HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

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“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

Benjamin Franklin

The Truth About Lying

 We live in an age where continual violations of trust in business, government and the media makes us wonder who to believe.  Social psychologist Daniel Ariely advises that we look a little closer to home (e.g. our employees and ourselves as well) in his new book  “The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty.”    In a recent one page article titled “ A tissue of lies ” ,  Ariely summarizes research from his book that will help you understand  why people (including yours)  lie and cheat and what it means for business.

Econ Recon:  Good News and Storm Warning

Recent news about new home sales should augur well for the continuing recovery….until it doesn’t according to Vistage Staff Economist and Institute for Trend Research Economist Alan BeaulieuHowever,  a  closer look at the most recent numbers also contains a warning about a 2013-2014 recession that ITR has been forecasting for some timeA brief blog entry at the ITR website will give you the big picture.  Plan accordingly – by staying lean and mean and maintaining a strong cash position.

Five Marketing Myths to Avoid…and how the rich get rich

 “There are few areas of business more misunderstood than marketing. Unfortunately, much of this misunderstanding comes from myths that are largely promulgated by the marketers themselves,”   so begins a recent overview of Five Marketing Myths to Avoid.”  Check out this brief INC magazine article to find out which marketing myths you or your company are living.   While you’re at the INC sight, take a look at a summary from the IRS on how the rich got rich.

Celebrate Our Freedom – Dedicate Ourselves to the Freedom of Our Children

May we all remember today what a privilege it is to live in this nation.  Today we celebrate this country’s birth. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness because of a declaration in 1776.

America is going through many struggles right now and dealing with pressing issues that, if not solved, will burden our children and our grandchildren with our debts and the consequences of our convenient and self-serving “kick-the-can-down-the-road” choices.

Let’s protect and preserve the promise of 1776 for our future generations by making a commitment to act – on the national debt, on the competitiveness of the American business climate, on health care “reform,” on the education of our children, on energy independence, and all the other issues that threaten a growing, healthy and productive society.

Let us all make a commitment to do what is right for our future generation, even if it is hard and painful on us today – for it will be much harder on them if we chose to do more of the same – borrow to make our lives easy and giving the bills to our children.

“If not I, who?  If not now, when?”