Songs and Bonds….”Fire” Them BEFORE You Hire Them….What Google Got Wrong….More Tech Bets….Econ Recon: Slumping and Dumping: Scary Austrians

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 Songs and Bonds

Rock Icon David Bowie died of cancer last week, releasing a new album and video just a few days before his death at age 69. In a career that spanned nearly 50 years, he released over two dozen albums and was successful artistically by about any standard that the rock world judges itself by. Aside from having a head for music, he also had a head for business, especially in the area of finance.  

If you’ve never heard of “Bowie Bonds”  check out this brief article from Bloomberg that shares how Bowie helped create a whole new class of esoteric financial instruments that spawned a whole new asset class and netted him over $50 million in one transaction. As one money manager commented “Bowie’s bonds were as groundbreaking as his music.”

“Fire” Them BEFORE You Hire Them

Many CEO are complaining that too many Millennials join their firms only to exit a few years later and after much has been invested in their development. One entrepreneur has decided that promising to help prospective Millennial hires move on to the next stop in their career may be a good way to attract them in the first place. Check out this counter-intuitive  “Know, Grow and Exit” strategy in a brief Forbes article.

 What Google Got Wrong

The devices we carry around generally make us more productive, but the space we occupy when working is just as important. Google, Facebook and other companies have pioneered the open workspace concept and the elimination of private offices in an attempt to enhance collaboration and build a more unified culture.

Like any new technology, the open office can come with a cost. A New York Times article analyzes the impact of the open office and summarizes some research on the impact on productivity and other aspects of work life. Find out what the author thinks Google (and others) got wrong  before you restructure your workspace.

More Tech Bets

Technology writer Robert X. Cringely continues his New Year’s technology predictions with a caution about the Internet of Things and whether Apple will buy Time Warner. As regards the latter, Cringely shares a metric that Apple uses to decide whether to acquire a company. This is a metric that anyone can calculate and you may find it useful as well.

Econ Recon: Slumping and Dumping; Scary Austrians

Another REALLY tough week in the stock market with the Dow off over 500 points at one time on Friday. What’s REALLY going on?

“Markets are slumping and expectations for China are dumping” write Alan and Brian Beaulieu of ITR economics, but they remain confident about the economy. Click here to find out why!

Economist Brian Wesbury shares two Wesbury 101 videos created over the past week. In the first one  “Boom and Bust”, he takes his fellow Austrian Economics Schoolmates to task for misunderstanding what is really going on. In the second, made during Friday’s madness, he advocates taking Warren Buffett’s advice in the above quote. Wesbury sees this week’s volatility as a technical, not a fundamental, correction and advises that this is a buying opportunity.