a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aOhkusQ9LifQamp;refer=home"Interesting piece out on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Bloomberg/span today/a on this topic. Basically even after we reach recovery, and have "full employment" again, the landscape will likely be much different. This recession has brought about a paradigm shift in the economy. Sectors like financial services will likely be redefined as new laws and regulations are passed and thus, the financial business model is likely to change. You also have industries like automakers and newspapers facing major changes, those of them that survive, that is.br /br /ulliHundreds of thousands of jobs have vanished forever in industries such as auto manufacturing and financial services. Millions of people who were fired or laid off will find it harder to get hired again and for years may have to accept lower earnings than they enjoyed before the slump./liliThis restructuring -- in what former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker calls “the ...

This post is a guest contribution by Jay Bryson*, global economist of Wachovia.

The swine flu epidemic has become front page news this week. Mexico is the epicenter of the outbreak and thousands of cases have been reported in that country. However, scores of cases have been confirmed in the United States, and countries as far afield as Israel and New Zealand have hospitalized people with symptoms that resemble swine flu. Not only have the Mexican stock market and currency been hammered over the past few days, but financial markets in most other countries have been adversely affected as well.

The financial and economic costs of the epidemic will ultimately depend on its severity. The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that swept through Asia in the spring of 2003 is instructive. The SARS epidemic was deadly - nearly 800 people in

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Below is a video compilation of some of the interviews I shot in Washington DC this month with various Russia and Caucasus experts, this time commenting on the current political crisis in Georgia, the August invasion by Russia, and the general trend of confrontation in the region.  Svante Cornell, of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Paul Goble, a former U.S. official and blogger at Window on Eurasia, and David Satter are featured in the video.

Hyper-Inflation: Central Banks Gone Wild by Michael Checkan, Advisory Panelist

Editor’s Note: Many of our long-time readers will remember our old friend and colleague Michael Checkan at Asset Strategies International, Inc. A specialist in precious metals and foreign currencies, today he takes a look at a unique “hyper-inflationary” economy and the havoc it plays on foreign currencies.

With the U.S. Government printing money like never before, the whispers of inflation float over the currency and bond markets. In fact, inflation has dropped to almost nothing after hitting a high of 5.6% in July of last year.

Within the past two weeks the Fed created one trillion dollars out of thin air. Apart from left or right wing rhetoric, this is reality.

History has taught us that governments can take a perfectly good piece of paper, put some ink on it, and make it totally worthless.

It happened in Hungary in 1946, Argentina

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University Endowment FundsUniversity Endowment Funds ListQuick Link: Hedge Fund Marketing GuideYesterday a hedge fund sent me this list of university endowments from Wikipedia and I thought I would share this with others involved in hedge fund marketing and sales.Institution Endowment (2005)billion USD Endowment (2006)billion USD Endowment (2007)billion USD Amherst College $ 1.155[1] $ 1.337[2] $ 1.662[3] ...

Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB:LYRI), an online marketing company, this week reported steady revenue of $10.8 million for its 4th Quarter, ending June 30, 2008. This amount is the exact same as that reported 12 months ago by the company. The revenue breakout includes Web and storage hosting, 73%; licensed software, 11%; maintenance and support, 13%; and professional services, 3%.

For the full fiscal 2008 year, the company reported revenues of $43.2 million compared with revenues of $39.0 million in fiscal 2007. However, Lyris’ EBITDA for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 was a loss of $478,000 versus earnings of $3.0 million in the fourth quarter a year ago.

On a GAAP-standards basis, the company reported a $2-million loss or 2 cents less per diluted share, compared with net income on a GAAP basis of $2.1 million, in the same period a year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, the net loss in the quarter

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