There won't be too many posts for the next 4 weeks. I'm currently travelling in India this week. On Sunday I leaving for Bali. After that I'm going to Angor Vat, Cambodia, Krabi in Thailand and then Singapore.
India is currently booming. The GDP growth for the last quarter was 9.2% annualized. The equity markets are at an all time high. Property prices are booming as well. I bought an pre-construction apartment here several months ago and its up already 40%, although its appreciation will probably slow down to reasonable levels now, prices have become incredibly expensive.
Walmart Rant
In a previous post about Walmart, someone complained that Walmart was the evil corporation that needed to be kept out of town by the local government due it is unfair employment practices.
I don't know why people are anti-business. We saw the same thing with the oil companies recently. Policitians are also quick to bash a profitable company and give hand-outs to companies that should be allowed to go under. "Walmart sucks because it doesn't pay its employees $30/hr and give them a ferrari for christmas. Of course I don't shop there and so I don't care about their prices. All I care is that Walmart takes care of my constituents and get me re-elected."
Walmarts job as a public company is to increase shareholder value. It does this by reducing all costs across the board. If you don't like this, don't shop there or work there.
Complaints about Walmart putting mom & pop stores out of business aren't valid. If you can't compete on pricing then compete on service. If you can't do that, move into another business. Thats how capitalism works. If you don't like that there are several socialist/communist countries would welcome you.
Complaining that Walmart puts people out of work is equally stupid. Henry Ford put horse and buggy drivers out of business. John Deere put thousands of farm hands out of business. Maybe we close down all the factories and go back to the stone-age?
Having the government keep Walmart out of town is not the solution. We're currently in a cycle where its cheaper for us to buy Chinese goods than it is to make them here. Thats the real problem. And because of it millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost and are continuing to be lost. But the government is fixing this problem by devaluing our currency as fast as it can! Eventually our currency will be worthless and alot of manufacturing jobs will come back!
I don't know why people are anti-business. We saw the same thing with the oil companies recently. Policitians are also quick to bash a profitable company and give hand-outs to companies that should be allowed to go under. "Walmart sucks because it doesn't pay its employees $30/hr and give them a ferrari for christmas. Of course I don't shop there and so I don't care about their prices. All I care is that Walmart takes care of my constituents and get me re-elected."
Walmarts job as a public company is to increase shareholder value. It does this by reducing all costs across the board. If you don't like this, don't shop there or work there.
Complaints about Walmart putting mom & pop stores out of business aren't valid. If you can't compete on pricing then compete on service. If you can't do that, move into another business. Thats how capitalism works. If you don't like that there are several socialist/communist countries would welcome you.
Complaining that Walmart puts people out of work is equally stupid. Henry Ford put horse and buggy drivers out of business. John Deere put thousands of farm hands out of business. Maybe we close down all the factories and go back to the stone-age?
Having the government keep Walmart out of town is not the solution. We're currently in a cycle where its cheaper for us to buy Chinese goods than it is to make them here. Thats the real problem. And because of it millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost and are continuing to be lost. But the government is fixing this problem by devaluing our currency as fast as it can! Eventually our currency will be worthless and alot of manufacturing jobs will come back!
Real Estate Trends
I get monthly mailings from John Burns on national real estate trends and forecasts. His newsletter is very good, however I got one that was what I would expect from a recruiter instead. But it has some good advice so I'm sharing it anyway.
Sadly, most of our builder clients are ending 2006 with fewer employees than they started. However, they also believe they are far better positioned to succeed in 2007 than they were several months ago, and they continue to search for even better people (but not more people).
As you fine-tune your business plans for 2007, I thought I'd share with you the acronym that we use to help with personnel decisions. I look for PALS – people who are Passionate, Articulate, Likable and Smart. If I have a team of PALS, we'll be more successful than anyone else. Here is what I mean:
Passionate For me, this is the most important characteristic. Passionate people are infectious. They come up with great ideas. They are not satisfied with just being good – they want to be great. They motivate others on the team to be even greater. They want to be much better than the competition.
Articulate Articulate people get to the point quickly. Their empathy and tone of voice allow for open, productive dialogue. They are equally as good at listening as they are at speaking. Their written words are brief and leave little room for misunderstanding.
Likable Likable people are the ones you look forward to seeing. They smile and laugh a lot. They are willing to help wherever needed. Their ethics are uncompromised. You would trust them with your checkbook.
Smart Smart people make the right decisions quickly. They have experience to draw from, but don't rely on "rules of thumb" that may no longer apply. They are often highly educated and well-respected. They understand and appreciate the importance of all aspects of the business.
Some may argue that the most important acronym in 2007 will be CASH. If you have the right people, I believe you are likely to generate the most cash.
San Diego Is Anti-Poor
San Diego just blocked Walmart's plans for a new Super Store arguing that that Wal-Mart puts smaller competitors out of business, pays workers poorly, and contributes to traffic congestion and pollution.
Of course the council failed to state that social engineering isn't their job and that the people who currently work at Walmart seem very happy with their jobs and have never protested their pay or anything else. Nor the fact that Walmart's lower prices put competitors out of business but help low-income families buy more stuff and actually increase their standard of living. Of course no one wants low income families shopping in their neighborhoods so the easiest solution is to ban the superstore itself.
Another bad idea is the forced raise of the minimum wage. Mom and pop stores who are trying to stay afloat in California due the increase in real estate prices [& therefore taxes on triple-net leases when the properties are sold], increase in electricity & heating costs and the slow down in the housing market are hurt the most. [50% of new jobs created in the state since 2000 were real estate related. As the house market slides, the jobs will disappear as will the income of the people still in the business]. As a result they will be less likely to hire new employees or maybe even cut down on the hours of existing employees. At the same time, prices will have to be increased to make up for the increase in the wages. So the poor employees will see no real benefit in the wage hike while feeling the brunt of the increase in prices.
But atleast we're still better than France, where the employer can't fire anyone even if the business files for bankrupcy!!!!
Of course the council failed to state that social engineering isn't their job and that the people who currently work at Walmart seem very happy with their jobs and have never protested their pay or anything else. Nor the fact that Walmart's lower prices put competitors out of business but help low-income families buy more stuff and actually increase their standard of living. Of course no one wants low income families shopping in their neighborhoods so the easiest solution is to ban the superstore itself.
Another bad idea is the forced raise of the minimum wage. Mom and pop stores who are trying to stay afloat in California due the increase in real estate prices [& therefore taxes on triple-net leases when the properties are sold], increase in electricity & heating costs and the slow down in the housing market are hurt the most. [50% of new jobs created in the state since 2000 were real estate related. As the house market slides, the jobs will disappear as will the income of the people still in the business]. As a result they will be less likely to hire new employees or maybe even cut down on the hours of existing employees. At the same time, prices will have to be increased to make up for the increase in the wages. So the poor employees will see no real benefit in the wage hike while feeling the brunt of the increase in prices.
But atleast we're still better than France, where the employer can't fire anyone even if the business files for bankrupcy!!!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)