An article in today’s BusinessWeek (Health Care: Rx for MBA Job Blues) gushes over the opportunities for MBAs in the healthcare industry; “I feel like a kid in a candy shop” is the quote they selected from an aspiring MBA student. My advice to new MBAs as someone who works in healthcare and has one: [...]
Continue reading about Professionals Entering the Healthcare “System”
USA Today reports (U.S. exported its aggressive credit card fees worldwide) on the history of credit cards and their export. A timeline of key developments is included, and wow! Look at those balances! The U.S. has 775 billion in credit card debt. From the article: “For a while the United States was exporting … tobacco [...]
How much is that cash in your pocket worth? How’s your credit limit from one day to the next? The top of the pyramid will let you know, as North Korea’s president Kim Jong Il recently did. The Washington Post reports (In N. Korea, a strong movement recoils at Kim Jong Il’s attempt to limit [...]
The Washington Post (HIV funds bypassing areas in need) reports on HIV funding in Washington, DC, citing programs that have had (1) “little lasting impact,” (2) “financial and operational problems,” and even (3) outright fraud. Focusing on the “disparity in AIDS dollars in the District” is one major part of the fiscal equation, but the [...]
Continue reading about A Case for HIV Program Evaluation in DC
The Washington Post (‘Cash for Clunkers,’ household edition) reports on the inevitable next stimulus program. After home buyer credits and vehicle trade-in incentives, the next program is focusing on household appliances. Rather than gaining assets and depreciating them over the long term through maintenance and repairs (thus reducing expenses), Schumpeter’s ”creative destruction” seems to be the [...]
I’m finally here in DC…
The Post (Democrats Target Bank Overdraft Charges) reports on the curbing of bank fees, particularly the overdraft fee. Transactions are automatically allowed if customers go over their limit, and legislation is planned to ensure customers opt-in.
The Post reports (House Votes to End Subsidies to Student Loan Firms) to end subsidized student loan lending for banks. These loans have carried low risk (the government guarantees 97%) and high returns for banks. This earlier article in the Times (Plan to Change Student Lending Sets Up a Fight) presents the lame rationale for [...]
Continue reading about Easy Money for Banks Ending with Student Loan Overhaul
A very interesting article in today’s New York Times (Decaying Soviet Infrastructure Shows Its Era) provides an underlying warning about the consequences of not keeping up with building and foundation maintenance. From the article: In fact, all of Russia’s economy grew on roads, pipelines, electrical transmission towers and other infrastructure built by the Soviets, but idled [...]
The New York Times (Shut Out at Home, Americans Go to China) reports on the economic draw China presents for young entrepreneurs. The article is based on anecdotal evidence, though statistics are likely to follow.
Continue reading about Globalization and the Migration of Opportunity