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We expect authors, painters and singers to identify themselves, to sign the work they do.
And surgeons and lawyers as well.
What about managers, committee members, engineers and everyone else who makes something? Who made this policy? Who designed this menu? Who approved this project?
If you're not proud of it, don't ship it. If you are, sign your work and own the results. We'll know who to thank. If you work for a place where work goes unsigned (internally, in particular) it's worth asking why.
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Posted: 23 Nov 2014 09:18 PM PST Telecom companies in Russia and Saudi Arabia have been hit by the world's most sophisticated hacking software to date. Symantec believes a Western intelligence agency is responsible. Please consider World's Most Advanced Hacking Spyware Let Loose A cyber snooping operation reminiscent of the Stuxnet worm and billed as the world's most sophisticated computer malware is targeting Russian and Saudi Arabian telecoms companies.Do Dirty Work Then Leave The software somehow attaches itself, does the dirty work of stealing files or whatever, then vanished without much of a trace, apparently deleting its presence. It's unknown who did this but I side with Symantec, more specifically willing to suggest the NSA. Whether or not my suspicions are correct, it's no wonder people want encryption that no one can beat. Regardless who is responsible, I cheer developments like this development courtesy of Harvard and MIT students: Easy to Use Email So Secure NSA Cannot Break It; What About NSA Other Attacks? This is what it had to come down to. Government nonsensically spying on everyone led to a more-secure service that freedom lovers and criminals alike will embrace. By the way, the encryption might be secure, but that will not stop the NSA from hijacking entire computers. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
Wrong Three Ways: Europe Not at Risk of Full-Blown Deflation Says ECB Vice President Posted: 23 Nov 2014 10:54 AM PST Statements from various high-ranking central bank officials prove they are totally clueless. For example, please consider an announcement today by European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Vitor Constancio: Europe not at risk of full-blown deflation. During a debate in central Italy, Constancio said he did not think "that in Europe there is the risk of falling into full deflation" because nominal salaries would have to fall in all member countries "and this cannot happen". Cannot Happen?! One really has to wonder about what is in these central banker's heads. Constancio is wrong at least three ways. Wrong Three Ways
1. Can consumers choose to deleverage rather than spend? Sure, why not? Demographically speaking, Europe is in such bad shape, one might even expect just that. 2. Europe is clearly flirting with recession (see France Private Sector Output Drops 7th Consecutive Month, Orders Stagnate in Germany, Eurozone Flirts With Contraction). And in a European recession, one would normally expect aggregate wages and salaries to drop in all (or nearly all) member countries. Parts of Europe are already in deflation and recession. All it takes is Germany to join the party and it will be deflation across the board. 3. Inflation isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Consider Nominal Wages vs. Real Wages Japanese Style as depicted by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. . Is it possible for prices to rise more than wages? Certainly. Especially if the ECB gets it inane wish of trashing the euro to create inflation. Bear in mind that "real" does not include the effect of tax hikes. If Europe embarks on a plan to hike taxes, one might expect similar results as recently happened in Japan (See Abe Makes "Grave Grave" Decision to Delay Tax Hike, Gambles on Snap Elections, Seeks "Better Ideas") Japan is out of deflation, but consumers are far worse off. All Japan has to show for its decades-long effort is debt approaching 250% of GDP. The statement by Constancio was so superficial, and so wrong, in so many ways, one might wonder if it was purposeful misguidance or if he is really that much of a blockhead. I suggest the latter. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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One of the milestones every entrepreneur passes is when she stops thinking of people she hires as expensive ("I could do that job for free") and starts thinking of them as cheap ("This frees me up to do something more profitable.")
When you get rid of every job you do that could be done by someone else, something needs to fill your time. And what you discover is that you're imagining growth, building partnerships, rethinking the enterprise (working on your business instead of in it, as the emyth guys would say). Right now, you don't even see those jobs, because you're busy doing things that feel efficient instead.
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"Eagle Cam": Aerial View of London via Video Camera Attached to an Eagle Posted: 22 Nov 2014 03:23 PM PST An eagle got an impressive birds-eye-view of London this week, flying over the city's most iconic landmarks using a Sony HDR-AZ1VR Action Cam attached to its back. Link if video does not play: Action Cam Footage Shows Eagle Flying Over City of London The BBC reports Eagle With Camera Flies Over London An eagle with a camera attached has flown across London and offered a new perspective on some of the capital's best-known landmarks.Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
UKIP Picks Up Second Seat Following Tory Defection, Two More Coming Up? Posted: 22 Nov 2014 12:20 PM PST The first one or two people doing something can hardly be called a trend. Yet, all trends start with a movement of One. UKIP gained a second seat in British parliament as a result of a special election following a Tory defection to UKIP. The first UKIP seat also came from a special election following a Tory defection. Two other Tories are allegedly considering switching parties to UKIP. Prime minister David Cameron's Tories are clearly under pressure. Please consider UKIP Gains Second Commons Seat With Victory in Rochester. The U.K. Independence Party dealt a new blow to Prime Minister David Cameron as it won a second seat in Parliament from his Conservatives in six weeks.Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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Marketing works best when the effort you put into it is a little more than you think you need and a lot more than the market expects from your project.
And projects work best when the amount you need to get done is a little less than the resources you have available.
