Government, Politics and the Economy Recession Watch: Leading Indicators Rise The index of US leading economic indicators rose in June for a third consecutive month, reinforcing other signs that the economy may be emerging from the worst recession in five decades. Bloomberg.com Management and Operations Stay With Your Vision or Maybe Lose Your Business The fall of Dial-a-Matress shows how overexpansion, bringing in executives who don't understand the corporate culture and straying from your vision can all work to kill a company. WSJ.com [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Small Business: The White House is Deaf to Our Needs President Obama's decision to cut off aid to small business lender CIT Group is just the latest in a string of decisions that demonstrate Obama's indifference to small business. WSJ.com Shlaes: Look to Reagan for a Way Out of the Recession Bloomberg columnist Amity Shlaes suggests that with the similarity between the current recession and the economic woes of the early 1980s, the solution to those woes, lower taxes and higher interest rates, is worth looking at today. Bloomberg.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Does The Small Business Majority Represent You? Don't Bet on It! They conduct polls and claim to represent all small business by not representing any particular small business. Who are they and what are they all about? We have some answers. NYTimes.com Obama's Health, Energy Legislation Facing Democrats' Questionable Support The fates of President Obama's top two priorities: extending health coverage to the uninsured and reducing greenhouse gases, rest in the hands of a group of pivotal Democratic senators, and so far they don't seem convinced. Bloomberg.com Management and... [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Entrepreneurs on Obama According to a new survey, entrepreneurs are willing to give the President time to fix the economy, but many have serious questions about the wisdom of his policies. BusinessWeek.com Ownership, Management and Operations 12 Steps to Upgrade Your Business To grow, for your business needs needs to evolve, you need to be able to see where things can be improved and address those areas. Here are a dozen things you can do today to make that happen. SmallBizTrends.com [Read Full Article]

It’s nere, and it’s going to revolutionize the corporate office I have to wonder if what the Vice-President said was true or just another one of his personable gaffes, like advising (on national TV) that people avoid planes and other crowded, enclosed places during the height of the swine flu scare. I mean, was it Joe being Joe, or does he have a point? Is a renewal of trade unions key to the rebuilding of the American middle class? His comments, made to a conference of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, presuppose that there is a connection between the labor movement and the middle class and it likewise presupposes that the Vice-President can, in fact, define the term “middle class.” People talk about the middle class all the time, yet if you try to pin it down to some concrete demographic, things get a bit hazy. Do you define it by income? If so, plenty of people making six digits but living in expensive areas could be middle clas... [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Obama: Working to Clear the Economic Wreckage President Obama tried to reassure Americans during his Wednesday evening press conference that he is making real progress in dealing with the recession and improving the US image abroad. However, he urged patience in dealing with these and other issues. Yahoo.com/Reuters Taxes Coming on Digital Goods A number of states are looking to tax digital goods, yet enacting these taxes while trying encourage broadband adoption and develop a low-carbon economy sends the wrong message, according to opponents. ZDNet.com [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Small Business: Obama Just Doesn't Understand Us According to a survey by City Business Journals Network, nearly 60% of small business owners think the Obama administration doesn’t understand small business while better than 40% are less optimistic about the national economy than they were when President Barack Obama took office. Bizjournals.com Venture Capitalists: Don't Treat Us Like Hedge Funds Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wants to see venture capitalists, hedge funds and private equity firms registered with the SEC and subject to disclosure requireme... [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Local Economies – Local Currencies Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, more and more communities are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses by printing and circulating their own currencies. USAToday.com Energy Tax Breaks to Benefit Small Businesses...Eventually It may take a little while, but most of the small business energy incentives in the economic-stimulus plan will eventually trickle down from state and local governments. WSJ.com Management and Financial Issues [Read Full Article]