tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85316152026-04-15T00:55:34.867+10:00Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1121520526951795222005-07-16T23:27:00.000+10:002012-08-02T04:51:33.086+10:00

I actually had a very good excuse for not blogging during the past few months... I've moved to the other side of the world! After living on the East Coast of the US for my entire life, I made the move down under, to Sydney Australia! The move went well, and I'm finally settled in, and enjoying getting to know my new home city. It's a great place... it's the middle of the winter here, but it

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1111900867663224452005-03-27T15:02:00.000+10:002005-03-27T15:28:23.560+10:00

The March 2005 issue of Inc. Magazine has a tremendous article about China. It's adapted from Ted Fishman's China, Inc., and contains a great summary of the major China trends/issues that business leaders should know about. They are: 1. China's economy is much larger than the official numbers show. 2. The growth of China's economy has no equal in modern history. 3. China is winning the global

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1111365018700519912005-03-21T13:08:00.000+11:002005-03-22T16:55:24.180+11:00

In 2003, Toyota started a new brand called "Scion", aimed at American 20-somethings. In order to succeed in this market, they've done a lot of interesting things to build their "cool", such as putting on a great urban/graffiti art tour, hosting big popular nightclub parties monthly in 6 metros, a tour of "cult music films" on college campuses, and distributing a magazine that includes funky

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1109545478573962512005-02-28T10:04:00.000+11:002005-02-28T10:11:07.853+11:00

This is 3M's new security glass product demonstration/publicity stunt.They took the side of a bus station in Vancouver, and instead of putting a regular old ad on the side, they encased stacks of dollar bills behind their security glass.It's very cool, very eye-catching, and they got a lot of free publicity.There are, of course, some caveats. Only the bills on the top are real money (CA$500 worth

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1109023447442996232005-02-22T09:04:00.000+11:002005-02-22T09:05:44.256+11:00

It's faint, but it's there...From the AP:MAHABALIPURAM, India - Archaeologists have begun underwater excavations of what is believed to be an ancient city and parts of a temple uncovered by the tsunami off the coast of a centuries-old pilgrimage town.Three rocky structures with elaborate carvings of animals have emerged near the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, which was battered by the Dec. 26

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1108520091059761052005-02-21T16:35:00.000+11:002012-08-02T03:19:11.420+10:00

Welcome to the Presidents' Day edition of Carnival of the Capitalists, the weekly round-up of business and economics blogs.While you're here, please take a look at a few of the other posts. The Raw Prawn primarily deals with business, economics, and international politics, so if you're here for the Carnival of the Capitalists, you'll probably find a few things to interest you :)Update: A number

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1108254929486001472005-02-14T14:00:00.000+11:002005-02-22T04:56:06.223+11:00

As a business blogger, I'm pretty much obligated to comment on the biggest advertising event of the year, the Superbowl. There was a lot of ruckus this year about ads being pulled in order to avoid controversy, but a lot of great ads still made it.Here is my take on the top 10 ads of the Superbowl. How did I evaluate them? Effectiveness. My standard was, "if I were the CEO, how pleased would I be

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1105763365079977872005-01-15T15:20:00.000+11:002012-08-02T01:49:47.163+10:00

The airline industry has been having a lot of trouble over the past few years, and it looks like it's getting even worse. The most commonly cited problems:High fuel costsHigh labor costs due to union strifeHigh fixed costs for the planes, which can make a short-term decrease in air travel deadlyCut-throat competitors, willing to take a loss in order to keep flying, combined with consumers that

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1104376060660053562004-12-30T15:30:00.000+11:002012-08-02T05:05:38.048+10:00

Update: Results! John points out that Canada's federal government has taken up my suggestion, and is matching some of its citizens' donations. I wish I'd emailed this to Paul Martin, so I could take credit :-P By now I'm sure everyone has heard about the earthquake and resultant tsunamis, and the massive devastation they've caused. As of now, the death toll has climbed to 80,000, with no sign of

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1103764476853510982004-12-23T12:14:00.000+11:002012-08-01T09:43:55.539+10:00

I've posted before about the move by McDonald's towards more healthful food, and also about their unorthodox marketing techniques. Frequent commenter Salas raises a related point: If healthful food is so great for McDonald's, what about Hardee's, which has taken the opposite tack? Hardee's, meanwhile, last month added the Monster Thickburger to its menu. With two one-third-pound beef patties,

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1103433635802636472004-12-19T17:20:00.000+11:002004-12-19T16:22:07.093+11:00

This past week's issue of The Economist had an interesting survey of Indonesia. On the cover of the magazine, in the upper-right corner, was the following: INDONESIA AT A CROSSROADS A Survey, After Page 50 To a normal reader, there's nothing out of the ordinary there. But Simpsons fans aren't normal people. In the "Catch Me If You Can" episode that aired earlier this year, Homer and Marge got

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1103424073464468972004-12-19T13:41:00.000+11:002012-08-01T09:32:17.554+10:00

Tariffs artificially raise the price of imported goods. If the tariffs are large enough, there can be a big incentive to smuggle otherwise legal goods, in order to evade the tariff and sell the goods at a lower price. An example: Pakistan's high tariffs and predominantly poor population has led to a massive flow of smuggled goods from Afghanistan. Rather than paying exorbitant prices for a TV,

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1102479554156847352004-12-08T15:19:00.000+11:002012-08-01T09:26:55.076+10:00

