I went to the party for Dan Gross‘s new book Pop! Why Bubbles are Great for the Economy, last (Wednesday) night in this cool little wood-paneled room with views of Central Park in the Newsweek building called “Top of the Week.” The cameraphone photo above is of Dan making a shockingly touching tribute to his wife and kids. Seriously, I …
Two words: Rick Barry
The last time the Warriors won the NBA championship, their star was a guy with a hair weave who shot his free throws underhanded and made 90% of them. If the Warriors had made 90% of their free throws tonight, they would have beaten the Jazz, easily. Come on, you people! Skip the hair weaves, okay, but please please please call up Mr. …
The Samoas are here
First four ingredients: sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, enriched flour, corn syrup. You don’t have to be a locavore to believe that’s nasty. But man it tastes good! Just one more, okay?
TIME 100 Party Pics!
Barack didn’t show. Neither did Osama. And that was just fine with me. I was crushed Tyra didn’t make it, though.
Last night’s Time 100 gala celebrating the 100 most influential people in the world (as decided by, well, us) took place at the Time Warner Center. We plebes aren’t usually invited to these things, but yesterday we got to …
That other big media merger and what it means
Thomson Corp.’s plan to buy Reuters hasn’t gotten nearly the attention that Rupert Murdoch’s play for Dow Jones has. There are lots of good reasons for this: Thomson-Reuters is a (yawn) friendly deal, Reuters doesn’t posses the iconic status (at least not in the U.S.) of the Wall Street Journal, and David Thomson is no Rupert …
Business Book Giveaway! …With Strings, O’ Course
I hate mail.
I get so much of it. Not as much as my editor Josh Tyrangiel, who reviews music, or my colleague Jim Poniewozik, who reviews TV, or Lisa McLaughlin, who reviews margarita salt and plastic penguins (judging by her swag).
What I get are business books. Lots and lots of business books.
Have I mentioned that I hate business …
Pity the rich, for they are very wet
This is sort of shooting (exotic) fish in a barrel, but here’s a stray comment that recently showed up on my post from a few weeks back about Ari Fleischer’s ridiculous attempt to intimate that rich Americans are paying higher taxes than they did three decades ago (in fact their effective tax rates are down). Writes one Paul Ruedi:
You
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Yeah, eat local. But no need to be a jerk about it
It is an essential American trait to take an activity that’s fun and attack it with such fanaticism that it starts to seem more like penance. Most collegiate drinking fits this description. And I sense that it’s starting to happen with the whole “eat local” movement.
Just to smugly establish my bona fides: During the summer and fall …
A better way to pick World Bank presidents
The World Bank’s board of directors will meet soon to decide what if anything to do about their president, Paul Wolfowitz, and the steady drumbeat of news lately would appear to indicate that the guy can’t hold on much longer. The NYT reports that the Europeans wants a deal where Wolfowitz goes in return for letting the U.S. continue to …
Career Success Comes Down to “Great People Decisions”
CEOs love to say that great people make great organizations. Funny, then, that so many managers and others in a position to hire and promote know so very little about making great people decisions.
Notice I didn’t call it the “art” of making great people decisions. As executive search consultant Claudio Fernandez Araoz writes in his new …
Judging the Buffett bake-off
At Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting Saturday, Warren Buffett went into a bit more detail on how he plans to pick the person who will run Berkshire’s money when he’s gone. From the FT:
Speaking to 27,000 investors gathered in his native Omaha for Berkshire’s annual meeting on Saturday, the world’s second-richest man said he had
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Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal
The Curious Capitalist commentariat, whose input I value deeply, is alarmed at my apparent soft spot for Rupert Murdoch. Asks Tom T:
What if he started telling you what to write, Justin? What if you were only allowed to write about the economics of John Edwards’ hair-cuts, Hillary’s wine tab at Veritas, and the cost of fueling Nancy
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