Part 1

Part 2

First, Forbe’s “The World’s Next Great Cities”. Distribution and controlling the supply chain is still very much important.

http://www.forbes.com/realestate/2008/10/23/cities-world-ten-forbeslife-cx_mw_1023cities.html?feed=rss_popstories

Second, The Motley Fool’s “Tech Bailout is Oxymoronic”. In this exercise, I want you to select the word that does not fit: venture capital, start-up, bailout, high-risk, high-reward.

http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2008/12/09/theres-something-oxymoronic-about-a-tech-bailout.aspx

Third, BusinessWeek’s “The U.S. Economy’s Best Bet: The Intangible Sector”. Dear Lord! Somebody gets it! Education and health care- two industries that live and die on innovation, or a lack thereof.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2008/db2008129_060427.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

And finally, countless U.S. Americans sing in chorus, “I got it for cheap!” as depicted in BusinessWeek’s “2008: The Year of Living Cheaply”.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2008/tc20081210_696392.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

What does all of this mean? To me, it’s a reminder to the world that we got sidetracked- ‘caught up in the hype. And, even in a time of deep crisis, we should stop and think before taking action. I’m preaching nothing new here, but can we at least stop throwing money at fires? Last time I checked, money was made of trees and trees still burn. It’s not magic. It just happens.