James Drogan

From Maxine Udall comes this beautiful piece regarding markets, morals, economic distortions, and leadership.

I spoke this term to our incoming graduate students on the matter of ethics and I hope to do that again.  If so, Maxine's remarks will be one of the foci of the talk.

The following clip is from John Mauldin's Thoughts from the Frontline Weekly Newsletter of February 26.

"George, I have a problem. I feel like I am drinking information through a fire hose. I am addicted to information. It is beginning to interfere with my productivity, as I get so much high-quality material from the best sources that I feel I need to absorb. Each bit of information becomes a clue to the larger puzzle. But I have to write more. I am going to have to start randomly deleting things every now and then if I am going to stay on top of it all, and get some of these books that are in me done."

I am determined to have a life outside of work (family and friends are important), and am for the most part successful at that, but I am not getting done all that I wish I could do when I'm at work. And there are books piled on my desk that simply scream for attention.

I thought George would understand. He has some 90 analysts all over the world feeding him up-to-the-minute analysis on country and issue situations. Surely, he must have an idea for me on how to handle the "download" problem.

'John,' he replied quietly, sighing heavily, 'I know what you mean. But if I started randomly deleting, I'd be afraid I would miss something important. What else can you do but keep at it?'"

Indeed, what else can you do?

I'm on a number of social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Epsilin, probably some others I have forgotten about) and, on occassion, occupy my mind in thinking about their value, especially in a business context.  There are a lot of pros and cons expressed by a lot of thoughtful and not-so-thoughtful people.  Ergo, we need to make up our own minds.

Irving Wladawsky-Berger is one of the more thoughtful and mostly neutral bloggers I follow.  He has recently posted The Business Value of Social Networks.  I recommend a reading and a following of the links he has provided.

Attention 7200 students.  Be alert for I intend to bring this matter to your attention.