Online Journal June, 2010

Jun
28
2010

Written by:
Andrea Schiller

The Chinese Real Estate Bubble: Waiting to Burst?

Luxury cars roll down the streets, million dollar penthouses float above. Women and children walk into high-end stores while men walk along the streets in pressed suits. What may sound like Fifth Avenue in Manhattan is far from it. Instead, Shanghai, is taking the main stage as the Chinese real estate market skyrockets. In Shanghai, China’s most populous city, apartments in the financial district are selling for $45 million dollars a piece. Better yet, three to four of them are selling a month. Some apartments are adorned with Swarovski crystal embedded in the doors, crocodile skin bedposts and Versace chairs resting on the floors. Apartments are selling for $2,300 per square foot, beating out the average Manhattan apartment cost of $1,900 per square foot, a shocking find. Currently, becoming a homeowner has become one of the main proprieties in the lives of the middle class. Chinese economic policies have allowed nine out of ten middle class urban families to purchase a home.

Jun
21
2010

Written by:
Thomas Loeffler

On the Edge of New Marketing Strategies

America’s freedoms and capitalist ideals provide entrepreneurs with a plentiful plate of opportunity to make a living without entering the corporate world. Multi-level marketing (MLM) is one of the methods people forgoing the corporate American lifestyle have found successful. Sometimes known as a pyramid program, MLM is a ground works strategy in which friend referral acts as the primary basis for a sales growth. High school and college students are often targeted as individuals who might be of interest in such a strategy because it is an effective way to make money – if you’re good at it. Reputable companies sporting the MLM strategy include Mary Kay and Avon Products. Although the number of lesser known companies outweigh these successful MLM brand rarities, the companies built on the multi-level marketing strategy have caught the attention from Corporate America’s finest.

Jun
15
2010

Written by:
Gautam K Sawhney

Another Default In The EU

As analysts continue to predict a slow recovery for the US economy, the threats of the international community are becoming aggressively alarming. With continued talks of a financial crisis in Greece, Spain, and Portugal, yet another one begins to enter the radar. The financial mire of Greece has provoked the debate of tighter regulations and the potency of a future Euro. However, last weeks Euro dip caused heavier debate on tighter regulations. The weak Euro was caused by a release of weak U.S. job numbers and more importantly, fears of a debt crisis in Hungary.

Jun
13
2010

Written by:
Thomas Loeffler

Getting Your Money’s Worth: Start Saving Early

The publics’ trend towards savings over the last two years should provide as a useful lesson for young adults beginning their career. For most early professionals, retirement is an afterthought when they see their first paycheck. A new car, rent, groceries, a social life, and other extraneous expenses tend to absorb the better half of paychecks, and theses expenses leave retirement as one of the last priorities on the list. A recent statistic in an article posted from CNNMoney.com stated that less than 30 percent of workers (ages 21-24) actually participate in their employer sponsored retirement program, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institution. Understandably, other expenses are priority for most professionals beginning their career. The inexcusable fact in that statistic is found in the missed opportunity for free money through matching 401k programs. Let us allow the financial losses from this last recession to teach a valuable lesson about retirement planning.

Jun
11
2010

Written by:
Wade Senti

Google vs. Apple

In recent months and weeks I have become adamantly aware of the popularity of the Android operating system (OS) provided by Google. There have been talks of the bitter battle between Google and Apple with their respective devices (or for Google its Android OS) – the iPhone and the Android OS. Regardless, the debate still rages on. According to Austin Cooley, a tech entrepreneur and founder of Youtorial, a software company in Gainesville, Florida, mobile will be the gateway to the internet – ‘it is one of the very few truly open environments.’

For now, Apple has chosen to create a ‘Closed environment’ for accessing the Internet by essentially creating a barrier to entry for Internet access. Technology enthusiasts also have snarled against the idea of excluding Adobe Flash, which Apple has already done. Networks such as Time Warner and Universal have already pushed back, stating they will stick with their Flash content and support those operating systems that support it.

Jun
6
2010

Written by:
Thomas Loeffler

A Reason for Sustainable Production

While the people of the United States are trying to pull themselves out of the hole created from the mortgage credit bubble, the rest of the world does not seem to be making the climb any easier. The unpredictability of worldly events has generated more pressure on Ben Bernanke and key decision makers at the Fed. Without a significant turnaround in output and unemployment numbers, America could be facing a long-term and much larger problem similar to the debacle the Japanese faced in the 1990s: deflation. The public’s choice to not spend combined with a steady drop in prices is a recipe for disaster. Instability across the globe causes reason for the American public to realize they cannot rely on the usual economic allies to stimulate exports which could support job creation.

Jun
3
2010

Written by:
Gautam K Sawhney

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo

With New York in a devastating financial crisis, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants to step up as governor, believing he can turn around New York State from its pitfalls. Cuomo called the New York state government “disreputable and discredited” after the string of financial problems from bank failures to over-budgeting and severe corruption in Albany. The Attorney General plans on running on the platform of new ethic laws and independent monitors.

The current governor, David Patterson is currently under investigation and therefore has pulled out of the race. Governor Patterson had risen to power from lieutenant-governor after Eliot Spitzer was involved in a prostitution scandal. New York was one time a “national model” but now is a “national disgrace” according to Cuomo. He wants to work effortlessly to take the corruption out of Albany and aid in fixing the current financial crisis New York State is experiencing. Stay tuned to see if Cuomo gets the job.

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