Uncounted Layoffs

This article from Business Weeks talks about the million of people that have lost their jobs that are not counted in the unemployment figures the government gives out and they have no rights to any unemployment benefits. These people are freelancers or personal contractors that worked with many large companies and some earned more than $3000 a month. When the economy started going down so did their contracts and business in general. The major problem is these people have no right to collect any kind of unemployment and are not counted in the unemployment figures given by the government. There are also the people that worked full time and have had their hours reduced to part time. They have not lost their job but the change in income is so drastic that they can not meet their financial obligations. These people since they are still working can not collect any unemployment but are still in the same or worse situation as many people that have been laid off completely.
In the state of New York about 15% of workers are free lancers and now with the financial circumstances are trying to figure out a way to make ends meet. They had address the mayor of the city and he is trying to pass the the proposed "Unemployment Protection Fund." This fund would require the federal or state government to match about $300 for every $1,000 a Freelancers Union member voluntarily paid into a fund that could be drawn upon during lean times when work is scarce. If this would have been in place earlier then many freelancers would have some kind of safety net.
Personally I believe some major restructuring needs to be done with unemployment benefits and who is eligible. The article said, the Bureau of Labor Statistics hasn't adapted to the realities of the modern workforce, and it's a disgrace that we don't have a true picture of what's going on." Like the article says they need to readjust and include all kind of workers that contribute to the economy of the country. Their should be no reason why if someone had their hours cut in half, and their paycheck as well they should not be receiving unemployment benefits.


LINK: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db20090329_789973.htm

New Global Currency!!!

For many years, the dollar has been dominant over any other currency. The United States, as we all know, is facing an economic crisis and it is being felt all across the world. Recently, China has expressed that it wants to create a new global currency comprised of a basket of global currencies, which would be controlled by the International Monetary Fund. Although the United States and Europe have not paid much to attention to the decision, if such thing was to happen the dollar would weaken to extreme measures. It is important to note that China does hold approximately close to $1 trillion in treasuries and other government debt. This is just China's way to gain more power and to have their government's voice heard. The dollar is and will be for many years to come the trading currency of the world and many do agree with such a statement. For the full article please click on the following link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29865124/

Paul Krugman on Economic Inequality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kwA-CwFK5A (Paul Krugman-short version)

Hey everyone,

This is a great video I saw on Youtube that shows Paul Krugman (Economist) explaining the increase in economic inequality and where he believes it began and what influenced it. Here is my take on what I saw in the video.
Krugman showed examples of why income inequality has grown since the Reagan era in which union busts became more apparent. With politicians backing this it created a huge downfall for unionization in America. He does not reject the idea that globalization has had some effect as well but show how years ago both Canada and the US had about 30 percent of the workforce unionized. Since then the US has decreased to about 11 percent while Canada stayed about the same at 30 percent. Both countries have faced the same globalizing markets yet only in America has the amount of Unionized workers dropped so considerably. Along with this many other countries with operations such as Walmart have the huge organizations unionized while this is seldom seen here in America. In America it tends to be the public sector that is mainly unionized and the private sector that is at the other end of the spectrum.

Angel Macias

Linked In

This article from Fortune.com is talking about the professional networking site that the professor spoke about in class. Linkedin.com has been dramatically growing within the last couple of months as a result of the economic situation in the country. Right now, the fastest growing city is Detroit where many layoffs have occurred. In one month the traffic to the site has more than doubled from 3.3 million in January 2009 to 6.9 million in February 2009. Linkedin.com greatly suffered from its competitors like facebook.com, and twitter.com and many thought that it would never recover. But linkedin is different because it is for professional networking only something both facebook and twitter do not have. This has caused such a growth in the company from 2 continuous years of negative profit to $100 Million in profit this year.

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/24/technology/hempel_linkedin.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009032412

Unemployment County by County

When I came across this article, it came to my surprised that “unemployment rates were generally higher across the country in January from December, and as a result the graphics editors decided to add a new color category to the map key: one for counties with unemployment rates of 20 percent or higher.” (Rampell) The counties without jobs have increased a large amount compared to other years. We are experiencing one of the worst recessions and it came to a surprise to many people. This article also shows which county has higher or lower unemployment rates. Below is the article where you can visit and see how your county is doing.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/unemployment-county-by-county/?scp=2&sq=economic%20hard%20times%20&st=cse

This article from Business Week talks about the new rise in prices of stocks of Citibank. The CEO Vikram Pandit, sent out a memo yesterday that caused the stock to raise from $1 to $1.44 today. This memo said that these first 2 months of 2009 have been profitable and had the best performance since the last quarter of 2007. He continues with saying the bank is adequately capitalized and has passed stringent self-imposed stress tests. This is great news as Gary Hager of Integrated Wealth Management in Edison, N.J. said, "I think the plan will work and they will lead the business out of this by the end of 2009; it's a screaming buy." He thinks that Citibank will be a "poster child" for other banks to follow to get out of the situation they are today. Some economist say the recession will finish by the end of this year if others follow in Citibank's footsteps.

