Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
Note: Napoleon knew how money works, he financed his wars (e.g. Warterloo) with British money. He knew that nations with foreign debt (like today USA and UK) will have a lot of problems.
When does a company rise and fall with its leaders? Not when they sail through calm waters. But when they go through the storm. One company goes belly up and the other one emerges with new strengths out of the hard times. Many companies today do everything to hold the best people on board who can steer the ship successful through and out of the storm.
Schaeffler bought Continental A.G (which is 3 times bigger than itself) in an intense battle - WITH A HUGE CREDIT … guess what happens now when credit markets are shut down and you don’t sell a damn thing because of a recession (which had hit hard the manufacturing industry)? You can’t serve the banks anymore;
And then there was Continental A.G., the German auto parts maker that was acquired last summer, after a bitter takeover battle, by a rival, Schaeffler. In cutting its rating on Continental, S.&P. analysts cited the “potentially negative impact of its majority ownership” by Schaeffler.
Schaeffler is now asking for state aid after its purchase of 90 percent of Continental A.G. saddled the firm with 11 billion euros ($14.5 billion) of debt.
Industries that topped the list of potential fallen angels include utilities, with nine companies; followed by consumer products, with eight; and finance companies and media and entertainment companies, with seven entities each.
Here is a video of Mrs Schaeffler (widow of the founder), which has all here fortune in the Schaeffler Group. One thing is that you shouldn’t plan a hostile takeover in such uncertain times economic wise. The other thing is that the hostage was three times bigger on the books than your own company. Hilarious. Where is the substance in that? And then the management (Manfred Wennemer) runs away when the company is in serious trouble (Schaeffler Group AND Continental A.G. together are with 23 billion Euros in debt (article in german here). Some of the debt might be served by putting the tire business (you might know Continental tires?) on the silver plate. FOR SALE. Gosh!
And now Schaeffler Group (66.000 employees)/Conti (~146.496 employees),asking for government bailout money and demonstrate on the street with the slogan; ‘We are all Schaeffler Family!’
but there is so many out there;
All have the same tone. The same facts, the same reasoning, the same conclusion which tips them to the possible near future scenario.
I have to admit, the numbers look bad. For the USA, for (East-)Europe, for the UK, for Asia. And I hope our politicans don’t gamble, don’t bluff with what they are holding in their hand. All this can turnout into ‘Hell Break loose’.
I’d rather hope not.
Alan Greenspan FED Chairman from 1987 till 2006 and a free-market advocat, has admitted that the economic theory (his ideology) of free and unregulated markets is in question and in parts flawed;
“Greenspan: Well, remember that what an ideology is. It’s a conceptual framework with the way people deal with reality. Everyone has one. You have to. To exist you need an ideology. The question is whether it is accurate or not. And what I’m saying to you is ‘yes, I have found a flaw.’ I don’t know how significant or permanent it is. But I have been very distressed by that fact…..A flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works, so to speak.”
[…] “What went wrong with global economic policies that had worked so effectively for nearly four decades?”
Maybe a mix of several things. Globalisation. Exploitation. Possibilities. Computation/Technology. …
Here are some articles to that from HuffPost, Bloomberg, Independent.
And as M. J. Whitman already discussed - both can’t work alone. So I and others hope that we see a marriage and get along well wihtout the ugly fights.
Economic purpose does not mean that the corporation should be free from social obligations. On the contrary it should be so organized as to fulfill, automatically, its social obligations in the very act of seeking its own self-interest. An individual society based on the corporation can function only if the corporation contributes to social stability and to the achievement of social aims independent of the goodwill or the social consciousness of individual corporation managements.
At the same time, the demand for harmony does not mean that society should abandon its needs and aims and its right to limit the exercise of economic power on the part of the corporation. On the contrary, it is a vital function of rulership to set the frame within which institutions and individuals act. But, society must be organized so that there is no temptation to enact, in the name of social stability or social beliefs, measures that are inimical to the survival and stability of its representative institutions.
Source: Concept of the Corporation
From the Drucker Institute, the daily Drucker. Feb. 16th 2009.
East European countries (who are not in the european currency union) are the biggest long-term risk during this recession inhabits for Europe. They are taking out new loans to cover their existing debt obligations. Its like a death spiral. Facing the risk of defaulting like a homeowner in the U.S.. Which could lead to a meltdown like we had it in Latin-Amerika where countries gone bust, or the Peso Crisis, with all the resulting ripple effects throughtout Europe and the wider financial world. More her. http://tinyurl.com/dy8688
Poem from Anastasia Baburova.
