The Big Picture

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• Output and Unemployment: How do they relate?
• Fukushima, the Great Recession and Other Crises All Caused by Crony Capitalism
• Where Does Success Come From?
• How to Get More Signal . . .
• 10 Sunday Reads
• Scalded by Coffee, Then News Media
• Low and Moderate-Income Populations Survey

Output and Unemployment: How do they relate? Posted: 18 Nov 2013 02:00 AM PST

Fukushima, the Great Recession and Other Crises All Caused by Crony Capitalism Posted: 17 Nov 2013 10:30 PM PST Japan Is Being Destroyed By Criminal Corporate Cronyism (Like the Rest of the World) Tepco's criminal actions have worsened the Fukushima disaster: Engineers warned Tepco and the Japanese government many years before the accident that the reactors were seismically unsafe … and that an earthquake could wipe them out.  For example, the team of engineers sent in to inspect found that most of these components could "completely and utterly fail" during an earthquake. But Tepco covered this up (the Fukushima reactors were fatally damaged before the tsunami hit … the earthquake took them out even before the tidal wave hit) Tepco also tore down the natural seawall which would have pretended the tsunami, based upon false projections of the risk from a tidal wave Tepco admitted to repeatedly falsifying safety tests. Tepco covered up cracked reactor core containment vessel and other serious problems for decades An official Japanese government investigation concluded that the Fukushima accident was a "man-made" disaster, caused by "collusion" between government and Tepco and bad reactor design Tepco knew right after the 2011 accident that 3 nuclear reactors had lost containment, that the nuclear fuel had "gone missing", and that there was in fact no real containment at all. Tepco has desperately been trying to cover this up for 2 and a half years … instead pretending that the reactors were in "cold shutdown" Tepco just admitted that it's known for 2 years that massive amounts of radioactive water are leaking into the groundwater and Pacific Ocean Tepco – with no financial incentive to actually fix things – has only been pretending to clean it up. And see this Tepco has been directly hiring Yakuza gang members from criminal shell companies as a regular, ongoing practice Tepco's recent attempts to solidify the ground under the reactors using chemicals has backfired horribly. And NBC News notes: "[Tepco] is considering freezing the ground around the plant. Essentially building a mile-long ice wall underground, something that's never been tried before to keep the water out. One scientist I spoke to dismissed this idea as grasping at straws, just more evidence that the power company failed to anticipate this problem … and now cannot solve it." Letting Tepco remove the fuel rods is like letting a convicted murderer perform delicate brain surgery on a VIP. Top scientists and government officials say that Tepco should be removed from all efforts to stabilize Fukushima, and that an international team of the smartest engineers and scientists should handle this difficult "surgery". And yet Tepco is still in charge of Fukushima … and is making record profits. And Japan will likely pass a new anti-whistleblowing law in an attempt to silence criticism of Tepco and the government: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is planning a state secrets act that critics say could curtail public access to information on a wide range of issues, including tensions with China and the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The new law would dramatically expand the definition of official secrets and journalists convicted under it could be jailed for up to five years. In reality, reporters covering Fukushima have long been harassed and censored. This is exactly like the financial crisis, the BP oil spill and other major disasters … crony capitalism between corrupt corporations and captured governments is ruining our lives.

Where Does Success Come From? Posted: 17 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST You go to meetings. You process your inbox. You might make a presentation here and there. You certainly seem busy. But I bet if I asked your team what it is you do all day long, most of them would say, "I have no idea". And come to think of it, do you know how exactly they spend every day? In today's new generation of tech company, leadership and responsibility is more distributed than ever before. People are expected to get the job done, without someone watching or directing every move all along the way. Teams are focused on results, not roles. So as leaders in increasingly flat organizations without the traditional hierarchy and process of the past, how can we make sure we are still leading effectively? What's the balance between too hands-on and too hands-off? Your job as a leader is to let your team do what they're good at, but you can only give over autonomy once you've given them the tools they need and trust that they can execute without you watching over their shoulder. The talk will cover strategies to help you build trust with your team and set up the right guard rails to loosen your grip on the steering wheel and give people what they want in a leader. Where does success come from? from Kate Matsudaira by Kate Matsudaira, Founder & CTO at PopForms on Oct 25, 2013

How to Get More Signal . . . Posted: 17 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST     My Sunday Washington Post Business Section column is out. This morning, we look at the best ways to Use the News. As I noted last time out, its helpful to reduce your noise levels when it comes to investing. This go round the focus on getting more signal. For a change, I am positive (instead of my usual critical carping) about the media. Here’s an excerpt from the column: “If you have read me for any length of time, you know I am less than enthralled with much of what passes for financial news. Most of it looks like meaningless filler to me. A lot of it is misleading, emotional, nonsense. Too much of it is prediction-driven — and experience has taught us that most predictions are worthless. Last, huge swaths of opinion often masquerade as analysis, and that does nothing for you. That someone else happens to like XYZ should be irrelevant to you as an investor. Rather than repeat my usual whining about the financial press, I want to focus on how your use of media can add value to your investing process. (Okay, some whining might slip in, but I will keep it to a minimum.)” I name names of my specific favorites as well in the full piece . . . > > Source: Use the News Barry Ritholtz Washington Post, November 17 2013 http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/use-the-news-how-to-get-the-most-out-of-financial-media/2013/11/15/30f8b014-4c9a-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html

10 Sunday Reads Posted: 17 Nov 2013 05:30 AM PST Good Sunday morning. Some fine reading material to consider of a hot cup of Joe: • Stupid Things Finance People Say (Motley Fool) • 5 ways to know you're in a bubble (MarketWatch) but see also DoubleLine’s Gundlach says U.S. equities ‘only game in town’ (Reuters) • What Hedge Fund Billionaire Ray Dalio Gets Wrong About Money (Businessweek) • A wrong-way bet on global oil prices hits some investment firms (WSJ) see also For Oil, Conventional Wisdom No Longer Applies (WSJ) • Financial Advisers Get Little Respect (Rick Ferri) • How the NYT neglects business journalism (Felix Salmon) see also The Relationship Between Promotion and Performance (Brian Abelson) • Why Apple Is Not in the Volume Business (Minyanville) • GOP Party Crashers (New Yorker) see also Republicans Asserting Reliance on Gold as World Loses Faith (Bloomberg) • Google Books ruling is a huge victory for online innovation (Washington Post) • #AskJPM . . . Hilarity Ensues (TBP) What’s for brunch? (Carbfest! We’re having Bagels!)   Public Cost of Fast-Food’s Low Pay Remains Unclear Source: WSJ

Scalded by Coffee, Then News Media Posted: 17 Nov 2013 03:00 AM PST Scalded by Coffee, Then News Media: By Retro Report October 21st, 2013 In 1992, Stella Liebeck spilled scalding McDonald's coffee in her lap and later sued the company, attracting a flood of negative attention. It turns out there was more to the story.   Source: NYTimes

Low and Moderate-Income Populations Survey Posted: 17 Nov 2013 02:00 AM PST

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