By 2 Cents on November 21st, 2011 | Category: Life Balance |  We’re not talking about mere balance here . . . A visionary company doesn’t simply balance between idealism and profitability; it seeks to be highly idealistic and highly profitable . . . a highly visionary company doesn’t want to blend yin and yang into a gray, indistinguishable circle that is neither highly yin nor highly yang; it aims to be . . . both at the same time, all the time.
~ James Collins & Jerry Porras, Built to Last
The English proverb tells us that we can’t have our cake and eat it too. I’ve often struggled to understand exactly what that means. I guess it’s supposed to imply that we can’t have it both ways. How can we preserve something of value if we continue to consume it?
Today’s quote comes from a book I’ve been reading on visionary companies: the ones that stand the test [...]
Read on and enjoy … Why Can’t We Have Our Cake and Eat It Too?
By 2 Cents on October 17th, 2011 | Category: Economics |  If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
~ Bishop Desmond Tutu
“In the wake of the global financial crisis, politicians and regulators assuaged public outrage by promising reforms that would prevent such a crisis from occurring again. But not much has improved. We haven’t even managed much of a regime change. Many of the bankers, regulators and politicians who drove the policies that led to the crisis are still in their chairs. Many of the big banks are even bigger. Too big to fail is still a major systemic threat.” I made this comment over 8 months ago as the civil unrest in Egypt was boiling over.
At the time, I wondered [...]
Read on and enjoy … Occupy Wall Street: Have We Reached the Tipping Point?
By 2 Cents on February 28th, 2011 | Category: Financial Literacy |  What exactly is the function of the financial sector in our society? Simply this: Its sole function is supplying capital efficiently to aid the real economy. The financial sector is a tool to help those that make real tools, not an end in itself. But five fatal flaws in the financial sector’s current structure have created a monster that drains the real economy, promotes fraud and corruption, threatens democracy, and causes recurrent, intensifying crises.
~ Bill Black
Today I’d like to review an article on the financial sector that I came across via The Big Picture. It’s by Bill Black, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One and an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is also “a white-collar criminologist who has spent years working on regulatory policy and fraud prevention.”
The [...]
Read on and enjoy … The Financial Sector: Capitalist Bastion or Corrupt Oligarchy?
By 2 Cents on December 3rd, 2010 | Category: Economics |  Lucy Van Pelt: This time you can trust me. See? I have a signed document testifying that I won’t pull it away. Charlie Brown: It is signed. A signed document. I guess if you have a signed document in your possession, you can’t go wrong. Maybe this is the year I finally kick that football. [Charlie Brown runs to kick football, but Lucy pulls it away]
~ It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
Update: This article was included in the December 6, 2010 Best of Money Carnival at Mighty Bargain Hunter. It was also mentioned in the Carnival of Financial Planning #169 at The Skilled Investor. Thanks!
I’ve loved the Charles Schulz Peanuts comic strip since I was a kid. I’ve enjoyed the holiday classics for years with my own kids too. Now that they’re a little older, I try [...]
Read on and enjoy … Lucy and the Charlie Brown Market
By 2 Cents on April 30th, 2010 | Category: Economics | Some of the secret joys of living are not found by rushing from point A to point B, but by inventing some imaginary letters along the way.
~ Douglas Pagels
Update: This article was a Best Overall Carnival Post nominee in the Money Hacks Carnival #114 posted at Nerd Wallet. Thanks!
Today’s Friday Food for Thought is based on a recent article from The Economist that discussed the waning popularity of shareholder capitalism as advanced by Jack Welch and others. In this model of capitalism, “a firm’s sole aim should be maximizing returns to its shareholders”. This brand of capitalism has dominated the business landscape for the past 25 years or so.
Stakeholder capitalism, by contrast, is more concerned with the needs of customers, employees, suppliers, and society at large. Roger Martin, dean of [...]
Read on and enjoy … Shareholders vs. Stakeholders: Skipping Steps Is Costly
By 2 Cents on April 20th, 2010 | Category: Economics | Truth is not determined by majority vote.
~ Doug Gwyn
Update: This article was included in the Money Hacks Carnival #113 at Learn Save Invest. Thank you!
This is the third and final post in our mini-series introducing some basic thoughts on capitalism. In the last installment we asked Is Capitalism Broken? Whether you think our economic system is fatally flawed, functioning well, or in need of some repairs, most of us would probably agree that there’s room for improvement – although I’m sure a few might want to debate whether our current system should even be called capitalism.
It seems to me that there are 4 main qualities that are lacking in our current version of capitalism. I’ll briefly describe each here, although if I thought about it long enough, I’m sure I could find a few more missing [...]
Read on and enjoy … Capitalism: The Missing Links
By 2 Cents on April 12th, 2010 | Category: Economics | What we have in America is socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.
~ Gore Vidal
Update: This article is included in the Carnival of Financial Planning #138. Thanks!
In the inaugural installment of this series on capitalism, we introduced Capitalism’s 3 Children: owners, managers, and employees. All of them have key roles to play in the success of our economy. But, like any group of siblings, they tend to jockey for attention and frequently squabble among themselves.
Is Capitalism Doing Fine, Fundamentally Flawed, or Broken?
When the financial crisis and ensuing recession hit, we heard a lot of people blaming the capitalist system for the problems. So today we’re asking: Is capitalism broken? It seems to me that there are 3 main camps, each of which would answer that question differently:
No. There’s [...]
Read on and enjoy … Is Capitalism Broken?
By 2 Cents on April 6th, 2010 | Category: Economics | We live in a world in which politics has replaced philosophy.
~ Martin L. Gross, A Call for Revolution, 1993
Update: This article was featured in the Carnival of Financial Planning #137 posted at The Skilled Investor. Thank you!
What’s the difference between politics and philosophy? It seems to me that philosophy is about searching for the truth. Politics is more about proving that your version of the truth is better than the other side’s. I’m going to start an informal series today in which I will periodically write about our current economic system. We call it capitalism.
Before you start yawning and surf on to another web page, read a bit more. I intend to write from the perspective of a layperson, mom, wife, and citizen. That makes sense, since I fit into all 4 categories. There’s no danger [...]
Read on and enjoy … Capitalism’s 3 Children
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