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Sunday, February 19, 2012
Hackers target Putin's vote-monitoring system (Reuters)
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - Hackers have tried to crash a vast network of web cameras which Vladimir Putin has ordered to allay fears of vote-rigging in the March presidential election, a deputy minister said on Friday.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The Truth Is That Small Businesses Are Not Good At Creating Jobs
NEW YORK (AP) ? Mitt Romney says they're "job creators" and vows to come to their aid as president. Newt Gingrich visited them on his "jobs and growth" bus tour. President Barack Obama calls them "the engine of our economy."
If there's one thing Republicans and Democrats agree on, it's that small business is the answer to what ails the economy. On these tiny bundles of entrepreneurial energy, they say, rides the nation's hope for lower unemployment and faster economic growth.
But the work of several economists suggests that most small businesses are not particularly adept at creating jobs, at least not the best jobs. The work also suggests their role in generating national wealth has been exaggerated.
The problem is that not all small businesses are created equal. Businesses just getting off the ground contribute most of the country's job growth, but older small businesses cut as many as they add.
Think Bill Gates and Paul Allen huddled together late nights developing Microsoft, not the corner liquor store.
"I don't want to pick on dry cleaners and restaurants and small manufacturing firms, but they're not a big source of job creation," says John Haltiwanger, an economist at the University of Maryland.
Politicians like to say that small companies create two of every three jobs in a given year. That's less impressive when you consider that almost all the 6 million companies in the U.S. ? 99.9 percent of them ? are small businesses, with fewer than 500 workers.
What's more, two-out-of-three masks the fact that most small businesses eliminate more jobs than they create in a given year, either through layoffs, closings or bankruptcy.
And many of the rest, the ones that don't shrink or shut down, don't offer much hope for the millions of Americans looking for jobs.
Many small companies ? outfits like florists, hardware stores and barbershops ? tend to grow with the U.S. population, not faster. So they don't speed the economic recovery the way an exploding new industry might.
According to an August study by two University of Chicago economists, most small business owners just want to be their own boss and never expect to hire more than a few employees.
In fact, the more you study the numbers, the more you wonder what the politicians are getting so excited about.
Haltiwanger and two other economists showed, in a study of millions of companies over 30 years, that small businesses no more than five years old ? that's about 40 percent of them ? are the only ones that create more jobs each year than they cut.
In 2005, for instance, more than 99 percent of the 2.5 million net new private-sector jobs in the United States came from these startups, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But the 60 percent of small businesses that have been around more than five years act as a slight drag on the number of jobs available in the United States. They have cut about 0.5 percent more staff than they have added in a typical year, according to Haltiwanger.
By contrast, big businesses, the ones that get all the headlines for layoffs, have hired more than they have cut ? about 0.1 percent in a typical year.
Economist Charles Kenny of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan research group, goes as far as suggesting that Washington should stop offering certain incentives to small business owners, such as loan guarantees and write-offs on taxes for home offices. He says the money would be better spent subsidizing research and development.
"If you want jobs, you have to focus on the innovative firms trying to provide something new and different," he says.
The country's unemployment rate is 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years. But the U.S. still has 5.6 million fewer jobs than before the recession. Assuming the pace of hiring from last year continues, it will take three years to recover all the lost jobs.
Small businesses aren't helping much. They cut more workers than they hired in all but three months last year, and contributed zero to job gains again in January, according to a survey by the National Federal of Independent Business.
To change that record, Republicans say Obama needs to cut federal rules and paperwork that are burdensome for small businesses that don't have human resource departments, legal staff and vast resources like big businesses.
To comply with federal regulations on the environment, for instance, companies with fewer than 20 workers spent $4,101 per worker in 2008, or 4? times more than companies employing 500 or more, according to the Small Business Administration.
The same study showed these businesses spent three times more per worker on tax preparation than did their larger counterparts.
"As regulatory complexity increases, it's hard on small firms," says William Dunkelberg, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business, a group closely allied with Republicans. "We need to get government out of the way."
But many economists think the root of the job problem is deeper.
Again, it's the difference between old small businesses and new small ones, and the U.S. is not creating enough of the new ones.
It was true even before the Great Recession: The number of startups less than a year old was no higher in the boom year of 2006 than it was 30 years ago, when the economy was much smaller, according to the Census Bureau. And the ones that are launching are hiring fewer people, too.
The grim takeaway is that the U.S. could struggle with high unemployment long after a pickup in economic growth.
Even the idea that small businesses play an outsized role in the economy has come under attack lately.
A study from the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research shows that the self-employed worker, that rugged exemplar of the small businessperson, accounted for less of the working population in the U.S. than in the other 20 rich countries tracked, except for Luxembourg.
Another study by economists at Harvard and Dartmouth suggests that might not be such a bad thing because poorer countries are more likely to have a higher share of their workers self-employed.
Adding fuel to the argument, Kelly Edmiston, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, showed that workers at small businesses are more likely to lose their jobs and less likely to have vacation days, retirement plans and a range of other benefits, including health care. Some 41 percent of companies employing less than 100 people offered no medical insurance at all.
