Economic cycles and trends

Who counts, and who doesn't.

An entire generation’s prosperity vanishing, food stamp use exploding. Welcome to the jobless future. This month’s jobs numbers drive home the point. The unemployment rate fell at the fastest rate for years — great news, right? Wrong. The lion’s share of the gains came from (wait for it) “temporary help services.” See what just happened? […]

It’s become the mantra of the moment: “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Leaders everywhere are struggling to make sense of the worldwide economic crisis, to learn lessons that will guide them and their companies going forward. My worry is that too many leaders are learning the wrong lessons — they are becoming […]

Cash, capital, and support from legislators.

The 2008 recession is an economic firestorm unlike anything the country has seen since the Great Depression. But 2009 is shaping up to be a trigger for an unprecedented surge of innovation that may be one of the most important turning points in the last 100 years. While things are undoubtedly more difficult these days, […]

While the global economy began slowing down in late 2007, forces transforming the face of business trace back more than a decade. Over that time period, technological improvements have made it ever easier to start and scale a business. Convergence went from being a cliché to a reality. Companies from countries like China, India, and […]

Last month, I sat down with editor extraordinaire Sarah Green to discuss much of what we’ve been talking about here during the last few months: the zombieconomy, the changing nature of advantage, and thriving during the downturn. Here’s our discussion, edited a bit for length. Enjoy! Download this podcast

Being neither an ardent football fan nor an economist, I nonetheless find much of my news absorption these days dominated either by the Super Bowl (yes, I am from New England) or the possibility of a looming recession. So, if you’ll allow me this week, I’ll offer my reflections on those two pending events. There […]

Employers need to help people afford and access the care they need.

More volume does not make a bad guitar player better – only louder and more obnoxious. Likewise, more technology can amplify a business – but if it’s not properly managed, it can boost losses just as easily as gains. Just consider the current mortgage crisis. Bank of America’s purchase of the once highflying Countrywide for […]

Ben Bernanke is angry. "If there is a single episode in the entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I can't think of one," he is quoted as saying....

Russia invaded Ukraine just as pressures on the U.S. economy appeared to have peaked.

This is post 2 in a series of blog posts from downturn strategist Darrell Rigby and fellow partners at Bain & Company. We will walk you through the tools and strategies you need to survive the current downturn and to improve your competitive position. To go deeper and complement these posts, we will provide early […]

Recent news coverage of the cosmetic name change from AIG to AIU at the failed company’s New York headquarters reminds us that a brand is a precious asset. The value of any brand asset depends upon whether it has delivered on its past promises and is believed likely to do so in the future. It […]

I’ve never become more than a modestly competent skier – capable of safely negotiating most intermediate slopes, but frankly way over my head when I venture onto anything more difficult. Slopes with deep moguls, ice, or the dreaded diamond are, well, nerve-wracking. When I start down, with the ground dropping away under my feet and […]

What a difference a week makes. Last Wednesday, as the world economy slipped towards oblivion, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown emerged at the eleventh...

Warning: This is my first post of 2009, so please excuse the length. You know things are dire when one of the country’s most influential columnists devotes several articles (and a new book) to parallels between what’s happening now and the Great Depression. Here’s Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in his latest New York Times column: […]

President-elect Obama has now made clear that his economic stimulus package will be very big — he called it “the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s” — and also very green, with emphasis on clean energy, efficient buildings and transportation, and green […]

In the U.S., unemployment is rising and the markets are falling. The price of oil is flirting with new highs and weakening consumer confidence threatens global markets. If we aren’t on the verge of a U.S. recession, we’re not exactly in the comfort zone either. As the Fed considers its next move, you should be […]

As part of the ongoing bailout of Citigroup, it was recently announced that the government's investment of about $25 billion in preferred stock would...