Marketing rewards a taut system, a show of confidence, the ability to be where you need to be with a true story that works.
Projects reward slack, the ability to keep your schedule and your quality, to watch the critical path and to make smart decisions.
The common errors, then: Pick too big an arena for your marketing, and seem underwhelming. And pick too big an agenda for your project, and run out of slack.
You have a bushel basket. The generosity of overflowing it makes it much more appealing when it's on the shelf. But when your job is to transport those apples, overfilling it even a little makes it likely you won't get to where you're going.
Make unexpectedly big promises. Keep them. Show up with enough resources to do both.
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Bloomberg Sensationalism and Inaccuracies Regarding "Forced Nationalization of Crimea" Posted: 21 Nov 2014 06:12 PM PST A few days ago a friend emailed the Bloomberg article Russia Delivers a New Shock to Crimean Business: Forced Nationalization. I replied something along the lines of "interesting, but I am going to bounce this of Jacob Dreizin", a US citizen who provides frequent updates to me regarding Ukraine. I also bounced the article off Pater Tenebrarum at the Acting Man blog. Pater commented ... Russian oligarchs stealing stuff back from Ukrainian oligarchs would be my guess. I should add, the arbitrariness of this process is of course quite disturbing (regardless of the fact that Ukraine's oligarchs are a bunch of corrupt thieves). But this strikes me mainly as a case of politically motivated payback. The oligarchs all aligned themselves with Kiev as soon as it was clear that Yanukovich had lost power (many/most were aligned with Yanukovich as long as he ruled the roost). The separatists mainly lost Mariupol because Ukraine's richest oligarch ordered the 7,000 workers of his steel works to oust them. There have been horror stories from Mariupol about the treatment of ethnic Russians there, although it is difficult to know what is and what isn't true (independent information is spotty). But we know since Odessa that the right-wing goons in Kiev's employment are not to be trifled with (the videos of the event speak for themselves).Reader Jacob Dreizin commented Hello MishPot Calls Kettle Black Neither Pater, nor Jacob, nor myself likes this enterprise model, but Bloomberg made it appear as if this is somehow a new thing in Crimea following the Russian takeover. In fact, the same corrupt model exists in Ukraine. Is either set of thieves better than the other? Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reply From Pettis on Spain; Prisoner's Dilemma in Reverse; EMU End Game Posted: 21 Nov 2014 12:33 PM PST In response to Spain Needs to Debate Leaving the Euro; Tooth Fairy Economics I received a nice email from Michael Pettis confirming my translation was correct. He also attached the original article in English. Michael Writes ... Thank's Mish.Original Text in English Spanish Government Debt is not SustainableThanks Michael! I side with Pettis on all four points above. In general we agree on things but there are a couple of things on which we disagree. I expect to write about one of them pretty soon. Cascade of Discussion I agree with point four that discussion is needed. But actually, I would go so far as to say it's not worth saving the banks and the bondholders - the wealthy - at the expense of everyone else, offering Greece, Spain, and Cyprus as proof. The problem with such a discussion is the cascade effect. If Spain has an open honest discussion, then so must Italy, Portugal, France, Germany and every country in the EU. The reason has to do with contingent liabilities. Under the euro monetary union, each country has a percentage responsibility to pick up the tab if another country defaults. The table below shows the current maximum level of guarantees for capital given by the Eurozone countries. The amounts are based on the European Central Bank capital key weightings.
There is not a single country in the European Monetary Union (EMU) that could afford to pick up its percentage of responsibility should another country fail. No One Wants Honest Discussion With that cascade setup, the ECB certainly does not want an honest discussion. German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not want an honest discussion. No one in favor of the euro project wants an honest discussion. So there will not be an honest discussion. Instead there will be mass denial by everyone except from the fringe groups: Beppe Grillo's M5S in Italy, Marine Le Pen's Front National Party in France (extreme right), Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party in Greece (radical left), and the newly formed Podemos party (radical left), in Spain. For discussion of the latter, please see Spanish Reader on Rise of "Podemos" a New Far-Left Political Party in Spain. Prisoner's Dilemma in Reverse In the standard Prisoner's Dilemma setup, two prisoners are better off if they do not talk, but they talk out of fear the other prisoner will talk. In this case, it is in the best interest of the people to have a discussion, but the act of discussion immediately sets in motion a guaranteed breakup of the eurozone for reasons shown above. History Lesson History suggests, as Pettis states: "ordinary people must pay twice, once in the form of hidden transfers that recapitalize the banks, and once in the form of high unemployment and social erosion, and in most cases they get none of the advantages because the crisis occurs anyway." History also suggests no monetary union without a fiscal union has ever survived. Different Kind of Honest Discussion The discussion that really needs to take place isn't whether Spain should leave, Greece should leave, or Italy should leave (because as soon as one does a cascade of uncontrolled exits will occur). Rather, the discussion that needs to happen is for Merkel to get everyone together and work out a plan for a clean breakup. Arguably the beast thing would be for Germany to exit first. But no one wants that discussion either. EMU End Game Since no one can or will discuss anything (until one of the radical parties wins an election outright), here are the possibilities
Note that options two and three still leave intact all of the structural problems of the euro. The most likely course is extreme suffering and pain until a radical party wins somewhere and then declares the European Monetary Union (EMU) null and void and all debt associated with it null and void as well. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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