Majority shareholders, Lord Warner and his brothers, will share a dividend of more than £300m and have seen their net worth rise by more than 33% to over £4bn on the back of the bouyant share price.

These results will disappoint maverick shareholder Mr. P. Pig who heads up a group of investors intent on bringing the global warming problem into the boardroom. To this end Mr. Pig has published his own set of End Of Year results which show that ACME plc has increased it’s annual energy consumption by 21% whilst CO2 output has risen a stagering 28%. Interviewed this morning live on television Mr. Pig pointed out that although cartoon characters like himself, Mr. Bunny and Mr. Duck do not need oxygen to live and that if the atsmosphere of the world were entirely CO2, their lives would be pretty much unaffected , they must think of the wider issue. “The whole purpose of a cartoon character’s life is to provide entertainment for the carbon based, oxygen breathing individuals who read our stories and watch us in all sorts of media. ACME plc should remember this and consider that if they do not control CO2 output there will be no market left!”

Mr. Pig accepted that their most skilled operatives need to keep cool in their working environment and that air conditioning was a prerequisite. “Of course the cartoonists need to keep cool”he stated “but lets make ACME plc install systems that are at the very least the most energy efficient that they can find.”

Firstly, the benefits of government spending, as believed by Keynesian economists, are twofold.

1) Economists who believe that government spending is beneficial to, and can overcome an economic crisis believe that by spending money on social programs will create new jobs, hence fueling and stimulating the economy. This is done by

2) increasing the amount of consumer consumption. In a time of economic crisis, consumers tend to be concerned and wary about buying new high end products, such as automobiles and homes. By stimulating the economy by creating social programs (hence creating jobs), consumers are more likely to spend their money, therefore adding a greater amount of capital into the national economy.

These beliefs are under the auspice that government spending is in the form of government investments, such as infrastructure investments and the creation of social programs, stimulating job creation.

However, the negatives to government spending in a time of economic crisis are equally as impressive. Many classical economists who oppose government believe that if the government increases the average spending, the resources will be placed outside the power of the private sector. These classical economists believe that the private sector is productive for stimulating the economy while the public sector (the government) is unproductive and ultimately counterproductive for the stimulation of the economy. These same economists theorize that this kind of additional government spending was the fundamental cause of the Great Depression.

There is no clear answer to this heated debate. While some theorize that government spending will stimulate the economy by creating new jobs through social programs and other government investments, others believe that this kind of spending will actually cause nations to fall deeper into an economic crisis.

Speaking of economics, I have been looking into the so called “enigin scam"at length. From what I can see, it is a completely legit industry and it bothers me that some people who have not held up thier end of the deal and therefore lost money are blaming a company which is providing a very needed and innovative service. It is very interesting however to look at, I will attempt to further update you in future posts.

Should Greece default on its loans then that would have a serious effect on the euro and how strong it remains in the future. Yet the European Union and the Geek government have both come out claiming that a default is not likely. The belief here is that the Greeks can definitely fix the problem and this would involve some very sharp cutbacks and the creation of a much more competitive economy.

But this optimism does not seem to be reflected in the minds of its people. Strikes that have occurred and were planned include the tax and customs officers strike that in effect shut down certain aspects of the country’s trade and business industries and not to mention denying the government well need revenue. There are many other strikes and walk outs that are likely to occur in the coming weeks and months if the situation does not improve for workers in the country.

The government has made its pledge to reduce the country’s budget deficit from its current 12.7% of GDP to 2% by 2013. But the governments plan includes a pay freeze from government workers and an increase in the retirement age. There is also a planned fuel tax hike.

The plan set forth by the Greek government is been endorsed by the EU, which sees it is achievable. Yet the market does not seem to be too impressed with the Greek government’s plan. There are still some unanswered questions such as where the government will find the funds to support itself and its programs if the capital market has been very weary to provide it.

Greece can access funds and technical advice from the International Monetary Fund but the EU has said that this would not be needed. Yet the speculation continues.

A recession can be a tough time for many especially in this era of advanced technology and connected economies, a fall in one country can affect the whole world. Many believe that we do not need recessions. If this is the case then businesses that fail should never be allowed to happen and change needs to be suppressed.

What appears more logical and near to what the truth is, is that a major recession, or depression should be avoided. Sometimes allowing a small recession might do a world of good. This will allow any economy to go through its cycles with just a few sectors down and suffering. While a few businesses feel the pinch, the other sectors in the economy could make up for lost production.

