Archive for January, 2010
At the Technology Futures Inc Conference held this past week at the Courtyard Marriott downtown, a friend asked me what that “nearby train station” was for. Was it a way to get around Austin?
Sadly, the answer – for the past 2 years and counting – is NO. Sure it looks impressive, connecting to the Austin Convention Center and all. Unfortunately I explained, that’s all it connects to in downtown. No UT, no 6th Street, no Lady Bird Lake trail, no Whole Foods, no Warehouse District, no condos, no Capitol…nothing. OK she continued, so it connects to shopping places like the Domain? Not even the freakin’ Domain. So where does it go? Well, a bunch of parking lots in
the burbs. Who all want to go to the Convention Center? EXACTLY, I said.
Maybe it’s time to admit utter failure of tax dollars at work, as is put aptly here.
January 18th, 2010
Most of the financial news coming out of the blah-osphere is downright monotonous. A jobs report here, earnings announcement there. If you’re not watching CNBS 18 hours a day (God help you if you are) the dots don’t exactly connect on their own. At least that’s my experience.
Anyway, there’s some help out there for you, if you’re like me. Sandy Leeds, Professor at the McCombs School at UT-Austin, writes a new(ish) blog called Leeds on Finance, essentially summing up the day’s financial news and putting it all into context. This is not unlike what the McCombs Investment Fund (which Leeds oversees, BTW) is tasked with doing. Watching the currents, planning future moves down the road. On top of it all he’s a really funny and cutting writer. Take this excerpt:
The WSJ reports that many bank employees are very unhappy that a large component of their compensation will be stock that they will likely have to hold for three years. Some claim to have liquidity issues. I’ll be interested to see how this plays out. I think that they should fill some basketball arenas with people who don’t have jobs, have quit looking or have accepted part-time employment rather than full-time employment. It shouldn’t be difficult to find people to sit in the arena, since one in six Americans fall into one of these categories. Then, the bankers should be allowed to tell the audience their woes. Lets hear all about their liquidity issues and how they had nothing to do with our economic problems and how their bank was not rescued by the bailout.
Burn!
Honestly, add this guy to your feed already.
January 12th, 2010