The Economist, Feb 5th 2009 print ed., Obituary, Anastasia Baburova. (here)
New Book: American Idol After Iraq: Competing for Hearts and Minds in the Global Media Age by Nathan Gardels (Author) & Mike Medavoy (Author). Coming in April to your favourite bookstore.
From Amazon;
Product Description
This dazzling little book explores the role of US media in foreign policy, not only at the present moment, but with an eye to the future.
“Nathan Gardels and Mike Medavoy have not only written the best book about public diplomacy and the global competition of ideas that I have read in 30 years of working in the public diplomacy field – they present the most honest and realistic assessment I’ve seen of the opportunities and challenges America faces in convincing foreign publics to give us the benefit of the doubt in the years ahead. For present and future decision–makers who who treat public diplomacy like the weather – everyone talks about it but no one knows how to do anything about it – and for Americans who wonder ′why does the world hate us?′ this is a must read.” Doug Wilson, former Director of Congressional Affairs, US Information Agency and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
“The ability to win the hearts and minds of a people rarely comes at the end of a bomb or bullet.
Those who reach us through the magic of movies and multimedia technologies have far greater power to capture our ideas and attitudes than does any army.
Nathan Gardels and Mike Medavoy have produced an important book that examines this reality. It reviews the history of filmmaking in this context and the forces of globalization, illuminating the path that America needs to follow if we hope to restore our nation to a place of global prominence and moral influence.” William. S. Cohen, Former Secretary of Defense
“I’m sure many people will, and should, challenge their own postures after reading this book.” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Director of Babel
This recession is just a device for holding together different kinds of failure. Failure in reasoning, failure in politics, failure in policy making, failure by the school of economics, the usual greed of mankind (which is kind of an old mammal survival instinct - ran out of control after the industrial revolution), our ability of not-to-change, our failure to realise the history-told-us-before reality and not to do the same mistake again. But we do the same mistakes again. And destroy our fortunes we had on paper. Plain, nothing.
This recession might be caused by the people which we see as aliens among us. But this recession is just for every other ordinary.
PS: I chose ‘recession in time’ B/C it said several times -Hello, Hello! through the tubes.
It’s again Germany which leads by example. Every citizen gets an email address connected to their ID card/identity for E-Government paper work (tax, council, etc.) and can be used as normal one (for shopping & co.) too.
The Citizens Portals project is part of the High-tech Strategy, the E-government Programme 2.0 and the Federal Government’s “12-point Plan for a Citizen-Friendly Germany” (“12-Punkte-Plan für ein bürgerfreundliches Deutschland”)
The first pilot projects are scheduled for 2009.
What is De-mail?
As simple as e-mail, but reliable and secure as postal mail
The aim of the Citizens Portals project is to create an uncomplicated infrastructure with which citizens, businesses and the administration can exchange information in a reliable and confidential environment. The services called De-mail (including secure e-mail, identification service, document filing system) are offered by private providers which are publicly certified.Accounts and addresses
De-mail accounts may be opened by both natural and legal persons. Users must once perform a reliable identification procedure to open up an electronic mailbox, either by a special identification service provided by Deutsche Post AG (Postident) or in future with the electronic ID card.
German press release is here http://tinyurl.com/cekyba here is the website (http://www.buergerportale.de/). And here is a PDF for all English readers.
RT @brit RT @auren California now at 9.3% unemployment. worst time in years to be graduating college. wow.
When you can’t find a job (part-time/full-time) due to the fact that nobody is hiring because they are busy firing the people they have - don’t get frustrated. There are enough other attractive options out there. For managers/HR managers (and labour economists) it is of utmost importance that we don’t lose human capital during a downturn/recession. Human capital is the work force, the knowledge (that of the specialised workers, academics), new graduates to produce any economic value.
As you and others are not able to find a job - human capital decreases in the economy in effect. But as I think - you don’t need a ‘job’ to hold or increase your personal share of the human capital. I am here to propose that you start looking for an activity in a fund, charity or as volunteer. Instead of working part-time at McDonalds or as cashier with your MA in Accounting or Msc in Engineering.
Remember, take this opportunity and make a good impression (for your future employer), make a difference in the world, show that we can change for the good and don’t think always about our self. And it will look good on your CV anyway (in years to come) in several perspectives of an HR manager. And don’t think about the “unproductive gap year”, don’t!
If you have success, let me know via twitter.com/michaeljung or mail to.michaeljung on gmail.com
All the best, Michael.
11th Feb 09
Aberdeen (UK), 7pm, Waterstone Branch Union bridge. & Costa coffee shop.
Kelley Swain, who will be reading poetry from her book “Darwin’s Microscope” inspired by the theory of evolution and chatting about why she decided to create poems based on science. Pending publication dates, Kelley’s book will be available at the event.
