how candidates have excelled in the aforementioned

and other disciplines. Candidates should be comfortable using spreadsheet and presentation

applications, such as MS-PowerPoint and MS-Excel. Successful candidates will be driven by

the desire to make a difference by helping our clients achieve and maintain strategic and

operational excellence.

Metis Strategy is looking for candidates with one to three years of relevant work experience.

Ideally, the candidate will have worked in the field of management consulting, technology, or

professional services. Sales and software development experience are an additional plus.

Compensation will be commensurate with each candidate’s qualifications and relevant work

experience and will be determined on a project-by-project basis prior to the commencement

of the client engagement. Independent contractors will be reimbursed for relevant and

reasonable business expenses in accordance with firm and client policies but will be required to

provide their own computers.

Please send your resume and cover letter to careers@metisstrategy.com.

For more information, visit our web site: www.metisstrategy.com.

In Awe of DC's Efficiency

2010-11-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

Even as I hear rants about DC's services (or lack thereof) in most sectors (schools, metro, garbage/rats, libraries, etc), I am awestruck by DC's efficiency in parking/speeding enforcement. It's a stark contrast to hear story after story of hyper-efficiency : parking tickets being written within 3 minutes of an expired meter, 2 hour zone parking restrictions being coordinated across 20 city blocks, speeding tickets from automated cameras.

Does it come down to a simple instance of skill/will? The skill and capability to be efficient (at a very high level of competence) clearly exists in DC parking enforcement, so why do we not see results elsewhere? Do we simply need to introduce more monetary incentives for other city services? Maybe we need to start benchmarking DC's service efficiency across different services...

BTW, NotionsCapital has a post on new parking enforcement via cameras that is arriving in DC shortly. Investment to increase efficiency! Has anyone looked at the growth in revenue from parking enforcement in the last couple years?

“I do not see Japan and the United States as in a monetary easing competition”

2010-11-07T17:39:00.000-08:00

It seems like we are entering a new regime of international financial diplomacy -- one where policy makers are compelled to test likely policy interventions by stating them in the negative and watching for market reactions. My favorite examples of the last 2 weeks -- courtesy of the US and Japan are below!

Get your decoders ready for next week's G20 meetings. Or maybe the (relatively straight speaking) German and Brazilian contingents will translate for us!

Exhibit 1 below is the Governor of the Bank of Japan:

Via the FT, Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the central bank was ready to expand its own 5 trillion yen (US$62-billion) asset buying plan announced only a month ago if the economy worsens. Mr. Shirakawa stressed “I do not see Japan and the United States as in a monetary easing competition"

Governor Shirakawa's comments come while Japanese private industry fighting to prevent further appreciation of the yen against the dollar (~20% YTD). The BOJ (like the US Fed) has already brought interest rates to zero and has few tools other than monetary easing to depreciate the yen. Thursday's 5 trillion yen was the start of the US/Japan easing competition. If the yen appreciates further, or talk of QE3 gets going watch for the monetary easing competition to begin in earnest!

Exhibit 2 is the US Treasury:

The USD has fallen 3-5% against most currencies since Secretary Geithner's comments on Oct 24 -- "It is the policy of the US to support a strong dollar -- most significantly after the Federal Reserve's QE2 announcement this week. Is this just a new good cop-bad cop routine between the Fed and the Treasury? Or the sign of real policy differences?

Getting a New Smartphone

2010-11-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about getting a new smartphone. Here's a cute graphic that is of absolutely no help in making the choice :-) Suggestions welcome!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Source: http://flowingdata.com/2010/10/29/data-underload-24-my-candy/

Returning to the blogosphere

2010-10-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Most of the summer/early fall has gone to vacation, launching new education products, and trips to NYC. I'm back to helping diminish your productivity with some blogging :-)

Euphoria and Despair in Spain

2010-07-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

My first impressions in Spain last week were of a people in anticipation – full of hope, excitement, and nervous energy. In other words, eager to discover what providence has in store. And this energy erupted into celebration with the Spanish victory at the 2010 World Cup. Thousands of people streaming into plazas in every town in Spain, waving flags and shirts, blowing whistles and car horns, evading the police to climb atop the statue in the middle of the plaza, and (most inexplicably for me) to jump in to bathe in the fountain. Thousands of people chanting “Yo soy espagnol, espagnol.. “ (I am Spanish, Spanish…) – an identity frequently negated in many regions of Spain. The sweet taste of victory.

