EC0NOMIST: JESSICA BUCHSBAUM first noticed that something had changed in May 2008. The head of recruitment for a law firm in Florida, Ms Buchsbaum was used to interviewing young candidates for summer internships who seemed to think that the world owed them a living. Many applicants expected the firm to promote itself to them rather than the other way around. However, last May’s crop were far more humble. “The tone had changed from ‘What can you do for me?’ to ‘Here’s what I can do for you’,” she says.
The global downturn has been a brutal awakening for the youngest members of the workforce—variously dubbed “the Millennials”, “Generation Y” or “the Net Generation” by social researchers. “Net Geners” are, roughly, people born in the 1980s and 1990s. Those old enough to have passed from school and university into work had got used to a world in which jobs were plentiful and firms fell over one another to recruit them. Now their prospects are grimmer. According to America’s Bureau of Labour Statistics, the unemployment rate among people in their 20s increased significantly in the two most recent recessions in the United States. It is likely to do so again as industries such as finance and technology, which employ lots of young people, axe thousands of jobs.
This is creating new problems for managers. Because of the downturn, Net Geners are finding it harder to hop to new jobs. At the same time, their dissatisfaction is growing as crisis-hit firms adopt more of a command-and-control approach to management—the antithesis of the open, collaborative style that young workers prefer. Less autonomy and more directives have sparked complaints among Net Geners that offices and factories have become “pressure cookers” and “boiler rooms”. “The recession is creating lower turnover, but also higher frustration among young people stuck in jobs,” warns Cam Marston, a consultant who advises companies on inter-generational matters.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Can a film sell a country? Only if it’s very good
economist: “COME and Say G’day”, a tourist campaign built round Paul Hogan, the star of “Crocodile Dundee”, brought visitors swarming to Australia. Now, almost 25 years later, with the country’s tourism business back in the doldrums, the authorities are hoping that another quirky outback movie will pull the same trick.
“Australia”, which opened in its home market in November, is the most expensive Australian film ever made. It has some of the country’s biggest cinema names: Baz Lurhmann as director; Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as stars. But in America its early box-office takings were disappointing and its reviews have been pretty sad.
That has not stopped Tourism Australia, the government body that spins the country to potential visitors, from pouring A$50m ($33m) into a campaign linked to the film. Big hopes are riding on this. As a long-haul destination, Australia has been straining to build its visitor numbers in recent years: 5.6m visitors this year, unchanged from 2007.
One problem, according to Nick Baker, marketing manager of Tourism Australia, is that the country is suffering from a “lack of fashionability and buzz”. A two-year campaign built round the slogan “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” only made things worse: some countries judged the campaign gauche, others a turn-off.
So Tourism Australia commissioned Mr Lurhmann to film two travel commercials, set in the same northern Australian outback locations as his film, and involving Brandon Walters, a young aboriginal actor who almost steals the movie’s limelight. Tourism Australia hopes that the commercials, which will run in 22 countries until mid-2009, will help it meet its target of raising visitor numbers by 3.2% next year.
“Australia”, which opened in its home market in November, is the most expensive Australian film ever made. It has some of the country’s biggest cinema names: Baz Lurhmann as director; Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as stars. But in America its early box-office takings were disappointing and its reviews have been pretty sad.
That has not stopped Tourism Australia, the government body that spins the country to potential visitors, from pouring A$50m ($33m) into a campaign linked to the film. Big hopes are riding on this. As a long-haul destination, Australia has been straining to build its visitor numbers in recent years: 5.6m visitors this year, unchanged from 2007.
One problem, according to Nick Baker, marketing manager of Tourism Australia, is that the country is suffering from a “lack of fashionability and buzz”. A two-year campaign built round the slogan “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” only made things worse: some countries judged the campaign gauche, others a turn-off.
So Tourism Australia commissioned Mr Lurhmann to film two travel commercials, set in the same northern Australian outback locations as his film, and involving Brandon Walters, a young aboriginal actor who almost steals the movie’s limelight. Tourism Australia hopes that the commercials, which will run in 22 countries until mid-2009, will help it meet its target of raising visitor numbers by 3.2% next year.
Reliance to set world's biggest refinery
New Delhi(FE): Reliance Industries is set to double its capacity by starting up its new 580,000 barrels per day plant (bpd) this weekend, creating the world's biggest refinery just as global oil demand collapses.
The $6 billion project will make the oil complex in Jamnagar in Gujarat the world's single biggest supplier of fuels to the global market, pumping out 1.24 million bpd of ultra-clean fuels to Europe, Africa and the United States.
The project is a triumph for Chief Executive Mukesh Ambani, who helped break India's heavy reliance on imported fuel a decade ago with Reliance's first 660,000 bpd plant, a cash cow for the firm during a profit boom over the past four years.
This Sunday is also the birthday of the late Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani, Ambani's father and founder of the Reliance group, who turned his textile firm into a petrochemical-to- telecom conglomerate and India's biggest private company.
The $6 billion project will make the oil complex in Jamnagar in Gujarat the world's single biggest supplier of fuels to the global market, pumping out 1.24 million bpd of ultra-clean fuels to Europe, Africa and the United States.
The project is a triumph for Chief Executive Mukesh Ambani, who helped break India's heavy reliance on imported fuel a decade ago with Reliance's first 660,000 bpd plant, a cash cow for the firm during a profit boom over the past four years.
This Sunday is also the birthday of the late Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani, Ambani's father and founder of the Reliance group, who turned his textile firm into a petrochemical-to- telecom conglomerate and India's biggest private company.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
BERNIE MADOFF - PONZIE SQUARED
Bernie Madoff committed the biggest scam in history ( approx US $ 50 billion)by running a PONZIE scheme and duping high net worth individuals , banks etc.
