

Why Companies Aren't Spending More Money - T-A
http://www.businessinsider.com/el-erian-on-corporate-cash-piles-2014-3

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ArkyBeagle
The flip side of this is that technology has enabled more and more mediocre
companies to stay in business. _All_ companies will be mediocre at some point;
tech enables latching at that state and coasting. Jack Welch codified the
rules for living off the stored energy in a formerly-good company's flywheel
and that's been the standard.

Not to be rude, but touting Apple's brilliance at design is a bit of buying
PR-propaganda spiced with cynicism about leaving buttons off things. I saw the
transition back to Jobs' leadership indirectly, through people I sort of knew
online leaving Apple. It struck me then as Welch-ism writ large.

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pcurve
Direct link to El Erian's article with his 5 reasons.

[http://bit.ly/1kCYOM5](http://bit.ly/1kCYOM5)

If you read his 5 reasons, you'll notice that there's one string that ties
them all together: interconnected global economy with strong influence by
large conglomerates.

The more your country is dependent on these multinational companies, more you
will be at the mercy of ups and downs of business cycle.

Sadly, most industrialized countries are full of them, but there are some
exceptions, including Iceland. Iceland, despite almost going under, recovered
quickly partly because it unloaded its debt fast, and its small size made the
country relatively free of multinational's influence.

Japan seems to be everyone's punching bag for being in economic doldrums. But
a visit to the country will make you realize that there's a fair balance of
multinationals and local companies that evens out the pace of domestic
consumption and investment. However, that balance has been breaking for
awhile.

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T-A
Not really "new", though. Sounds a lot like Average is Over:
[http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230334210...](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303342104579097482945031804)