Governments and many central banks find it easy to avoid small recessions. But this is not without the risk of having a bigger recession sometime down the line. Its only human nature to stop any suffering that might be foreseeable in the short term and this causes the problems. With this in mind, we can safely assume that we will not see an end to dramatic rises and falls in the global economy.

We might think that the worst of the global credit crunch is behind us, and that the dramatic lows of 2008 will not be reached during our lifetime. However with the mentality that we have there is no way we can guarantee that there will not be another depression. The next one could be on a giant scale, causing more damage then ever before. What might cause that to happen is yours to guess. There are a number of triggers that could spell doom and one of the main ones has to do with the possible tightening of monetary policy in China.

Recession are apart of life. It’s how we handle things that will determine our short term economic success.

You all know, I on occasion look into online businesses as a matter of interest and I have recently found a organisation that does online human resources software. To have all applicable people logged into the central program seems like a really convenient idea to me, also a useful time saver, I am slightly intrigued why this is the first time it is getting to be a big thing. However in the recession I think that it is proven to be a big saving for many businesses because it takes away the need for about 5 positions in a company..

During these times of economic recession, public anger on both sides of the Atlantic has turned to ’greedy bankers’ and what is seen as the obscene level of bonuses that are still being paid to the very people who have received opprobrium for creating the recession initially. If there is one thing that a politician on any side of the spectrum likes it is siding with public opinion and President Barack Obama’s plans outlined today in a hard hitting speech will find heavy support amongst his core voters and even amongst Republicans who are being bitten by a deepening financial crisis.

Whilst in many ways the problems that President Obama is facing are inherited ones, such was the wave of euphoria that greeted his election that people generally expected him to make an immediate positive impact upon the US economy. In contrast however, the turn of this year produced a string of indicators far gloomier than anticipated. Unemployment was up again in December 2009, by 85,000, to reverse a slight drop in November and the expect consumer spending at Christmas time failed to materialise with a 0.3% drop in retail sales in December, from November, surprising all analysts and leading to predections of a longer climb from recession than had been anticipated.

It is against this backdrop that President Obama has hit out at the banks that received unprecedented state help when the recession struck. A controversial TARP (Troubled Assett Relief Program) bailed out struggling banks to the tune of $250billion, with the money coming from the taxpayers pockets at a time when they were feeling the pinch. Whilst TARP was successfull in preventing further financial giants following the path of Lehman Brothers and AIG the public have been horrified by the bonus culture continuing unabated.

It had been widely anticipated that President Obama would announce a $90billion tax on banks but today he went further and announced a $117billion levy on financial institutions whose assets are in excess of $50billion. Around 50 companies are likely to be affected, including the Stateside operations of groups such as Barclays and RBS.

In a surprisingly aggressive speech the President refused to pull his punches telling the banks: “We want our money back and we’re going to get it!” and “My commitment is to recover every single dime that the American people are owed… my determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people.”

Whilst this will raise cheers from the American populace it casts a further gloom over the banks themselves and in the short term the banks may seek to recoup this levy by raising the cost of borrowing. It may yet turn out that the money that the fat cat banks pay back may once again come from the pocket of Joe Citizen!

Really exciting news about the new company that we are starting, I just talked to this amazing site who agreed to give us a sweet deal on the Bespoke Packaging Boxes, check out the work in thier portfolio and see what you think!

In the period between 2004 and 2006, the new US household mortgage debt stands at staggeringly high $8 trillion. The reasons for this appallingly high mortgage debt are far too many and that includes negligible and improper documentation of borrower’s income status coupled with almost no down money for mortgages. This resulted in great amount of increase in the borrower’s monthly payments within few years of taking the loan.

From my understanding of the situation of, I believe there are many other factors as well that cooked this high US household mortgage debt.

First, the loans granted to borrowers required very low to almost no down payment at all.

Second, the non existence of recourse mortgages. As a result, lenders were able to simply forget the loan should they encounter any serious financial problems. It was not a favourable situation for the borrowers.

Third, existence of mortgage interest deductibility paved the way for borrowers buy homes that were unaffordable for them in the first place.

Lastly, lenders took too much risk with the presumption that they are just too big to fail, creating a scenario where “I win” and “You lose”.

For future prevention of this kind of financial crisis it becomes pertinent to do away with scenarios of this nature and put rules and regulations in place to combat it.

Most importantly mortgage interest deductibility should be completely eliminated and there should also no long be any no recourse mortgage.

Requiring borrowers to put some money down, needs to be introduced. This can be in the region of 10%-15 % of the total cost of the home.

