Hidden Motives

It certainly goes against conventional wisdom, but according to a new study, reported in The Wall Street Journal, we experience more stress at home than we do at work, measured by cortisol levels in the blood.

Behavioral Economics

So Where Are All the American Economists?

Ken Eisold Ph.D. on June 19, 2014

A French economist “has put creditable numbers on tax evasion, showing that it’s rampant–and a major driver of wealth inequality,” according to a story in The New York Times. What some have long suspected has proved to be true.

A French economist “has put creditable numbers on tax evasion, showing that it’s rampant–and a major driver of wealth inequality,” according to a story in The New York Times. What some have long suspected has proved to be true.

A professor of management practice at Harvard Business School recently asked a provocative question about the drug industry: “Is the role of leading large pharmaceutical companies to discover lifesaving drugs or to make money for shareholders through financial engineering?”

Increasingly, our financial world is an oligarchy of big established firms: big banks, big cable companies, big hospital systems, big advertising agencies, big airlines – you name it. It has frequently been argued that economies of scale will result in lower prices. Bigger, in other words, is better. But it isn’t always turning out that way.

After years of an active revolving door between banks and their government regulators, their friends in high places are deserting them. Plain talk and sharp criticism are replacing what The New York Times referred to as “a general willingness to assume that everything was fine.”

The secret is to trick yourself into ignoring what you know so well. Half closing your eyes, for example, blotting out the familiar to “see” something new. Turning an image upside down. Being playful or humorous.

The chief financial reporter of The New York Times seemed incredulous when he heard what some congressmen were saying about our markets not needing financial regulation: “Representative Jeb Hensarling, the chairman of the committee, proclaimed ‘it is almost inconceivable that an asset manager’s failure could cause systemic risk.’

There is a growing consensus that our economy has become hostage to short-term thinking, the demand of investors for immediate returns on their investments. The Harvard Business Review focused on this in this month’s feature: “Are Investors Bad For Business?”

That’s what a career counselor commented to The New York Times, in a story about rising fears of unemployment. “Job security is maintaining cutting-edge skills and establishing a far-reaching network.” In other words it is about continually preparing to be fired.

Goldman Sachs is holding its annual meeting in Texas, though it is based in New York. Citigroup met in St. Louis. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, met in San Antonio. Why?

Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire-Hathaway, suggests that “instead of filling your ranks with lawyers and compliance people, hire people that you actually trust and let them do their job.” A radically simple idea – and a good one....

Researchers know that we can be much better at detecting lies than we are – and that should not be so surprising given that polygraphs can do it. The information is stored in our bodies and brains, but the statistics that measure our conscious judgments show us to be miserable failures.

The Wall Street Journal presented some findings about the “executive brain,” based on neuro-imaging, a technique for observing the brain’s activity while engaged in thinking. It turns out that the executive brain is no different from any other brain. The suggestions it makes for effective performance apply to all forms of thinking.

“I could be an insider or I could be an outsider. Outsiders can say whatever they want. But people on the inside don’t listen to them.”

Two professors, one at Princeton, the other at Northwestern, have concluded in a recent study that power is highly concentrated in America in a way that threatens democracy. The study got a lot of press, but the language that was used describing it was particularly interesting....

What might get us to really pay attention to the growing gap between the rich and the poor?

Depression

Why Is the World More Depressed?

Ken Eisold Ph.D. on April 21, 2014

There is good reason to believe that the world is getting more depressed. T.M. Luhrmann, Professor of Anthropology at Stamford, travels a lot, frequently to the third world, so she has a chance to sample what people say and note how that changes over time. But she also cites data such as the World Health Organization’s report that “suicide rates have increased 60 percent.

There is good reason to believe that the world is getting more depressed. T.M. Luhrmann, Professor of Anthropology at Stamford, travels a lot, frequently to the third world, so she has a chance to sample what people say and note how that changes over time. But she also cites data such as the World Health Organization’s report that “suicide rates have increased 60 percent.

G.M.’s CEO has responded all too predictably to the Cobalt crisis by firing its senior vice president for global communications, responsible for “handling . . . the public response to the recall of nearly 2.6 million cars.” . . . .

Resilience

General Motors: Too Big to Fix?

Ken Eisold Ph.D. on April 14, 2014

Could some companies be just too big to manage effectively? They may offer too many dark corners, too many layers of responsibility, too many opportunities for their executives to get distracted and forget.

Could some companies be just too big to manage effectively? They may offer too many dark corners, too many layers of responsibility, too many opportunities for their executives to get distracted and forget.

“So what makes the obvious unsayable?” asks Paul Krugman in The New York Times....