What is the Ponzie Scheme
A fraudulent investing scam that promises high rates of return at little risk to investors. The scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors. This scam actually yields the promised returns to earlier investors, as long as there are more new investors
The Ponzi scam is named after Charles Ponzi, a clerk in Boston who first orchestrated such a scheme in 1919.
A Ponzi scheme is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors' funds to pay the earlier backers. One difference between the two schemes is that the Ponzi mastermind gathers all relevant funds from new investors and then distributes them. Pyramid schemes, on the other hand, allow each investor to directly benefit depending on how many new investors are recruited. In this case, the person on the top of the pyramid does not at any point have access to all the money in the system.
For both schemes, however, eventually there isn't enough money to go around and the schemes unravel.
What is the Ponzie Scheme
A fraudulent investing scam that promises high rates of return at little risk to investors. The scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors. This scam actually yields the promised returns to earlier investors, as long as there are more new investors
The Ponzi scam is named after Charles Ponzi, a clerk in Boston who first orchestrated such a scheme in 1919.
A Ponzi scheme is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors' funds to pay the earlier backers. One difference between the two schemes is that the Ponzi mastermind gathers all relevant funds from new investors and then distributes them. Pyramid schemes, on the other hand, allow each investor to directly benefit depending on how many new investors are recruited. In this case, the person on the top of the pyramid does not at any point have access to all the money in the system.
For both schemes, however, eventually there isn't enough money to go around and the schemes unravel.
Women dump sex for Internet: Survey
The survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive, on behalf of Intel, found that nearly half of women (46 per cent) and 30 per cent of men would rather surf the net than have sex, reports the Independent. For women aged 18-34 it was 49 per cent and for women aged 35-44 it was 52 per cent.
Only 39 per cent of men aged 18-34 would swap the bedroom for the broadband. In the survey, television also copped a beating with over half the respondents preferring to give up two weeks of telly than a single week of web access
Only 39 per cent of men aged 18-34 would swap the bedroom for the broadband. In the survey, television also copped a beating with over half the respondents preferring to give up two weeks of telly than a single week of web access
An online Nostradamus, and the search for his identity
ECOOMIST: BACK in September a message appeared on an online bulletin board owned by Daum, the most popular web host in a country, South Korea, with a huge internet culture. Written by someone called “Minerva”, it predicted the imminent collapse of Lehman Brothers, a now-defunct investment bank.
Wild speculation is normally disregarded, but when it proved to be right just five days later, a prophet was born. Word raced through the “netizen” community, and when Minerva went on to predict that the Korean won would fall against the dollar by around 50 won a day in the first half of the week of October 6th, his followers began to watch the currency markets in anticipation. The won did indeed fall by about that much over the next three days.
Minerva became an internet phenomenon, with 40m-odd hits to date. Web-users combed through previous posts, looking for prognostications, and clues about his identity. Sharp comments on the state of the Korean economy and government policy only increased his standing. The media now call him “the Internet Economic President”.
The administration of President Lee Myung-bak is frequently accused of authoritarianism by opponents, so it came as little surprise when the finance minister, Kang Man-soo, admitted that officials had attempted to uncover the blogger’s identity. Some people believe him to be a senior figure in a financial firm. Others think he may even be a civil servant undermining the government from inside. All Minerva has revealed is that he is a man in his 50s.
Wild speculation is normally disregarded, but when it proved to be right just five days later, a prophet was born. Word raced through the “netizen” community, and when Minerva went on to predict that the Korean won would fall against the dollar by around 50 won a day in the first half of the week of October 6th, his followers began to watch the currency markets in anticipation. The won did indeed fall by about that much over the next three days.
Minerva became an internet phenomenon, with 40m-odd hits to date. Web-users combed through previous posts, looking for prognostications, and clues about his identity. Sharp comments on the state of the Korean economy and government policy only increased his standing. The media now call him “the Internet Economic President”.
The administration of President Lee Myung-bak is frequently accused of authoritarianism by opponents, so it came as little surprise when the finance minister, Kang Man-soo, admitted that officials had attempted to uncover the blogger’s identity. Some people believe him to be a senior figure in a financial firm. Others think he may even be a civil servant undermining the government from inside. All Minerva has revealed is that he is a man in his 50s.
SIEMENS SCANDAL
ECONOMIST:WHEN Siemens, Europe’s biggest engineering firm, adopted the slogan “be inspired” in the mid-1990s, bribery was not what it had in mind. But no one can accuse its managers of lacking inspiration when it came to devising novel ways to funnel huge sums in backhanders to corrupt officials and politicians across the globe. On Monday December 15th Siemens pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and corruption and agreed to pay fines of $800m in America and €395m ($555m) in Germany, in addition to an earlier fine of €201m.
Take the three “cash desks” it set up in its offices, to which employees could bring empty suitcases to be filled with cash. As much as a €1m ($1.4m) could be withdrawn at a time to win contracts for its telecoms-equipment division, according to America’s Department of Justice (DoJ).
Few questions were asked, no documents were required and managers who applied for money were allowed to approve their own requests. Until 1999 Siemens openly claimed tax deductions for bribes, many of which were listed in its accounts as “useful expenditure”.
Take the three “cash desks” it set up in its offices, to which employees could bring empty suitcases to be filled with cash. As much as a €1m ($1.4m) could be withdrawn at a time to win contracts for its telecoms-equipment division, according to America’s Department of Justice (DoJ).
Few questions were asked, no documents were required and managers who applied for money were allowed to approve their own requests. Until 1999 Siemens openly claimed tax deductions for bribes, many of which were listed in its accounts as “useful expenditure”.
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