When I write about work-family issues, I deliberately try to avoid assigning them only to women. That’s because I know too many men among my peers who struggle with the same things: spending more time with their kids; arranging flexible work options; doing quality work while raising kids who don’t set fire to the guidance couselor’s …
Can Barack Obama really make this election a referendum on the economy?
After reading (and watching part of) the speech on the economy that Barack Obama gave in Raleigh on Monday, and listening on a conference call with Obama advisers Austan Goolsbee and Jason Furman, I churned out this little piece for Time.com:
When it comes to economic policy, Barack Obama’s standard campaign crack that a John McCain
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The pinstripes chase the poor
This morning I went to a panel discussion titled “Microfinance: Business or Charity?” at the Council on Foreign Relations. A woman from ACCION International asked me if I normally cover the topic. I said that I cover business and economics more generally. To which she said: “And now we’re in business and economics.” Which I guess kind of …
Does telecommuting save energy?
As the mercury hovers around 100 this afternoon, my colleague Jim Poniewozik over at Tuned In writes in an e-mail:
So telecommuting is supposed to be much better for the environment, right? But is it on high-energy use days like today? Working at home, I’m not using fuel to commute, but then again the subway is running regardless. And
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A Thomas Jefferson blue-light special
A leftover from the family weekend in Charlottesville. This shot of Mr. Jefferson’s Rotunda was taken just before a hokey light show, which substituted for the traditional UVa reunions fireworks because, the word was, there wasn’t enough money for fireworks. To say Curious Capitalist Jr. was disappointed is a pretty big understatement. …
Pantyhose at work: yea or nay
In my region today, the temperature is slated to hit 100. Degrees. Fahrenheit. That’s, like, steel-mill hot. That’s cereal-for-dinner hot. That’s I’d-rather-die-than-wear-pantyhose hot.
I’m working from home today as I count down to the birth of my child later this week. But if I were heading into the office, I’ll tell you what I …
Second guessing the Fed
I wrote this for Time.com Thursday:
The race for the Great Fed Second Guess of 2008 is now well under way: First out of the blocks was former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, who worried aloud in April that forcing and partially financing the takeover of ailing investment bank Bear Stearns had taken the Fed to “the very edge of
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Richard Rainwater and the perils of market (and column) timing
I’m off today, visiting lovely (albeit scorching hot) Charlottesville for Mrs. Curious Capitalist’s XXth Reunion (I figure I might get in trouble for disclosing the actual number; update: Mrs. CC points out that my attempt at nondisclosure failed, given that it is her XXth Reunion). But I forgot to tell anybody at work that I was going …
Another reason to forego flip-flops at work
Reader Jenn writes:
I just read your “What (Not) to Wear to Work”…I’m located in San Diego and a handful of employees here recently completed last weekend’s Rock and Rock Marathon (including our President). As such, “dressy” sandals have been permitted in the office, until today. Today, one my colleagues lost her toenail while
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I thought being pregnant at work blows now
When you attend a business event preceded by a grossly distended belly, other working moms feel compelled to share notes. I heard some interesting tales from the womb yesterday at this fancy breakfast I attended.
One executive told me that she was pregnant while she worked at IBM in the ’70s. At the time, she says, the unwritten policy …
New column: Will the oil bubble burst?
So I’ve already said what’s in it, but now my new column is up online and in the dead-tree issue of Time with the Prozac on the cover. It begins:
Eleven years ago, after doing a lot of studying and a lot of thinking, Richard Rainwater convinced himself that the long decline in oil prices that had begun in the early 1980s was about to
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Why mentoring is so worth it
I went to a fancy breakfast today. It was a ceremony honoring the finalists of something called the Magazine Mentor of the Year award, given by the Magazine Publishers Association. There were cut peonies and a fabulous buffet and lots of good-looking magaziney people in suits. Among the finalists were serious luminaries in my industry: …