Marty Manley on economics, politics, technology, and culture

Finance

“We are Going to Pass” -10 Reasons VCs Turn Down Startups

Every few years, Silicon Valley grows strong, flies high, makes beautiful music and then, like the Phoenix of ancient myth, burns to ashes and starts the cycle again. At the moment, the Valley is a frenzy of startups. The rest of the country may be in the economic doldrums, but dozens of technology companies are being [...]

Public Unions 1: Scott Walker’s Gift

This post commences a five part series on public sector unions. It argues that political attacks on public sector unions are more likely to worsen fiscal or political problems than solve them. The second article asserts that low public sector productivity is primarily a management failure. The third article notes that efforts by unions to [...]

Michael Lewis: When Capitalists Try to Destroy Capitalism

If the global financial collapse has a silver lining it’s the Vanity Fair accounts by Michael Lewis of how three different European countries responded to the meltdown. We can only hope that Lewis adds to these reports and turns them into another best-selling book. Lewis (Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short) is [...]

The Federal Budget: Getting What We Asked For.

Budgeting is governing, so the federal budget is rightly the stage for intense political struggle. It also means that a budget is fundamentally as much about setting the stage for a political fight as it is a reflection of priorities. So what does the new stage look like? You can see a more interactive version here. [...]

Brad DeLong: Seven Reasons That Markets Work Well — and Seven Reasons That They Don’t.

Brad DeLong is an accomplished economic historian at Berkeley, a former Clinton official, and a pioneering blogger. His posts are a mix of uncommonly intelligent economic policy thoughts, useful links to other economists, and reflections about about technology. DeLong recently gave his students some well thought out advice: What Econ 1 Students Need to Remember Most from the [...]

Inside Job: Charles Ferguson Brings his Camera Home

Charles Ferguson has done it again. His second film, Inside Job is a good movie and an extremely important one. Whether you enter the theater Democrat or Republican, you will leave it ready to man the barricades against Wall Street. You will also leave the theater much smarter: despite an MBA and more than a [...]

Atul Gawande: America's Doctor

Who is Atul Gawande and why is he having a bigger impact on your life than any physician in America who is not treating you? Gawwande is a cancer surgeon in Boston. A Rhodes Scholar and the recipient of a MacArthur "genius grant", he trained at Harvard, and Stanford and grabbed a Masters in Public [...]

Helicopter Money vs. Stolen Bonuses

 Money is hard to keep in perspective, especially when the bad guys steal yours. This week Americans discovered that we are to pay multi-million dollar bonuses to the very AIG executives who bankrupted the company (a fairly small part of AIG called the Financial Products Group in London). Many of the recipients no longer even [...]

Can Ron Bloom Save the US Auto Industry?

As mentioned in an earlier post, I think very highly of Ron Bloom, the Steelworker Financial adviser just named by President Obama as the non-czar car czar. Ron and Diana Farrell of the National Economic Council will head up the task force that will oversee the restructuring of our car companies. Both are first-rate appointments. [...]

Economic Collapse: Understanding the Triple Whammy

We are in the middle of three economic crises. Although it would be preferable to handle and attack of food poisoning, a vicious cold, and the flu separately,  we got all three at the same time. The patient is feverish, heaving, and has not yet seen the worst of it. They are related economic diseases, [...]

There is no joy on Wall Street — Bernanke has struck out.

Courtesy of Matt Miller, author of the just-out The Tyranny of Dead Ideas. He is a better writer than poet, but this isn't bad: Bernanke at The Fed! Things were looking down for GDP that fateful yearRetail sales had sunk, with the consumer crouched in fearThe S&P had cratered, while the banks their cash did [...]

Is General Motors Lehman, AIG, or Bear Stearns?

Government can do three things when faced with a sick company. Let them file for bankruptcy as we did with Lehman Brothers. Engineer a sale or a "tough love" restructuring as we did with Bear Stearns. Or invest money like we did with AIG. Which is appropriate for automakers? Chrysler is a Lehman — the [...]

“How would a Machinist say that?” Talking points for Obama on the financial crisis.

During the early 1980s an odd combination of economic recession, bad career planning, and good fortune pulled me out of my job making turbine blades at Westinghouse and landed me in the position of directing education programs for about 200,000 west coast members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. I trained union [...]

Category Five Storm Slams Wall Street

It is the worst financial crisis in a generation and, for just a moment, I thought that it might be divinely inspired. Only two weeks ago Focus on the Family called on Americans to pray for a rainstorm “of biblical proportions” to wash away Obama’s outdoor acceptance speech in Denver. God delivered perfect 72 degree [...]

Scooter and Skilling: Fools or Felons?

Start with my prejudices, which many people share. I do not especially like Dick Cheney’s aide Scooter Libby or Enron President Jeff Skilling. Both strike me as men who chose to advance narrow and unworthy goals: the sharp-elbowed, mean-spirited, zero-sum politics of the Cheney/Bush White House or the creation of an energy trading giant built [...]

When Talk Isn't Cheap

For most of us, talk is cheap and blogging free. For leaders however, talk can be costly — as many CEOs and politicians have learned. For leaders trusted with extraordinary power, talk can be very, very expensive, as the example of America’s two most powerful leaders illustrates. The second most powerful leader in America is [...]

The IPO Diaries, Days Eight and Nine: Early Returns

EARLY RETURNS Friends, Your correspondent went silent yesterday. Tuesday was a brutal 17 hour day – raising money in New York is definitely a contact sport. Seven private meetings with teams of smart, articulate, sceptical investors, a lunch speech, two updates with the capital markets banking team, a board meeting, and a late night huddle [...]

The IPO Diaries, Day Seven: Whistle Stop

Monday, May 17, 2004 Philadelphia and Delaware WHISTLE STOP Alibrians, Our "Mid Atlantic" day consisted of five high quality meetings in Philadelphia and Delaware. The finish line is in sight. Bankers and sales guys are confident; I see no reason to be. The day started with a nice surprise in the Wall Street Journal: our [...]

The IPO Diaries, Day Six: You Must Be Salesmen

Friday, May 14, 2004   Boston, Massachusetts (Part Six of the IPO Diaries) Friends and Family, Boston was packed. Six-back-to-back meetings, including a nicely attended road show lunch, before we hit our final, seventh call. It had been a long week. Everyone was tired but feeling good as we cleared security and took the elevator [...]

The IPO Diaries, Day Five: How High is Up?

Thursday, May 13, 2004 Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Part Five of the IPO Diaries) Folks, Milwaukee was a pleasant surprise. The airport has a very large used bookstore and I got a drive by glance at the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion — a museum that perches delicately on Lake Michigan like a white bird poised for flight. [...]