Yet, by the end of my week, the celebratory oasis was covered by the whirling sands. Celebration after celebration was organized to keep the euphoric mood, but the reality of unemployment tearing through the joyous banners. The themes I heard talked off most often –

· 20-24.5% unemployment (depending on whose numbers you use)
· 7+% paycut recently implemented for various civil servants
· reduction in some pension benefits
· 30-40% fall in real-estate prices in some parts of Spain

And I could hear the real emotion in people’s voice (from taxi driver, to museum guide, to homeowners on the coast, to private sector friends) as they expressed uncertainty and despair for the future. Real estate prices, people say, are no longer falling because nobody is cutting prices when nobody is buying anyway. One taxi driver estimated his revenues have fallen by 30% since 2008, his effective wage rate fallen by 40-45% since he works much longer hours now. And thinks it will be 5+ years before things get better. And the stories go on and on..

As I asked about government and policy the near-unanimous answer is that the government does not get it and has been engaged in denial and crony capitalism for several years. People would “short the Zapatero government” if it were a financially traded stock. And they are all girding for deeper austerity than public policy discourse would suggest.

I hope “La Roja” (the name for the soccer team) has a few more moments of euphoria to give to the country. Maybe they need to go on the year-long tour across Spain with the World Cup trophy as some are requesting….

Dispatches from Spain..

2010-07-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

I've been in Europe for the last 2 weeks observing realities on the ground. I'm still going to need some days to get my writings posted.. but in the meantime here's what i am using as inspiration (NOT)!

Debtor Prisons? Is using leeches for treatment next?

2010-06-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

The first great novel of modern Western literature - Don Quixote - was written by Cervantes in debtors prison. Debtors prisons were quite common in Europe of the age -- others like Moliere had also cooled their heels in the slammer. A surge of good new literature is the silver lining in the cloud from a quote reported in a nice post by Tim Iacono:

“Fannie wants to lock people up in a jail of negative net worth for much of the rest of their lives. They’re bringing back the debtor’s prison.”

Fannie Mae announced their intent to punish strategic default by homeowners who are underwater. Details are still scarce. Its nice to see Fannie attempting to manage its losses, but its hard to see how this aligns with US Government bailouts ($140 Billion + at this point, and growing) of Fannie, Freddie, etc to provide relief to struggling homeowners.

A different extreme for dealing with debt is being adopted by Iceland. Felix Salmon submits:

How many times can Iceland’s banks fail? More than once, it would seem, in the wake of an important ruling by Iceland’s Supreme Court. It regards loans which were disbursed in Icelandic kronur but linked to either Swiss francs or the Japanese yen; the court has now ruled that the indexing is illegal, and that the borrowers need only to repay the loans at their initial interest rate in kronur.

Effectively the Icelandic court has "stuck it to the banks" -- a very popular decision given the recent crisis in Iceland.

What other mechanisms for debt management will we see in the coming months and years given the extreme indebtedness (private and public) in many advanced economies?

The Debt Crisis (in 2 pictures)

2010-06-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to do a presentation on Global macroeconomic trends and forecasts. National debt across countries will be a significant theme -- so sharing a couple of powerful charts I will be using. The first one is easier to read; the second one highlights the problem areas visually -- and quickly shows the debt problem that advanced economies are facing. Only a couple decades ago we heard about Latin American debt crisis, the Asian crisis, etc -- how quickly the world has changed.

I have another post coming on dissecting the debt situation -- we don't quite need the knee-jerk austerity programs that some countries are advocating, but we do need to spend more time understanding why we are increasing debt in the first place? Is it to help the temporarily displaced? to build infrastructure? or simply to bailout politically important constituencies. Stay tuned..

In Touch with Voters

2010-06-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

Note: The jedi light saber has entered the mainstream weapons category :-)