Government, Politics, and the Economy Retail Sales Rebound Into Xmas as Shares Show Consumer Not Dead From the recent spike in sales, it's beginning to look a lot like the retail holiday season will be happier than predicted. Bloomberg.comManagement and OperationsWhy Unemployed College Grads Should Channel Their Inner Entrepreneur Recent college graduates who are unemployed should think about taking to their entrepreneurial skills and start their own business. BusinessKnowHow.comManagement and Operations [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Seidman: I Don't Want the Recession to End Yet According to Dov Seidman, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of LRN, we need more time to understand where our economy went wrong and to get Wall Street back into proper perspective. BusinessWeek.com Next Six Months Will be Tough for Obama In his first six months as President, Barack Obama got a $787 billion economic stimulus package, $750 billion for the financial crisis, and a down payment on a $1 trillion overhaul of the healthcare system. With greater policy hurdles before him, the next six mo... [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Build America Bonds Signal Lower Appeal of Municipal Debt Barack Obama may be the worst thing that ever happened to tax-exempt bonds, but states and municipalities are loving his Build America Bonds, at least so far. Bloomberg.com Experts: Economy is Going to Improve Sure, the US economy may have contracted sharply in the first quarter, but according to some economists, there are sunnier skies are on the horizon. FoxNews.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

Government, Politics and the Economy Perhaps California is Not Too Big to Fail With the legislature in gridlock and $24 billion in red ink, California lawmakers have not been able to persuade the Obama Administration to bail out the state, and California isn't alone. BusinessWeek.com Economic Trends: The Death of the Independent Pharmacy With more customers filling their prescriptions online, the small independent pharmacies we grew up with are struggl... [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Obama Names Venture Capitalist to SBA Advocacy Office President Obama has named Venture Capitalist Winslow Sargeant as the chief counsel of the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. SmallBizJournal.com Obama: Our Projects Will Boost Jobs, Economy Has `Long Way to Go' President Obama has vowed to speed up the spending of federal money on public works projects and said there are signs that a US economic recovery has helped lead to a “reduction in fear” in financial markets. Bloomberg.com [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Little Hope and Less Hiring on Main Street Some may see signs of economic recovery on the horizon, but that news doesn't seem to have made it to the shops on Main Street. According to payroll processor ADP, small businesses shed more than four times as many employees as larger businesses did over the last month. CNNMoney.com Inflation: Are the Fears Overstated? We have been hearing warnings that President Obama's economic policies will lead to a terrible outbreak of inflation, and they may, but an immediate outbreak is improbable. WSJ.com Management, Taxes and Fin... [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Sotomayor: A Business Issue Moderate President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, has a mixed record on the issues important to the business community. BusinessWeek.com Emergency Loans: Will the Banks Go Along? The SBA is preparing to launch its long-awaited emergency loan program for debt-burdened businesses. However, the potential lenders are a bit wary and are asking for more details before they commit to participating. CNNMoney.com Consumer Confidence Jumps on Jobs Outlook [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Spending Our Way to Prosperity President-elect Barack Obama warned of dire consequences if Congress doesn't pump unprecedented dollars into the national economy as he made an urgent pitch for his huge spending proposal during his first speech since his election. SBA Web Chat on Credit and Borrowing The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Web Chat series starts on January 15th with a focus on small businesses and the credit crunch. SBA Associate Administrator for Capital Access Eric Zarnikow will answer questions about credit and borrowing and other resources to help access credit. Fed Fac... [Read Full Article]