Stress-related employee turnover, absenteeism and low morale all affect a company’s bottom line. Based on information from the American Institute of Stress and the American Psychological Association, job stress and related problems cost companies an estimated $200 billion or more a year.

Massage has been known to reduce blood pressure, relieve arthritis pain, improve joint and muscle aches, especially in painful areas of the neck and back, and even increase immunity to colds and flu. But what is not known is that massage services in the workplace can do wonders not only for a company’s morale but also for their profits.

Massage in general decreases job stress and fatigue while increasing alertness, clear thinking and productivity in employees. A recent study in the American Psychologist gave one group of workers a 15 minute rest while giving another group of workers a 15 minute

...

That's the title of a chapter I contributed to a new book edited by John Ciorciari and John Taylor entitled The Road Ahead for the Fed. The book grew out of a conference held at Stanford University in March.

In my chapter (a draft of which can be obtained here), I review the mechanics of what the Fed has been doing with its balance sheet, and then raise three concerns. One of my concerns is that the Fed's new balance sheet has compromised the independence of the central bank:

The decision of where public funds are best allocated is inherently political. Any risks on the Fed's new balance sheet are ultimately borne by the taxpayers. The U.S. Constitution specifies that decisions of how public funds get spent shall be up to Congress, and with good reason. Citizens have a right to vote on

...

The typical Econbrowser reader might not be surprised at the NBER decision -- but some others will. From a May 2008 WSJ article:

"The data are pretty clear that we are not in a recession," Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Edward Lazear told a meeting of editors and reporters from the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.

...

"I would be very surprised if the NBER, looking back at this period, would date this as a recession," Mr. Lazear said. There are even indications that revised first-quarter estimates would be slightly stronger than 0.6%. "The optimists seem to have been closer to right on that than the pessimists," he said.

Just to reiterate, that quote is from May 2008.

Here's a picture of GDP and gross domestic income (as suggested by Jim in this post, and noted in the BCDC announcement).

Figure 1: Gross domestic product (blue), and ...

A fair bit of deliberation has taken place on this site regarding stock market valuations, and specifically what is in store for the “E” component of PE multiples. In order to cast light on this matter and to incorporate insightful research into the valuation debate, I have obtained republishing permission to share with readers a study just published by John Hussmann*, president of Hussman Investment Trust. His report follows below.

With the S&P 500 down nearly 40% from last year’s highs, and now trading modestly above 10 times last year’s peak earnings level, I continue to view stocks as somewhat undervalued, in that long-term investors can expect the S&P

...

Analyst turned passive advisor seeing market turmoil spurring interest in low-cost investing. 

 

The value of disciplined, low-cost and highly diversified investing is really paying dividends for Lorne Abramson these days.

Despite turbulent times in the markets, the Burlingame, Calif.-based portfolio manager says he's finding his high net worth and institutional clients "shaken but not stirred."

"They're not jumping ship. And actually, we're seeing a lot more unhappy investors questioning their advisors' active strategies contacting us," said Abramson.

Along with his wife, Elana Lieberman, he runs ELM Advisors near San Francisco. Both are staunch supporters of passive asset-class investing. And each started in finance as stock analysts at institutional research and money management shops. Abramson primarily covered banking stocks at SKBA Capital Management, while Lieberman tracked insurance companies at Sanford C. Bernstein.

"We both saw from the inside how hard it is to add value over indexes," Abramson said.

Nobel prize-winner

...

Michael McFaul, who serves as Sen. Barack Obama's main Russia policy adviser, is quoted by Bloomberg tonight talking about his positions on engagement with Moscow, WTO ascension, and the missile shield issue. "Obviously, in contrast to Senator McCain, we don't believe in trying to isolate Russia,'' the adviser, Michael McFaul, a Russia expert at Stanford University, said in a phone interview today from California. "Those kind of actions we see as counterproductive in dealing with Russia.'' McFaul, who said he was giving his personal view and not the official policy of the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign, said it is in the U.S. interest for Russia to be in the WTO. He also said that a Russian offer to host elements of a planned U.S. missile defense at facilities in Russia and Azerbaijan "should be explored.''

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] ...

This post is really a supplement to Claus's post Thailand at the Crossroads, and a complement to Manuel's election coverage. Now Claus points out that Thailand is in the middle of its ongoing Demographic Transition, and at the high point of that favourable moment when what has become known to economists as the Demographic Dividend process is at its height.The demographic transition is - in simple language - a movement upwards in population median ages. Societies (one after another) move steadily from being high fertility, low life expectancy, low median age ones (think Niger, or Mali, or Uganda right now), to low fertility, high life expectancy, high median age ones (think Germany, Japan and Italy) in a more or less steady and ongoing fashion. We know of course what the starting point of this transition is (the above mentioned high fertility societies have a ...