Some critics are saying the only way the recession can start to finish is by eliminating the bad asset books many banks like Citibank are carrying. They are saying that all bank stocks might look attractive right now but they are still high-risk because the stock can be up by 50% one minute but down the next minute.

Personally, I believe Citibank's news is the light at the end of the tunnel. This is probably the first piece of good news I read in business since 2007. I do think Citibank has the potential to set the way for other banks to follow, but they are not completely out of harms way yet. They still have a lot of things to do but at least it is a start. I do not agree that the recession will be completely over by the end of 2009, but I do believe it will be much better than at the start.

LINK: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db20090310_761018_page_2.htm

Conclusion to Long-Standing Ethical Dilemma

President Obama made a very important decision regarding research on embryonic stem cells. Unlike President Bush, Obama opened the doors in order for the research to start, with federal and private dollars. According to the President, "Promoting science isn't just about providing resources, it is also about protecting free and open inquiry. It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology." Now there is new hope for those who suffer from diseases such as diabetes and alzheimer; this new research can even provide a cure for paralysis. Of course, the opposition believes this is an unethical matter and it causes more division within our country. In my opinion, I believe President Obama made a great decision. This new research will open the doors to many scientist in order to find cures. I personally know persons with diabetes and alzheimer's and if this new research can help them, then I see nothing wrong with it. The opposition just has their own agenda, not allowing them to see the positive side of the research. What can be more miraculous than curing your sister or your father from any of the diseases that up to know have no known cure. I don't know any one yet who doesn't want to find a cure. If you would like to read more about this issue please read the following article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29586269/

Business Ethics

This article was very interesting because it spoke about ethics, which was one of our main topics in last week’s class. We all have heard of business ethics in one way or another especially if you work for a big corporation. A great example can be taken into account as the article states “some employees would rather leave a company rather than report ethical lapses”. They do not want to be known as whistleblowers and are scared of the outcome when it does get out. That is one of the main reasons why Business Ethics has become so important in today’s society, we even have college core classes that emphasize on this subject. I recommend you to read more in dept into the article when you have a chance.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2007/db20070622_221291_page_2.htm

Organizational Culture and Climate

The article below is a great summary to the subject that we spoke about in our last class. An organizations culture and climate can greatly affect how a company performs. As we discussed in class, organizational climate has more to do with the overall attitudes and feelings of the employees in that organization. The organizations culture tends to be what upper management would like the overall climate to be.
An organization's culture generally tends to be an offset of the type of CEO in the organization, as the article explains. For instance a CEO who has an entrepreneur mindset would tend to create a culture that makes fast decisions, takes risks and likes to innovate. A great example of this would be Apple computers. On the other end of the spectrum would be insurance companies and banks who tend to have cultures that avoid risk.
Depending on the industry and upper management styles will greatly affect the type of culture that one works in but either way it is important as a manager and employee to know that culture and climate exists within an organization. How one feels about a particular company culture can greatly affect how much job satisfaction you will receive from the job and it is important to know a companies culture ideals before you work for them.

http://businessmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/organizational_culture_and_climate

Author: Mitch McCrimmon.

Community Service!!!!!!

http://www.bestbuddies.org/best-buddies

We will like to invite everyone to visit the above webiste. Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one to one frienship. You are all and welcome to come on Saturday March 7, 2009 at Bird Bowl and dedicate you time to a great cause. For more information, please visit the website.

Mexico's peso weakens to new record low

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D96M22S80.htm

The above article is very interesting and is a great example on how the economy is not only affecting the United States but as well as other countries. In this article it talked about how the Mexican peso has weakened as low as 15.4 against the dollar which is extremely low.

For instance as the article states, “in an effort to stop the peso's fall, the central bank auctioned off the foreign reserves at an average rate of 15.37 pesos to the dollar.” We as a society are seeing our economy go through a change that is affecting us everyday. I recommend you to take a few minutes and read this article.

Obama plans major shifts in Spending!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/us/politics/27web-budget.html?_r=1&ref=economy

The above article is a great example on how Obama is trying to make a change and help our economy get stronger. On Thursday, February 26, 2009 he proposed a ten year budget plan that will “reflect his determination in the face of recession and invest trillion of dollars and his own political capital in reshaping the nation’s priorities.” (Calmes pg.) Obama is planning to address the health care problems we are having as well as the global warming and education. Obama will have to work night and day to change the outcome of where our economy is headed to.

A great example can be taken into account as the Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnel states “I have serious concerns with this budget, which demands hardworking American families and job creators turn over more of their hard-earned money to the government to pay for unprecedented spending increases.” I agree with the Senate, Mitch McConnel because it is going to be hard for American families to get a pay cut once again, and them knowing its going to the government will make them more furious.