Much of the talk about unsettled times ahead looks to oil as a cause: economies will undergo transition and regional conflicts will increase. Think also about water. Lake Chad is an exemplar. At one time the world’s sixth largest lake, included in four African countries (Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria), it has, in less than [...]
Category Archives: Business/Economics
Subprime Thinking
March 24, 2008 – 1:04 am
“It is the private trading of complex instruments that lurk in the financial shadows that worries regulators and Wall Street and that [has] created stresses in the broader economy. Economic downturns and panics have occurred before, of course. Few, however, have posed such a serious threat to the entire financial system that regulators have responded [...]
Eggman — Part 5…Mergers & Acquisitions
March 23, 2008 – 8:12 pm
egg route fortunes When I left for college in 1961, I bequeathed the egg route, then at 160 dozen per week, to my younger brother Doug. He was almost 12. But when I came home for winter break, the route had declined to 100 dozen. It was too much for him to handle…not to mention [...]
Eggman — Part 2…Expanding the Business
March 18, 2008 – 9:10 pm
Three weeks after beginning my egg route, my weekly delivery had increased to nearly 150 dozen. It only took two after-schools to deliver the eggs, and I was netting over $30 each week, more than $4.25/hour. With the minimum wage at $1.55/hour, I, only 15, had found the chicken that laid the Golden Egg. Of [...]
I Really Was the Eggman — Part 1
March 17, 2008 – 12:22 am
“Hello. My name is Steve Cotler. Each week I go out to a ranch in the country and pick up fresh eggs and deliver them in this area at a price within a penny or two of store prices. Of course, these eggs are much fresher than store eggs because I pick them up and [...]
Bear Market Rap
February 13, 2008 – 7:14 am
In December 1990, when I was working as an investment banker in San Francisco, I wrote and recorded a rap song.