So, myths about job creation aside, why isn't the U.S. launching more startups? The risky economy, regulations or health care costs ? a bigger burden for small companies ? could be scaring them off.
Haltiwanger thinks demographics may be at work. He says businesses are often started by people in their 30s and 40s. So as the population ages and more baby boomers retire, the number of startups falls.
"We're a roll-the-dice economy. It has a lot of spillover effects," he says. "But we're not experimenting enough."
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DARPA Researches Avatar Surrogates
The argument could be made that this is already the case, with "expendable" soldiers acting as the avatars for politicians or other unscrupulous sorts.
To a certain extent, yes. But human lives still have value, if not to the politicians, to the military leaders calling the shots, and to the people who have to read about it in the paper.
Consider: a little shy of 4,500 US soldiers have died in Iraq since hostilities began in 2003, and nearly 33,000 have been wounded. Stalin wrote that 1,000 deaths is a tragedy, 1,000,000 is a statistic, and the same holds true for this conflict: 4,500 dead is a *lot*, but it's a number most of us can wrap our heads around,
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Friday, February 17, 2012
Suggestions About Creating A Profitable Business Plan ? World Of ...
When it is time to start your own personal business - regardless of whether you intend to start an internet business, retail store, service-based business, internet shopping web site or in any manner - the 1st step often involves publishing your own business plan. With no your own business plan, you simply will not know how to get started, or the way to improve and keep your new business.
A business strategy plan is an easy roadmap. It's really a strategy which informs you what ensure do, when, and the way. The organization strategy helps as well you clarify the type of business you are going to start, who your web visitors are going to be, and what your service are going to be way too.
If you intend to try and get money on your new company from a standard bank, common mortgage lender, or trader, you must develop what's called a proper business strategy plan. Professional business plans provides an index of nero your company and sector, go into very revealing details about your items, prospects and areas, companies, earnings estimations, analysis of the competition plus more. These elegant business plans might work twenty webpages in length and acquire months in order to complete.
Small business owners nonetheless, don't want elegant business plans to obtain thier business begun. Often your small business can create their first business strategy plan as brainsorming notices, or sets out. This also is fine to start with.
The significant portion even though, is really writing down a strategy. Many times, minuscule enterprises will endeavour to start without any business strategy plan, so their concepts are obscure and they also normally are not familiar with which methods to use following. By publishing something photoscape straight down, although it is every bit very everyday pondering notices, you will have a significantly clearer photograph of which kind of business you choose, and the way it needs to improve as time passes.
Here are a couple of things you should think of when publishing your company strategy:
1. What kind of organization are you currently starting? Would it be a retail store? An expert service? An on-line website?
2. What is the function of your new business? An organization might be begun for entertainment, but if you want it is rewarding then you need to know why you will be starting it. Have you been filling up a necessity of some sort? Developing something never witnessed previous to?
3. How your company earn cash? Would you like to advertise products and solutions therefore, the ones? Where will you will get these products from? ccleaner Just how much do you want to pay for these products and the way significantly do you want to advertise them for?
4. Who'll be your web visitors? Understanding who your web visitors are going to be is often a essential element of publishing any business strategy. Once you discover your web visitors survive minimal preset salaries as an example, then you quickly know you are unable to advertise them goods which price tag thousands of dollars. Understanding who your web visitors are going to be also enables you to know where you should place your marketing and advertising initiatives.
5. How would you get individuals prospects? No matter if you intend on getting in touch with most of them on the telephone personally, or you can be choosing a first class salesforce, you need to know how you will get prospects or maybe your business might never get off the ground.
These are just the fundamental methods for publishing your own business plan naturally, but they are the most important people.
Source: http://www.pronatura-chiapas.org/suggestions-about-creating-a-profitable-business-plan/
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GM earnings hint at threat from Europe woes
By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer
General Motors Thursday became the latest American employer to report that the deepening economic slowdown in Europe has begun to take a toll on corporate profits. And Europe's economy is likely to get worse before it gets better, according to some analysts.
As the United States and China shake off the lingering effects of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the global economy faces the risk that the recovery could be derailed by European problems worsened by political divisions that have divided the Continent for a century or more.
Though American employers recently have begun picking up the pace of hiring at home, the profit slowdown abroad could put a damper on further job creation.
So far, the U.S. economy and financial markets have largely shrugged off the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 is up more than 20 percent since last fall, and the widely followed Dow Jones industrial average is within hailing distance of the key 13,000 level.
But some?observers?believe the European deadlock may be entering a new, and much more dangerous, phase.?
"Just because things were looking OK at the end of last year doesn't mean that they will continue to look OK," said Richard Cookson, chief investment officer of Citi Private Bank. "Our best guess is that conditions will continue to deteriorate. This is going to be unpleasant, to put it mildly."
General Motors reported flat earnings for the fourth quarter despite rising?sales, largely because of a $600 million loss from its European operations.? Rival Ford also has reported a slowdown? in European car sales. European officials said Thursday that eurozone auto sales there fell 13 percent in January from a year earlier as jittery consumers postponed buying new cars.
