10 pieces of positive business news for a nasty time
What a nasty stretch of bewildering business, political and economic news. It’s been nothing but bailouts, backstabbing, blustering and bloodletting.
Enough of the doom and gloom. Where’s our little miss sunshine? I scoured online and offline business media for days, desperately attempting to locate anything positive. Arguably, it’s the most pessimistic time since 9-11. But with global financial markets inspired by raw emotion, it’s crucial to spotlight every fragment of glass-is-half-full optimism.
Here are 10 positively nuanced news stories. Add ‘em up and maybe there’s a thread of meaningful momentum in a time of desperation:
- Bill Gates believes we’ll “see our way through this.”
- Congress is finally grilling CEOs about their obscene pay. I’m hoping this is a tipping point. We’ve got to wipe this practice from the face of business forevermore.
- Through it all, spirited entrepreneurs are launching and growing start-ups in a diverse array of industries from clean tech and biotech to medical device companies and e-healthcare to mobile communications and virtualization. Money continues to flow and people are still being hired.
- The Oracle of Omaha is re-investing billions in our economy. Thanks Warren.
- The first Earth Day was in 1970. Last Friday, Congress passed legislation putting energy-tax incentives in place for solar, wind and clean-energy products. For the first time, it feels like clean and green are actually becoming a mandated, lasting fabric of our society.
- OJ finally got his due (this one’s a bit of a stretch; file it under memorabilia business news).
- Massive banking consolidation has yielded three powerhouse institutions helping stabilize the market: Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. Yes, BOA profits plunged on Monday, but Kenneth Lewis has his finger on the right buttons.
- Unemployment is hovering around 3% in South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota and Montana. I know, I know, but we’re looking for rays of sunshine anywhere across this land.
- The king of spam got jailed.
- Nothing feels better than a deep belly laugh during a heated, historical, political contest. Tina Fey & SNL are reminding us to keep things in perspective. Only 28 days until a new president is elected; this act will calm the waters going into 09.
Comments
[Add Comment]
Great article! We all need a little bit of good news. I also had trouble finding positive news stories until I googled "good news" and found a few websites dedicated to providing only positive news stories. Go figure.
# Posted By Patti Fousek
| 10/7/08 3:49 PM
[Add Comment]
