Online Journal September, 2010

Sep
30
2010

Written by:
Paul Shin

Is Facebook a Stolen Business Idea?

On October 1st, The Social Network, a film about how Facebook has been able to attain more than 500 million users within six and a half years since its start in 2004 in a dormitory at Harvard University, is coming out. In its September 26th issue, The Washington Post introduced the “truth” about the rumors regarding Facebook by looking at the movie’s inspiration, The Accidental Billionaires. Even though it is known as Mark Zuckerberg’s creation for Harvard students, he, in fact, started his own business independently while he was assisting senior students working on a similar service called, Harvard Connection. This site was influenced by existing social networking sites such as Friendster and Club Nexus. Feeling betrayed, the students sued Zuckerberg for stealing their idea. As compensation for reaching a compromise with plaintiffs, Zuckerberg offered the seniors stocks worth tens of millions of dollars.

Sep
29
2010

Written by:
dperel

Up to Standard? Tests and American Education

For the little that is widely known about the monopoly triumvirate of American college entry exam companies, students, parents, educators, and legislators certainly put a lot of faith in them. The College Board, ACT, Inc., and ETS (a company that often does contract work for the College Board), three names infamous to most high schoolers, dominate the college entry exam market. Their exhausting, expensive, and discouraging trials are accepted as the de facto reality in American education, but a quick inquiry into the conditions under which this system is forced upon Americans presents a curious study in the effects of corporate control of the business of the People. Under a scrutinizing look, it seems that the American educational system, both public and private, has become the victim of shoddy products in an uncompetitive market. This monopolization has led to educational priorities being decreed from corporate campuses rather than academic ones.

Sep
27
2010

Written by:
Andrea Schiller

What Happens if “The Next Big Thing” Isn’t Produced by the United States?

Since the Industrial Revolution the United States has been the cradle of invention. From Ford’s assembly line to the high tech boom of the 1980s, America has always depended on innovation to keep the world’s largest economy moving forward at a solid pace. However, we now find ourselves in dire straights; with the economic recovery stalled, the national debt ballooning and a failing stimulus package, the United States appears to be more than ever relying on The Next Big Thing to pull her out of the malaise and solve the economic ills of the past few years. Although innovation has been the panacea in the past, this time it could be different. Here’s why:

Sep
26
2010

Written by:
Shali Zhu

Deleveraging U.S. Borrowers

As the U.S. economy struggles to recover from a deep recession, many are looking for any hints that the economic situation is improving, closely watching everything from unemployment figures to productivity reports to consumer confidence. If overall debt levels can serve as an indicator of the American economic condition, however, they don’t appear to be very promising. A recent article by the Huffington Post reported that during the first two quarters of this year alone, total non-financial debt rose from an annual rate of 4.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.8 percent. At the same time, annual GDP growth is inching along at a rate of only 1.6 percent, insinuating that U.S. debt is ballooning in terms of its size as a percentage of GDP.

Sep
17
2010

Written by:
dperel

Where All the Jobs Went

With a jobless rate hovering around ten percent during what seems to be a economic recovery period, one might be tempted to ask why our economy produces profits but not jobs. As easy as it is to blame the offshoring of manufacturing for gutting the economy of job growth, it is much more productive to scrutinize another major job eliminator, corporate mergers and acquisitions. As firms consolidate, redundant jobs are shed, and more efficient corporations result. This is a natural feature of a healthy economy, yet too many mergers in a given industry hampers competition and innovation and has the incidental effect of vastly reducing employment. Since the advent of anti-trust law, regulators have been trying to find where to draw the line in terms of maximum allowable corporation size. With the dawning of the era of TBTF (too-big-to-fail) companies, we have crossed the line in the sand between an efficient economy and a parody of the free market.

Sep
15
2010

Written by:
Thomas Loeffler

America vs. China: Converging or Diverging Interests?

With China’s inhabitants representing nearly one-sixth of the world’s population, it’s no wonder their competitive edge has been in their labor workforce. For years American companies have been outsourcing production to countries like China where more affordable manufacturing costs have become profitable investments. Adding to their already competitive advantage, foreign exchange risk has rarely been a deciding factor with China because they have historically pegged the Yuan against the U.S. dollar. The announcement from the People’s Bank of China has now given American companies a reason to rethink about the costs associated with outsourcing to China; but has it given them a reason to take action? There are two lenses one can view this decision through. The optimist would believe the Chinese have loosened their policy to devalue the dollar against the Yuan in favor of both countries’ interests.

Sep
12
2010

Written by:
Kanwar Anand

A look at the key economic indicators

In order to understand the strength of our recovery, it’s important to examine the key economic indicators. Although no single indicator, considered alone, can paint the entire picture, monitoring the Business Investment, Consumer Spending, Residential Investment, Exports, Federal Government Spending & State/Local Government Spending numbers can help in better understanding the general economic climate.

Consumer spending is nearly 70 % of GDP. It is also important to understand that retail sales are just one subset of consumer spending. It includes expenses such as medical, energy & food. Discretionary & Non-Discretionary spending are the two components of consumer spending. Consumer spending rose 0.4% in August after staying flat in June, according to the Commerce Department.

Sep
10
2010

Written by:
Paul Shin

Sustainability in the Fast Food Industry

The global fast food chain, Burger King, has declared that they would not buy Palm Oil from Indonesian company, which has been criticized for its environmental effect. Burger King canceled its purchase contract with a top Indonesian oil processor, Sinar Mas. They claimed that the firm has not adopted sustainable operating methods. Through a statement posted on Facebook, Burger King regarded environmentally destructive operations as unacceptable according to their responsible entrepreneurship. They also asserted that Sinar Mas has violated rules by doing agricultural businesses in secondary growth forests like wetlands.

In response, Sinar Mas expressed regret and made a statement that they would maintain efforts to have Burger King recognize their sustainable methods of processing. Other globally renowned food processing companies, such as Unilever, Kraft Foods, and Nestle, have retracted their contracts as well.

Sep
9
2010

Written by:
dperel

BP Spill: How the Gulf Coast Claims Process Makes Us Less Safe

While BP became Washington's whipping boy in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, it appears political leaders used only words rather than sticks and stones. According to an article published by The Donovan Law Group, the victims' compensation process both greatly reduces BP's liability in possible lawsuits and guarantees continued operation of BP drilling in the Gulf. By setting up the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, a victims' compensation office working in parallel to the claims process established under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, BP has managed to settle with over 150,000 claimants for an average of a mere $2,500 per settlement. In order to receive this lump sum, claimants had to agree to forgo their right to sue BP for any effects of their negligence.

Sep
7
2010

Written by:
Reem Hassani

Why Every College Student Needs to be LinkedIn

“It’s a jungle out there kiddies.”

Whether talking about the economy, the competition out there, or just the prospect of finding a job with an incredible unemployment rate, Jimmy Buffett was right. Only the strong survive, and luckily, the strong have a tool to keep them in the game: LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has joined Facebook as an online phenomenon—yet it reaches beyond the social realm and instead creates an online network of business contacts that can boost any career. With over 75 million members and growing, LinkedIn “helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals,” even in an unforgiving economy.

Archives