Rank and Yank: There’s Only so Much Fat to Be Cut
From Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric (2020,) Rank-and-yank worked well for GE’s acquisitions, providing a formula for trimming fat and squeezing profits out of the operations. But some managers didn’t see it as helpful, especially after it had been used for a few years and some competent employees were ending […]
The Economics Nobel Isn’t A Nobel
The “Economics Nobel” prize was established in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden. It isn’t a Nobel Prize technically, even if its winners are announced with the Nobel Prize recipients, and the honor presented at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony: Technically, there is no Nobel Prize in economics. Instead, there is the Bank of Sweden […]
Globalization Wasn’t Such a Blessing
Paul Krugman and others are now acknowledging that globalization hurt American workers far more than they thought it would: Back in the ’90s, when the post-Cold War consensus was just emerging, economists tended to take a simplistic either-or view of trade—either you were a free trader or a protectionist—and forced people to choose sides. Paul […]
The Genius of Spinoza
Jeffrey Collins, professor of history at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, reviews Steven Nadler’s Spinoza: A Life (2001): In the 1660s and ’70s, Spinoza produced one of the most significant intellectual systems in the history of Western philosophy. It encompassed natural science, religion, politics and ethics. Of his two masterworks, the “Ethics” was written first […]
Ukraine Off the Beaten Track
Travel bloggers Megan & Aram on what to visit beyond the main two touristic cities in Ukraine: Mukachevo: The Carpathian mountains are just a stone’s throw away. The city runs the charismatic Latorica River, where people fish, swim and even wash clothes. Zhovkva: The town is small and walkable with places to eat from coffee […]
Braggarts Only Seem Self-confident
New York Times social manners advice columnist Philip Galanes on bragging parents: Question: My brother and his wife constantly brag about their two children. (I mean, constantly!) Would it be evil of me to let them know that I know their teenage son was arrested recently for driving under the influence? I could slip it […]
10 Secluded Spots in Asia to Find Inner Peace
In the SilverKris Magazine of Singapore Airlines, James Wong lists ten Asian get-away destinations to find some inner peace: Nikko, Japan … for beautiful shrines from the Edo period Jeju Island, South Korea … for the beaches, mountains, and scenic getaways Pulau Ubin Island, Singapore … for lush unspoilt forestation and wildlife El Nido, Philippines […]
The Upside of Stress
O, The Oprah Magazine (January 2010) considers a Stanford study about how stress can boost immune system: A Stanford University study found that acute stress may protect against a common type of skin cancer. “Quick bursts of stress seem to direct the body’s ‘soldiers’ [cancer-fighting immune cells] to ‘battlefields’ [skin and lymph nodes,] increasing their […]
Questions You Need to Ask Yourself If You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
O, The Oprah Magazine suggests questions you can ask yourself when you’re feeling overwhelmed: Why am I overwhelmed? Am I really busy or does it just feel this way? What’s the priority here? What if I don’t have enough time? Am I surrounded by energy suckers? Do I have to do it all by myself? […]
Winter Travel to Tromso, Norway
Wall Street Journal’s Nina Sovich on how to spend the winter season in some of Europe’s top destinations: After the sun sets on Tromsø on Nov. 27 (at 11:45 a.m.,) it won’t peek above the horizon again until mid-January. But this Arctic Circle city doesn’t use winter darkness as an excuse to sleep in; if […]