“Why Aren’t Companies Hiring?” Part V

Businesses have reacted to the tumultuous economic conditions in many ways.  A logical action has been to reduce cash outlays to a level appropriate to what the new economic conditions seemingly warrant.  Along these lines, expenses have undergone scrutiny and in many cases have been cut, in order to preserve cash as well as improve profitability …

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“Why Aren’t Companies Hiring?” Part IV

In addition to the adversity and financial strains suffered by firms during this period of economic weakness, there exists significant uncertainty on many fronts.  As mentioned in the last post, many businesses would find any further economic weakness to pose a formidable challenge.  Although economist forecasts are predicting a weak economic recovery from here, economic forecasts have proven less than accurate the last …

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“Why Aren’t Companies Hiring?” Part III

The economic weakness that has occurred has caused a significant amount of financial damage.  This can be seen in a variety of indicators and statistics, such as widening credit spreads, defaults, credit downgrades, etc.  These worsening conditions have been accompanied by a curtailed (in many cases severely) access to credit.  Whereas credit and other types …

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“Why Aren’t Companies Hiring?” Part II

The economic weakness that accelerated in the latter months of 2008 and into 2009 played out in a very “tricky” fashion. Very few mainstream economists foresaw what would happen.  A testament to the complexity of the situation as 2008 progressed was the business shows airing arguments during the summer as to whether the economy was even in …

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“Why Aren’t Companies Hiring?” Part I

“As unemployment approaches 10%, what is less well publicized is that the number of “underutilized” workers in the U.S. has increased dramatically from 15 to 30 million. Those without jobs, as well as those individuals who only work part-time and have become discouraged and stopped looking, total 30 MILLION people. The number is staggering.” -Bill …

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The Commonality of The “Jobless Recovery” Belief

The following story from CNBC.com will serve as a good prelude to a series of posts I will write on joblessness and hiring.  It discusses the widely-held (among economists) view that we are entering a “jobless recovery.” : http://www.cnbc.com/id/32104155 It is important to note the commonality of the concept in economists’ forecasts. As I mentioned on June 9, …

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Tax Breaks And The Economic Greenfield vs. Economic Brownfield Concept

Here is a recent story from BusinessWeek, “Will Tax Breaks Boost Jobs?” As seen in my article (with italics added for emphasis) “America’s Economic Future – ‘Greenfield’ or ‘Brownfield’ ?” “One way to determine whether an economic “greenfield” environment exists is whether businesses are thriving and multiplying naturally – with an indicator being that they are choosing …

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“Quick Fixes” To Balance State Budgets

I wanted to briefly comment on this recent (July 17) Wall Street Journal article that mentions how Illinois and California are working to “balance” their budgets: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124776520979752661.html The article brings to mind a term that I have used before, “quick fixes.”  Sadly, some of the means by which these budgets are apparently being balanced might …

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Another Forecast Mentioning “Double-Dip” Possibility

Goldman Sachs yesterday came out with a new forecast on the S&P500 price as well as operating earnings, as seen on CNBC.com here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31774313 I found the following phrase interesting; as this is another forecast that mentions the possibility of a “double-dip” recession in the future: “Goldman’s current economic view is for below-trend growth through …

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“Focusing On Things We Can Control”

Recently I have seen a phrase mentioned by a couple of different Fortune 500 firms during conference calls.  While discussing their financial results, they have mentioned that they are “focusing on things that they can control.” When I first heard this phrase it struck me as odd.  I inferred from the phrase that they were trying to convey diligence with …

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