A single global currency.

China has suggested the adoption of a single global reserve currency citing the dangers of relying upon one national currency (US$). The currency would be underwritten by the IMF. It would certainly be helpful to move towards a more balanced global currency regime. The euro is a step in this direction because it is weighted …
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A monumental failure of management.

Another piece by a respected analyst describing the cause of the economic crisis – moral hazard. Of course, it is not just America’s failure, but one that has been made globally. America’s monumental failure of management. by Henry Mintzberg in The Globe and Mail “If you always do as you always did, you will always …
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The Roman Catholic church is becoming enlightened, and catholic

The Vatican is hosting a 5 day conference to celebrate 150 years of Darwin.  This shows that teh Pope is bringing that religion in to the 21st Century by seeking to include science in its doctrine, thereby widening its inclusion to be more all embracing.  A step in the right direction.

It’s free, yes, really free … the digital business model.

The BBC presents a review of the new phenomenon of free product made possible by the digital age.  Digital product can be given away or at least made available for free.  This is not the advertising gimmick of “buy one get one free” or similar, it is product given away free such as openoffice.org productivity …
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Finally! The US has owned up to a recession.

It has been a long time coming but it looks as though the US is finally owning up to an economic recession.  According to the US National Bureau of Economic Research the US entered a recession in December 2007.   It does not forecast the length of the recession, however, data suggest that the slowdown is …
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Morals and the Meltdown

A good perspective from Robert Skidelsky.  He writes well.  His language is a bit religious for me, but the analysis is all too accurate.  Here’s the link to his website and the article is copied below.  In our view, we are now confronting the limit to the growth of humanity he concludes with. Morals and …
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Financial Crisis – Background, Outlook and Action

Our presentation reviewing the financial crisis has been updated. There is a little more data and a more extensive list of action items for consumers, investors and businesses.  Self-help action is focussed on small and medium sized businesses. SME’s are going to bear the brunt of the downturn and be the most important factor in …
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Systems-Thinking.org

Mental Model Musings at the web-address www.systems-thinking.org offers an easy to navigate portal in to the world of systems thinking. Worth a browse for anyone in the knowledge business. To get an idea of the extent of the musings of Gene Bellinger, here are the contents: Systems Modeling & Simulation Systems Introduction to Systems Thinking …
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Chaordic giant VISA to IPO

Visa, the trillion dollar credit card administration business, is to be listed on a stock market.  It will be interesting to see if the innovative company structure designed by Dee Hock (Chaordic Commons) will be compromised by the listing.  It won’t immediately.  But the very nature of shareholdings is so fundamentally different from the member …
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The world says NO to the death penalty

The United Nations General Assembly has at last voted for a global moratorium on the death penalty. While the resolution is nonbinding and its symbolic weight was hardly mentioned in US media, for those who have been trying to move the world away from lethal revenge as government policy, this was a milestone. The resolution …
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