Mark Cuban, co-founder of Broadcast.com, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, reality TV show host, and blogger, has decided to start a new hedge fund. The focus: Sports gambling I know next to nothing about sports gambling, and I think it's fairly silly when people say, "Investing is just another form of gambling." You'll lose money in the long-run playing blackjack, while you'll make money in the

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1101781818893154872004-11-30T13:29:00.000+11:002012-08-02T03:57:18.608+10:00

Fabian at Fabian's Hammer (one of the best blogs about China you'll ever find) has expanded his scope to include coverage of Maoist movements around the world. From Nepal and India, to Mexico and Peru, revolutionary Maoism is still very much alive. Keeping abreast of developments relating to Maoist movements is crucial for understanding the internal politics of a number of nations. Western

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1101694376244847242004-11-29T13:12:00.000+11:002012-08-02T04:50:10.309+10:00

We had scarcely gone 200 yards into the Guatemalan forest, 20 of us weaving single file along the faint path behind our machete-wielding guide, when Diego Faustino Chavez warned us about a certain kind of bejuco, or vine. "If you step over it," he said to anthropologist Allen Christenson, "you can disappear. Or you think you've been gone for a few seconds, but it's really been three days."

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1101691735192606922004-11-29T12:28:00.000+11:002012-08-02T03:59:59.503+10:00

I got back in town last night, and so will be blogging regularly again. It was definitely a nice, relaxing vacation. I'd never been on a cruise before, and it's certainly different from the way I'm used to traveling. You're only in a port for 7 hours or so, so you don't get a chance to immerse yourself in the culture, get to know the area, etc. You end up spending most of your time being whisked

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1101085334148293742004-11-22T11:28:00.000+11:002012-08-02T23:59:47.672+10:00

Sorry for taking so long to put this up... I'm on a cruise in the middle of the Caribbean at the moment, and internet access has been spotty.--------The William J. Clinton Presidential Center: the one library in the world where sex in the stacks isn't frowned upon.Wednesday, November 17thWhen I first caught sight of the center, I thought "that's... interesting." The Economist describes it as "a

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1100678846333467902004-11-17T19:00:00.000+11:002004-11-30T13:45:45.673+11:00

I got a surprise call from a friend last night (tues) at 11pm, telling me that she had an extra ticket to the dedication of Bill Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock today (wednesday). Apparently her boss is a Democratic bigwig who had to bail at the last minute, and so he gave her these tickets, with invites to all of the VIP events. So I booked the first flight out to Little Rock this

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1100231988156524342004-11-12T14:59:00.000+11:002012-08-01T08:27:28.262+10:00

Via Mahalanobis we see that the creator of the bizarre-but-funny cartoon "The End of the World" has been hired by Nike to create three cartoons advertising Nike activewear. Check it out, it's some pretty funny stuff. The idea of viral marketing is to create an ad that viewers will love so much that they'll pass it on to their friends, who then pass it on to their friends (hence the term "viral

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1100224843602337732004-11-12T12:28:00.000+11:002012-08-01T09:55:12.309+10:00

Reuters: "Arctic thaw could open vast oil and gas region" An accelerating thaw of the Arctic may open vast regions for oil and gas exploration but that brings worries of spills in the fragile environment, experts said on Thursday. Scientists behind an-eight nation report saying the Arctic sea ice could almost vanish in summer by 2100 because of global warming said offshore oil and gas

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1100151107131095002004-11-11T15:25:00.000+11:002012-08-02T01:44:57.765+10:00

Fabian's Hammer has a great new post about China's increasing thirst for oil: The Peoples Republic of China's growing appetite for energy has stressed the global oil and gas industry and is posing the threat of new armed conflicts over limited resources. The PRC's oil imports have doubled over the past five years, surging nearly 40% in the first half of 2004 alone, and the country is now second

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1099973998892482762004-11-09T15:19:00.000+11:002012-07-13T01:31:16.336+10:00

I love interesting ways of displaying complex data, especially maps. With the US presidential election results in, lots of interesting maps have been created. I think we're all pretty familiar with the classic Red vs. Blue map, with states that voted for Bush being colored red, and states that voted for Kerry being colored blue: Here is another view, where one box represents one electoral

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1099861374727869422004-11-08T07:26:00.000+11:002012-08-01T09:35:47.030+10:00

For all of the good ideas developed in the US and Australia, there are many, many more that arise elsewhere. Sometimes these ideas quickly arrive on our shores, and sometimes they never get here. I remember admiring video jukeboxes in Havana, autorickshaws in Bombay, book vending machines in São Paulo, and toll plazas that don't require you to slow down in Singapore. Each one left me

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1099805794682727012004-11-07T15:19:00.000+11:002012-08-02T04:02:17.881+10:00

One of the big stories throughout the election campaign was the rise of "security moms" -- women who are very concerned about terrorism, and who were drawn to the candidate they felt would keep them and their families safe. Many were skeptical about their existence, but it looks like they were a reality. Bush's gains between 2000 and 2004 can mostly be attributed to women -- Bush gained 5 points

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531615.post-1099798108319524202004-11-07T14:25:00.000+11:002004-11-07T14:38:33.323+11:00

A big overriding theme in my mind is that Bush is more free now. He's won re-election, and can't run again. That combined with his "mandate" would lead one to expect him to pursue what he thinks are the "right" policies, with less concern for how well it flies with the general public. This sounds like a bad thing, on the face of it. The more diligent politicians are about making sure they carry

Adam Crouchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09954899299332199063noreply@blogger.com