Additionally, there should be some legal methods and procedures for liquidation of large financial institutions (except commercial banks), such as Bear Stearns and AIG, in an orderly fashion without declaring bankruptcy similar to situation where FDIC takes over failing banks.

Stringent legislation and commitment from legislators is the need of the hour, to prevent such crisis from happening again in the future. The question is, are they committed enough to do what is necessary.

I think I have a solution everyone will agree upon for what we should put together for Ronnie’s pre-wedding weekend. Who would be up for a surprise trip and putting up a bit of money on a downpayment for renting chalets val d isere?

Many US economists are proclaiming the recession that is being experienced over the last twenty-two months, over. The problem is the American public beg to disagree. A recent CNN poll found that close to 85% of the people polled still held the view that the recession was on. Thus reality and perception are not adding up.

A true declaration of the recession possible will not be officially made until sometime in 2010. Current indicators seem to point to a positive economic upturn. Between July and September the US economy had a growth of just below 3%. The rate of job losses in the economy also fell in November to its lowest monthly level since early 2008 and unemployment has also fallen to 10%.

Yet all the current signs pointed to and the optimism shared by most economists is not supported by the average person in the country. The disparity has to do with the fact the economists look at the figures, so when the worst has occurred it can only get better. Whilst the average person believes that just because the worst has past does not mean it is not still very bad. So even though most people think that things are not getting any worse they also believe the recession is still on.

The problem also lies in the fact that all the gains in the economy has been very modest a best especially for any average American family. So people are not feeling or seeing any serious change to their daily lives. People still can’t find jobs and are not earning as much as they used to. Many even still feel that the country is still likely to enter into another depression.

The economic statistics may show that the current depression is over but until this translates into people seeing improvements top their daily lives then public support will remain negative. People need to see jobs being created, salaries back at 100%, and credit being made available to feel things are changing.

One last thing, in my opinion all of those who are into this thought of a greener lifestyle really need to hit this link. This Enigin blog has some really innovative ideas for businesses who are concerned about thier carbon footprint, I am really respecting them right now.

Many US economists are proclaiming the recession that is being experienced over the last twenty-two months, over. The problem is the American public beg to disagree. A recent CNN poll found that close to 85% of the people polled still held the view that the recession was on. Thus reality and perception are not adding up.

A true declaration of the recession possible will not be officially made until sometime in 2010. Current indicators seem to point to a positive economic upturn. Between July and September the US economy had a growth of just below 3%. The rate of job losses in the economy also fell in November to its lowest monthly level since early 2008 and unemployment has also fallen to 10%.

Yet all the current signs pointed to and the optimism shared by most economists is not supported by the average person in the country. The disparity has to do with the fact the economists look at the figures, so when the worst has occurred it can only get better. Whilst the average person believes that just because the worst has past does not mean it is not still very bad. So even though most people think that things are not getting any worse they also believe the recession is still on.

The problem also lies in the fact that all the gains in the economy has been very modest a best especially for any average American family. So people are not feeling or seeing any serious change to their daily lives. People still can’t find jobs and are not earning as much as they used to. Many even still feel that the country is still likely to enter into another depression.

The economic statistics may show that the current depression is over but until this translates into people seeing improvements top their daily lives then public support will remain negative. People need to see jobs being created, salaries back at 100%, and credit being made available to feel things are changing.

One last thing, in my opinion all of those who are into this thought of a greener lifestyle really need to hit this link. This Enigin blog has some really innovative ideas for businesses who are concerned about thier carbon footprint, I am really respecting them right now.

Being in business means meeting new people all the time. It is important to have relationship building skills. If you treat people like dollar signs, your business is going to suffer. Instead, keep your customers in mind.

Let’s take building a network marketing business for example. This type of business is all about building relationships, especially when it comes to recruiting new team members. If your customers or prospects feel like all you are interested in is their money, you lost them. It’s important to find out their wants and needs. Seek out what they are looking for? What are their problems? It is when you have their best interest in mind that you begin to build long lasting relationships and increase your business.

Team building is not simply adding people to your downline or in the case of an outside job, hiring new people. Team building is building these people up to be good leaders themselves. A strong team is a group of people who are ambitious, motivated and determined to do a job well done.

It takes a good leader to build a team strong. You will have people dropping out of your business or resigning all the time. This is called attrition and it is very normal. What you want to do is work with the people who are serious about being successful and focus your attention on helping them. Once you have devoted yourself to training and coaching these serious people, you will find that the team will start building for you. I found that a really good company to look at when looking into team building is Enigin, they have some really great ideas, you can find out more about them on the company blog.