At AIMCAL's meeting this morning, Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent and political columnist for Newsweek, delivered his "View Inside Washington," or as he called it, "the world's largest theme park."

Fineman tallied the federal dollars committed in only the past four months: Two TARP fund outlays of $350 billion each; the Stimulus Package of $787 billion; $32 billion in SCHIP funds for poor-child healthcare; $75 billion in more war spending; $1 trillion in federal guarantees to banks for consumer-credit boosting; a $3.6-trillion budget for fiscal 2010; Treasury Sec. Geithner's $1-trillion bank reorganization plan leaked to the press over the weekend; etc. That's $7.2 trillion in government spending? Hey, it's not real money anyway. If we run out, we'll just print more...

How can this all be possible...Read More

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Here's another look on the bright side: The editors at our sister mag, Purchasing, have a new landing page on their Website called "Positive Indicators." It’s where they post news stories about positive developments in business in retaliation to all the doom-and-gloom news out there.

For example, the page includes stories on the slight upticks in Purchasing’s Business-Conditions and Buying-Plans indices, as well as increases in consumer spending, how steel suppliers are expecting better business conditions later this year, and the fact that recruiters see a coming increase in the hiring of purchasing executives, am...Read More

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OK, I never thought I'd write a headline like THAT, but The Converting Curmudgeon is now on Twitter and you can follow my tweets everyday.

Some of you might be asking, "What the @#$% is he talking about now?" So for those slightly out of the online loop, Twitter is a way to stay in touch with family, friends, colleagues (and Bloggers) that's easier than email and somewhat akin to instant messaging. Tweets (or short 140-character posts) can be traded back and forth among folks you follow or who follow you. But rather than those tweets going to only one individual, they can reach the whole world just by appearing on Twitter.

So, go to my page at ...Read More

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OK, it might not begin until 2010, but the "good news" signs of economic recovery are alive and well and convincing more of you that the recession will end eventually and maybe even soon.

Our Website Poll, put up in the wake of my posts on Now for some good news, and Even more good news, shows that two-thirds of respondents think the recovery won't begin until next year. That's a perfectly justifiable opinion given the latest unemployment stats and tepid retail sales figures for February.

But about 13% of you think things will start turning around as early as Q3 2009 and an equal number agree on an even earlier Q2 2009. That could be as soon as next month! About 7% ...Read More

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Like me, John Jantsch is tired of all the bad economic news. But rather than sit back and ignore it, he decided to do something positive instead. As principal of Duct Tape Marketing, John created Make A Referral Week for right now...March 9-13. The idea is basically "a small-business referral stimulus program" meant to promote small businesses and thus stimulate the US economy. Letting people make referrals to other small businesses is bound to help because, when all is said and done, small businesses are still the mainstay of the American economy.

Personally, I'm referring ...Read More

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In a followup to my post on "Even More Good News:" the Ken Blanchard Cos. executive survey asked its 1,700 respondents what their top five management challenges are during the current recession.

Not surprisingly, "Managing change" came in first with 59% of business leaders surveyed listing it. This probably best sums up what's indicated by the following four top challenges: (2) Creating an engaged workforce (57%); (3) Reducing costs (52%); (4) Developing potential leaders (50%); and (5) Customer loyalty (39%).

One thing leads to another (Question Central): How do you keep your workers "engaged" while simultaneously cutting costs, especially if that translates into cutting jobs? It's a little hard to be truly engaged in you...Read More

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Paper or plastic? Or in this case, molded-pulp or polystyrene-foam packaging for your eggs? That's the question that's created a bit of a tiff between the Spartan Store grocery chain and its long-time egg-carton supplier Dolco Packaging.

As the nation's 10th-largest grocery distributor, Spartan has 100 retail stores in Michigan and Ohio under the D&W Fresh Markets, Family Fare Supermarkets, Felpausch Food Centers, Glen’s Markets and VG's Food and Pharmacy banners. Back in January, Spartan Stores replaced expanded-polystyrene (EPS) cartons for its Spartan brand eggs with molded-fiber cartons, touting them as more "Earth-friendly" on several levels, i.e.: 100% recyclable and biodegradable; offering better cushioning; and a "green alternative to pl...Read More

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By now, you've all seen the thermochromatic labels on Coors beer bottles that tell you when your drink is "just the right amount of cold." Now, from Chameleon Intl. and its partnership with custom film manufacturer Wiman Corp. comes ChroMyx color-changing products that just might have flexible-packaging applications.

ChroMyx patented thermochromatics are a complete line of flexible, temperature-sensitive, and color-changing materials that can be formed into virtually any...Read More

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(Video) In his address Tuesday night, President Obama called on Congress to "Send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.”

I've already written about Cap-and-Trade ("Does Cap-and-Trade make sense for your company?"), but in case you're still not clear on the concept, take a look at this VIDEO featuring the National Wildlife Federation’s senior vp Jeremy Symons explaining cap-and-trade and why it’s needed. 

Now the NWF isn't exactly going to be an impartial judge on the subject. But with a Democrat-run Congress and a Democrat president ready to sign the legislation ...Read More

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Sixty-two percent of UK employees think their bosses are de-emphasizing health and safety on the job, according to a recent survey by UK legal firm National Accident Helpline. At the same time, a new law in the United Kingdom (The Health and Safety Offences Act of 2008, in effect on January 16, 2009) makes logistics employers personally accountable for employee safety, and breaches could see managers or directors jailed or face fines of up to $30,000.

So, training company Pivotal Performance is warning firms to keep health and safety a top priority, even when times are tough. “If this survey is to be believed, then companies are putting their managers and directors at risk of jail for the sake of cost savings," says Willie Bell, Pivotal Performance regi...Read More

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I'm on a roll now in my quest to ban negativity. How this? More than 70% of executives and company leaders think the economy will begin to recover sometime this year. More than one-third say it'll happen in the second-half of 2009. Only a quarter of the respondents think the downturn will continue into 2010.

These results come from more than 1,700 executives, line managers, training and HR leaders surveyed by The Ken Blanchard Cos. They represent a broad range of companies, industries and countries. 

What are some of the top tactics these business leaders are using to cope with a down economy?

1. Invest in productivity and performance. That's where new machinery and equipment come in as well as spending money judiciously on retrofits and upgrades to existing syste...Read More

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I've had it with all the bad economic news. I feel like that anchorman in the movie, Network, who screams, "I'm mad as hell...and I'm not going to take it anymore!" So, here's some good news on the business front.

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index went up 0.4 percent in January, following a 0.2 percent increase in December. Ken Goldstein, an economist at The Conference Board, says that while the economy has been in recession for over a year, the level of intensity may begin to ease in the next few months. The second half of 2009 may see a period of anemic growth, he adds. But growth just the same, I add.

Five of the ten indicators that make up the leading economic index increased in January. The positive contributors--beginning with the largest positive contributor--were re...Read More

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