So by now have you heard of "PIGS" - as in (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain)?

Now Schott's Vocab tells us about a new acronym for the possible dominoes if Greece should fall - "STUPID" - as in (Spain, Turkey, UK, Portugal, Italy, Dubai).

Labels: Dubai, economy, NY Times, recession, wordplay

I've been wondering about this since that Time Magazine cover story back in October - how can California's high tech firms generate enough new jobs to save the entire state? I mean, as we all know by now if California were an independent nation it would have either the seventh, eighth or tenth (depending on who you ask) largest economy in the world.

Now we have some answers - it won't. Check out: "High Tech Won't Save California's Economy".

They even have charts to prove it - Silicon Valley's San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties had very slight job growth between 1990 and 2009 while Los Angeles County lost jobs (and added almost a million people).

Key quote?

Therein lies California's dilemma. The ability to generate large amounts of wealth on a narrow job base isn't enough to support a state of 37 million people. Brazil generates enormous wealth too, and supports lavish stores like Daslu, where you can't walk in off the street, but there's a helipad on the roof – and a favela just down the street. But Brazil doesn't have a middle class economy.

Labels: California, economy, recession

Hey, I made the cover of the new issue of BusinessWeek!

Labels: economy, recession, temps

Interesting blog by Nancy Koehn at Harvard Business Review yesterday: "American Consumption and the New Normal".

Ms. Koehn sees that American consumers are looking to brands that they trust, that are worthy of our loyalty. That we're "abandoning the 'next new thing' mentality that powered so much spending for the past 20 years, in favor of more enduring priorities".

More interestingly, she says that as a society we are moving beyond just "keeping up with the Joneses," by using the internet as a social networking resource similar to pre-Industrial Revolution villages.

It's a short read and fascinating, so check it out.

Labels: economy, recession