Cowboy Economics

More study needed to halt Illinois job slump, economist says (2/8/2010)

llinois is mired in a deep employment recession that could linger for years unless the state unravels the roots of its nearly decade-long job slump, a new study by a University of Illinois economist warns. ...> Full Article

Renewable oil companies (2/7/2010)

The entry of oil companies into the realm of renewable energy could present major obstacles for the development of a sustainable economy that is not based on carbon resources, according to a report in the International Journal of Green Economics. ...> Full Article

Soft intelligence for hard decisions (2/5/2010)

An approach to decision making based on soft metrics could allow problems to be solved where no definitive "yes-no" answer is possible in fields as diverse as health care, defense, economics, engineering, public utilities and science. Writing in the International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems Mihaela Quirk of Los Alamos National Laboratory explains how. ...> Full Article

Research shows profit, not politics, drives sovereign wealth fund (2/2/2010)

Investment funds owned by national governments -- known as "sovereign wealth funds" -- wield trillions of dollars in investment power, raising concerns that the funds could be used for political purposes and leading to calls for limits on where these funds can invest. But new research from North Carolina State University indicates that such concerns may not be warranted, and that one of the largest sovereign wealth funds has been driven by profit, rather than political considerations. ...> Full Article

Financial crisis in news: Government financial support of news media continues steep decline (1/30/2010)

Government financial support that has bolstered this country's commercial news business since its colonial days is in sharp decline and is likely to fall further, according to a report released today by the University of Southern California's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. Because these cutbacks are occurring at the height of the digital revolution, they will have an especially powerful impact on a weakened news industry. ...> Full Article

Don't privatize banks too soon (1/29/2010)

Initial findings carried out under the ESRC's World Economy and Finance research program, which comes to a conclusion with a conference in London on January 28, 2010, warn against privatizing the recently nationalized banks too soon. ...> Full Article

Contain the damage of the financial crisis (1/27/2010)

The financial crisis creates chances for companies that learn to assess risk, recognize opportunity and take action quickly. "Beat the Crisis: 33 Quick Solutions for Your Company" is an antidote to the chorus of doom-and-gloom, a manual for business leaders and employees who are ready to fight. In this book, international strategy guru Hermann Simon offers 33 practical actions that any company can take immediately. ...> Full Article

Kibbutz transformation continues (1/26/2010)

Israel's kibbutz movement continues to shift from the "collective" model to differential wages.Over the course of 2009, five more kibbutzim converted to the "renewing kibbutz" model (paying its members differential wages) bringing the percentage of such kibbutzim up to 72 percent of all the kibbutzim in Israel. ...> Full Article

Providing good customer service is key to surviving down economy (1/23/2010)

The recession and the recent holiday shopping crunch have brought further into focus the true importance of receiving good customer service. Americans are being more careful than ever about how and where they spend their money. A new report from the Center for Services Leadership at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University reveals advice from some of the top names in business on how to keep customers happy. ...> Full Article

Companies better off hiring CEO from within in the long term (1/22/2010)

When a company wants to appoint a new CEO for strategic changes, they would be better off in the long term by promoting someone from inside the company rather than hiring someone from the outside, according to a new study from Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business. ...> Full Article

'Oil panic and the global crisis: Predictions and myths' (1/18/2010)

Stanford Proffesor separates fact from fiction and asks "are we really running out of oil or is the peak oil model outdated?" ...> Full Article

Research finds consumer behavior and lifestyle traits influence foreclosure rates (1/15/2010)

A homeowner's station in life and personal spending beliefs and habits are important indicators of the borrower's potential for home-mortgage default, say researchers in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Business. ...> Full Article

Report offers policymakers multiple ways to stabilize national debt (1/14/2010)

A new joint report from the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration offers US leaders ways to address the nation's fiscal problems and confront its rapidly growing debt -- a burden that if unchecked will inevitably limit the nation's future wealth and risk a disruptive fiscal crisis that could lead to a severe recession. ...> Full Article

Economists: Appliance rebates waste government money (1/12/2010)

For every $100 of taxpayer money spent on refrigerators under the federal appliance rebate program, $6 is entirely lost, say two University of Delaware economists. ...> Full Article

All sustainable transportation subsidies shouldn't be created equal, experts say (1/8/2010)

When it comes to pumping up the appeal of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, some regions are more ripe for the cars than others, and some consumers' buttons need more pushing than others -- an important policy distinction when shaping subsidies, two energy policy experts say. ...> Full Article