Archive for June 4th, 2010

“Chronic Joblessness”

Friday, June 4th, 2010

The Wall Street Journal of June 2 had an article titled “Chronic Joblessness Takes Toll.”

I have written extensively about the unemployment  situation for a number of reasons.  Perhaps chief among these reasons is that I believe the situation is far worse than generally acknowledged.

While it is easy to dismiss the unemployment problem with glib statements or convoluted reasoning, I believe the issue is very complex and threatening.  As seen in the aforementioned Wall Street Journal article, as well as various charts shown on this blog, there is little doubt that from a long-term historical perspective our unemployment problems are outsized.  Additionally, there are many facets of our unemployment situation that go unrecognized yet are exceedingly important.

_____

Last year I wrote a series of blog posts titled “Why Aren’t Companies Hiring?” which contains many of my thoughts on the issue.

back to <home>

SPX at 1084.83 as this post is written

Share

Cost Cutting – A Few Comments

Friday, June 4th, 2010

McKinsey Quarterly had an interesting May 2010 article on cost cutting.

I have many thoughts on the issue of cost cutting.  The issue is complex and  particularly challenging as detailed data and analyses on the subject seem to be lacking, despite cost cutting’s widespread popularity over many years.

While prudent management of costs is of course beneficial, I believe that in general, the benefits of cost cutting are often exaggerated.  The reasons for this are various.

However, the detriments of cost cutting are rarely acknowledged or discussed.  This is unfortunate as these detriments can be very significant and pernicious across a variety of fronts.

back to <home>

SPX at 1084.76 as this post is written

Share