August 02, 2004

Weekend roundup

I mentioned the NYT's article on credit below. Here's some other interesting Sunday business stories I came across (while all of you, of course, were reading my interesting business story):

  • The Boston Globe finds that DNC delegates didn't spend much:
    A Boston Globe survey of 572 delegates to the Democratic National Convention found that the majority spent less than $500 during their stay here and that more than half never ventured into the city's neighborhoods, confining their stay to the convention floor, hotel ballrooms, and the air-conditioned comfort of their chartered buses.

    (This is similar to what happened in Savannah during the G-8 Summit: By making security tight, so that leaving the convention center is difficult, and then compounding it by having all of the food and entertainment you need at the meeting site, visitors are unlikely to head off the reservation.)

  • A Chicago Tribune article on how the Catholic Church's Portland diocese is acting like other corporate entities under fire:

    When the Portland archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in early July, it was trying to protect itself from hundreds of millions of dollars in damages sought by people who claim they were sexually abused by priests. It's the same strategy often used by corporations faced with legal judgments they can't afford to--or don't think they should have to--pay.

  • A New York Times piece on the importance of the middle class during the election:

    Who is right? The answer is far from clear, but a visit to Wisconsin Dells, a sprawling collection of water parks and roller coasters about 60 miles north of Madison, offers some clues. Many people here felt that their incomes were not keeping up with costs anymore, and there was a gnawing sense among some that the rich were getting richer. At the same time, most people expressed guarded confidence that job opportunities would improve.

  • The Washington Post takes a look at the growing oral care industry:

    If that was the flood, here's the deluge: So far this year, the number of new toothpastes -- meaning new brands, flavors, functions or packaging -- is a jaw-dropping 96. And that's just a microcosm of what's happening in the entire oral care category.

  • The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked executives how they would have made the decision for the L.A. Lakers about keeping Shaq or Kobe:

    Their decision also provides a revealing case study for executives, business school professors and water cooler conversationalists: How should CEOs make such pivotal personnel choices? Should age, bottom-line cost or character be the decisive factor? Was there a third way that would have allowed the two massive egos to share the same court? Or should their failure to put personal differences aside have gotten both of them fired?
    Posted by tgibbons at August 2, 2004 01:15 PM