Recessions

A research roundup

Many cling to the idea that reducing staff is the fastest, easiest way to cut costs. But there are smarter, more humane approaches.

During economic slowdowns, consulting, law, and accounting firms often start offering services and taking on clients they really shouldn't, just to keep...

In every recession marketers find themselves in poorly charted waters because no two downturns are exactly alike. However, in studying the marketing successes and failures of dozens of companies as they’ve navigated recessions from the 1970s onward, we’ve identified patterns in consumers’ behavior and firms’ strategies that either propel or undermine performance. Companies need to […]

The market reacted with surprise today when it emerged that Blockbuster has offered about $1 billion to purchase electronics retailer Circuit City. The potential deal threatens to distract both companies from the unenviable task of wrestling with disruptive forces affecting their respective core business models. Over the past few years, online video rental pioneer Netflix […]

I haven’t been posting a lot lately. Why not? I’ve been talking to lots of people – about a topic that is perhaps worth discussing here. There’s growing awareness of a disturbing incrementalism gripping Silicon Valley. Here’s a nice article by Jeff Nolan about it, with follow-on discussion by Tom Foremski;. in a strikingly similarity […]

It is never a good sign when the market drops 380 points on the day you give your first major policy address as Treasury Secretary. But that is exactly...

The economic situation isn’t getting any easier. We all know people (or are people) who have been laid off, had hours radically reduced, or have watched as companies simply vanish out of existence. Those of us still showing up to work every day may be seeing some unfamiliar behaviors as well. How many of us […]

By instigating the dot-com crash, the capital markets have placed the entire new economy at risk.

865,000 women left the U.S. workforce in September 2020 alone.

Research finds that these fees are an outsized source of revenue for banks in poor communities.

The ponderous United States Postal Service transformed itself into a competitive business—for a while. Its story holds lessons for any company trying to keep a change initiative from faltering.

The green movement may be at risk of slowing down, especially within the business community. Many business people hold on to an outdated view of green:...

Our company has had a terrible year because one of our divisions completely tanked. Although my division had a fantastic year, corporate cutbacks mean that I have to lay off some great people. Do you have any suggestions on how to best handle this tough situation? Your situation is, unfortunately, very common this year. I […]

For the foreseeable future, governments will take a keen interest in how executives manage. In the U.S., industries and sectors representing more than...

Warning: This is my first post of 2009, so please excuse the length. You know things are dire when one of the country’s most influential columnists devotes several articles (and a new book) to parallels between what’s happening now and the Great Depression. Here’s Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in his latest New York Times column: […]

Something I wrote last week motivated Paul Krugman to riff: By 1988, it was already obvious that equilibrium business cycle theory had failed. Shiller had already circulated his devastating demonstration that asset prices were much too volatile to be explained by fundamentals, and the 1987 market crash had provided an object lesson in panic. Also, […]

When today’s great crisis ends, the U.S. financial system will be a shadow of its former self, but America will be stronger than ever. History shows that money and power don’t always go hand in hand.

What we know after the first six months — and where we go from here.

When an insolvent AIG paid out $165 million in executive bonuses, the public was outraged. But that is peanuts compared to the $62 billion AIG has quietly paid out to settle its obligations with some of the world’s largest banks. Last week, the details of this settlement were finally disclosed. The financial products subsidiary of […]