U.S. carmakers aren't the only ones reporting trouble on the European front. General Electric last month warned analysts that while the global conglomerate sees continued growth prospects in emerging markets from China to South America, the company expects its profits in Europe will be hurt by the recession there.? In recent weeks, Tiffany, 3M, Alcoa and Baxter International also reported that the European slowdown has begin to hit the bottom line.
While European imports of goods and services represent less than 3 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, the companies in the S&P 500 count on the eurozone for 14 percent of their profits. U.S. foreign direct investment in Europe totaled nearly $2 trillion at the end of 2009, compared to less than $50 billion that U.S. companies have invested in China, according to the Congressional Research Service.
On Thursday,?Treasury Undersecretary Lael Brainard told the Senate Banking Committee that the?U.S. economic stake in Europe is "immense" and said that while the U.S. recovery has strengthened recently, it remained vulnerable to a potential worsening of conditions in Europe.
"Our banking system still has material exposure to the core of Europe and to the broader banking system, which could be impacted if financial stress were to broaden in Europe," Brainard said.
After more than a year of political squabbling over how to bail out its debt-laden southern members, the European Union is sliding into recession. Economic data released Wednesday showed the eurozone GDP shrank in the fourth quarter as Germany, the continent's economic flywheel, shifted into reverse. The contraction accelerated in hard-hit Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece.
Since 2007, the Greek economy has shrunk by 20 percent as repeated government spending cuts have stifled economic growth, further shrinking the country's tax base and fueling a downward spiral. ?
Despite a series of repeated promises and announced solutions, European politicians continue to squabble over a plan to head off a default by Greece on its debt. After widespread rioting over the weekend in Athens, German finance officials expressed doubts that Greek officials could hold to their promises to extend deep cuts in spending imposed as a condition of a $171 billion lifeline to head off a March 20 default. A new deadline for an agreement has been set for Monday.
"Even if an agreement on the package can be reached next week, there are plenty of other stumbling blocks that will need to be overcome to prevent a disorderly default in March," said Ben May, senior economist with Capital Economics.
For nearly a year, European banks have been bracing for the prospect of heavy losses stemming from Greece. As bonds issued by Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy have lost value, bankers have been raising capital to offset the anticipated losses. In December, European Central bankers sought to cushion the blow by flooding the banking system with cheap money and easier loan terms.
But those moves may not have gone far enough. On Thursday, credit rater Moody's warned that it may downgrade 17 banks and 114 European financial institutions as the impact of the debt crisis spreads.
The warning followed the late Monday announcement that Moody's had cut the?ratings?of Italy, Portugal and Spain. Though France, Britain and Austria retained their top credit scores, Moody's also cut their outlooks to "negative" from "stable." The agency said the downgrades were based on both the uncertainty about outcome of the Greek bailout squabble and the widening eurozone recession.
The Greek government still has a few weeks left to strike a deal before a $19 billion bond payment comes due March 20. But some analysts think the government has already run out of time to renegotiate those payment terms with bondholders, who would need several weeks to review the complex set of agreements.
It's far from clear just how badly a Greek default would rock the European economy and global financial system. With more than a year to prepare for the possible outcome, investors and bankers have had time to hedge those potential losses. But?
even if the direct impact is relatively muted, a default would almost certainly force Greece to exit the European Union and plunge the country deeper into a depression as creditors fled and government spending collapsed.
A Greek default would also reverberate loudly in other southern European countries. If the Athens government is unable to negotiate a lifeline with its European neighbors, those countries could face similar long odds securing financial assistance
"The biggest cost of a Greek bankruptcy will be the emergence of the worm of doubt, our new friend," said Carl Weinberg, Chief Economist, High Frequency Economics. "If Euroland governments cannot get their acts together to save little old Greece, they probably will not be able to bail out other nations."
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Thursday, February 16, 2012
Car Finance ? Three Great Financing Options | Guaranteed Auto ...
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Source: http://www.guaranteedautoloans.info/car-finance-three-great-financing-options/
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Windsong Properties - Atlanta Real Estate Forum
Homeowners find that courtyards are great for throwing outdoor parties. Plus, they get to show off these unique spaces. Courtyards are perfect for gardening, ponds, cute patio furniture and, of course, grilling out. Guests will love everything about them.
For overnight guests or visiting grandchildren, Windsong Properties offers casitas in its Stratton floor plan. These quarters are separated from the main home, yet are under the same roof. Guests will 
Entertaining would not be the same if neighbors weren?t included. Homeowners of Windsong homes can have as many gatherings they want with welcoming front porches?perfect for greeting friends or even happy hour!
If these sound like great ways to entertain, take a tour of Windsong at Seven Hills. Located in Dallas, the community offers maintenance-friendly living so that residents can enjoy all of the social activities at the community?s exclusive clubhouse.
Homes feature two- and three-bedroom courtyard designs with optional terrace levels. The floor plans appeal to the elegance and sophistication of today?s active adult homebuyer and are easily accessible.
Windsong at Seven Hills is just a half-hour from Downtown Atlanta and 45 minutes from both the North Georgia Mountains and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
To schedule a tour, call 770-917-8082. For more information, visit www.WindsongLife.com.
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