Archive for May 28th, 2008

Four ultra-fuel efficient cars hit the road to see which one was the best gas value. They all finished strong, but there was one clear winner.

Three decades ago, in a bleak stretch of the 1970s, an economic phenomenon emerged that was as ugly as its name: stagflation. It was the sound of the world hitting a wall, a combination of no growth and inflation. It created an existential crisis for the global economy, leading many to argue that the world had reached its limits of growth and prosperity. That day of reckoning was postponed, but now, after a 30-year hiatus, at least a mild bout of stagflation has returned, and matters could get much worse. We are back to the future, with the question we asked 30 years ago: How can we combine robust economic growth with tight global supplies of such critical commodities as energy, food, and water? It's worth comparing the earlier episode of stagflation with our current travails to help us find our way. In fact, this time the resource constraints will prove even harder to overcome than in the last round, since the world economy is much larger and the constraints are much tighter than before.

He made his mark at Microsoft as head of the company's worldwide sales force at a time when it seemed everyone hated the company - most of all its customers. In 2 1/2 years Kevin Johnson achieved a miracle: He turned Microsoft's customer satisfaction numbers around.

Stocks gave up early gains Wednesday, turning mixed in mid-morning trade, as oil prices erased early losses and turned higher.

ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly-owned energy company whose profits have skyrocketed with soaring oil prices, proposals Wednesday made by shareholders dissatisfied with the company's direction.

We can't win. By we, I mean Big Media.

New orders for manufactured big-ticket items decreased in April, according to a government report issued Wednesday, but the decline was not nearly as severe as economists expected.

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Stocks rose Wednesday morning as investors welcomed a stronger dollar, falling oil prices and a report showing a smaller-than-expected drop in manufactured goods.