Gmail invites

I've got 6 gmail invites lying around... Email me if you'd like one. (UPDATE: All 6 have now been given away.)

Link | August 25, 12:15

Back in Norway

Had a very national romantic return to Norway yesterday. Went straight from the airport and out for an almost 12 kilometer walk through the woods surrounding Oslo (marka). Good weather, nice scenery and wonderful company made it a great experience.

Link | August 23, 13:25

Recommended Reading

I'm looking forward to reading the latest issues of two of my favorite magazines on the flight back home. First, Fast Company looks into courage; easy in theory, so hard in practice. Also, I haven't yet read the full summer edition of The National Interest, and it seems very promising. Last but not least, I recently was given Valuing Wall Street: Protecting Wealth in Turbulent Markets, a book about James Tobin's q ratio -- an interesting alternative to the ubiquitous P/E.

Link | August 21, 00:46

Nantucket

Good times: The Dow is back over 10000, I'm done with my final exam here at Harvard and now it's off to Cape Cod and Nantucket for a couple of days' relaxation. Then I return to Norway. Guess which trip I'm looking forward to the most.

Link | August 18, 23:29

The Transatlantic Alliance's Fatal Flaw

Argues Mark Steyn, "America's six-decade security guarantee to Europe has been a massive strategic error. [...] The basic flaw in the Atlantic 'alliance' is that, for almost all its participants, the free world is a free lunch: a defence pact of wealthy nations in which only one guy picks up the tab." (Related: Welcome Back [To Reality], Europe)

Link | August 18, 18:34

Europe vs. Reforms

Pimco's Andrew Bosomworth argues that Europe still has to implement numerous reforms to achieve a sustained increase in the potential rate of economic growth.

Link | August 17, 18:04

Target

Interesting excerpt from Simply Better about how Target competes against Wal-Mart: "Target's business objective was to create an alternative to Wal-Mart's price leadership. It planned do so through upscale discounting, a concept associating style, quality of products, and price competitiveness. [...] Through its commitment to design and innovative marketing communications, it has managed to depart sufficiently from Wal-Mart in terms of image and branding to build loyalty among a large and attractive segment of the American population and to grow its business extremely profitably."

Link | August 17, 17:58

Chicago

The windy city really impressed me. It's a fascinating place. Large enough not to be tedious yet at the same time laid-back enough not to be frantic; a perfect blend. Among the highlights were the Cubs-Dodgers game at Wrigley, deep-dish pizza at Uno's, Superdawg and seeing the Seurat exhibition at the Art Institute. However, besides visiting my friend Tobias and his wonderful family, I most enjoyed touring the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Although it was my third visit to a large exchange (after London and Tokyo), I have never before been able to walk on an actual trading floor. Seeing how futures are traded in the pits was an experience I'll be carrying with me for a long, long time.

Link | August 16, 19:31

World War IV

Norman Podhoretz has penned a characteristically outstanding piece in the September issue of Commentary on World War IV: How It Started, What It Means, and Why We Have to Win (PDF).

Link | August 14, 18:02

Off to Chicago

I'll be spending the weekend in the windy city, and I'm really looking forward to meeting up with a good friend I first met at AEI, the brilliant Tobias Harris. Tobias is the editor of the Concord Bridge, and I highly recommend his article Dread and Envy - Debating Pax Americana (PDF).

Link | August 12, 16:18

Economy

DJIA around 9800 points, NASDAQ at 1777, FTSE Eurotop 300 down more than 2%. The only guys smiling are those long in crude futures. What a day.

Link | August 06, 21:47

Update from Boston

It's strange to read about it in a Scottish newspaper of all places, but yes, I was here on Tuesday. We had a great time, at least speaking for myself, meeting some very interesting people. Also, on the same day, I was interviewed by a news reporter from TV2, Norway's largest commercial TV channel, about the Democratic convention here. I'm really enjoying this place so far, both school and other aspects of life here are great. My only worry is how I'm going to stay awake during what will reportedly be a 55-minutes long speech by John Kerry tonight. Talk about overdose! Good thing I have "Shakespeare in the park" to look forward to.

Link | July 29, 18:42

Norwegian Absenteeism

The NYT takes a close look at Norway and discovers some of the worrying trends that I've been discussing here and elsewhere: "On an average day, about 25 percent of Norway's workers are absent from work, either because they have called in sick, are undergoing rehabilitation or are on long-term disability. The rate is especially high among government employees, who account for half the work force." (Emphasis mine). Go welfare-state!

Link | July 26, 23:45

The Present Danger

Senators Jon Kyl and Joseph Lieberman, among others, are involved with the reinvigorated Committee on the Present Danger: a bipartisan organization from the policy, political, academic, business and professional communities committed to resisting and defeating terrorist organizations, ending collusion between rogue regimes and terrorists, and supporting reform in regions that threaten to export terror. From an op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday: "Our freedom is again in danger, this time from Islamist terrorism. Our generation must not shrink from the responsibility to defend it. Together, we will prevail, and freedom's reach will expand."

Link | July 21, 14:39

Samsung

Some of you may know that I am a non-executive director at a small, start-up asset management company called GBS. One of our current holdings is Korea's Samsung, and today brings some great news from them: Samsung's profit nearly triples on a 52% sales rise. Impressive numbers.

Link | July 16, 18:18

Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship

Some excellent ideas from the always astute Radek Sikorski.

Link | July 16, 00:31

Thor de France?

I have to mention the success of Thor Hushovd in this year's Tour. So far, he's both held the yellow jersey and won a stage , and I'm sure there's much more to come. Sure, I'm a fan of Lance Armstrong too, but this is great cycling for a young talent from the south of Norway. Good for him.

Link | July 14, 01:28

John Kerry, Reactionary

Interesting piece in the Weekly Standard by Tom Donnelly and Vance Serchuk: "If the terms 'liberal' and 'conservative' still had any meaning in American foreign policy, George Bush would happily style himself the true liberal--the radical, even--in the upcoming election and paint Kerry as the conservative, the reactionary. Indeed, it's hard to conceive of anything more repugnant to American principles--or blind to American interests--than 'conserving' the current political order in the Middle East." (Related: 1, 2)

Link | July 12, 23:56

Hating America

Great article in the Hudson Review by Bruce Bawer. One of the most important points, in my opinion, is the following: "To suggest that American journalism, taken as a whole, offers a narrower range of information and debate than its foreign counterparts is absurd. America’s major political magazines range from National Review and The Weekly Standard on the right to The Nation and Mother Jones on the left; its all-news networks, from conservative Fox to liberal CNN; its leading newspapers, from the New York Post and Washington Times to the New York Times and Washington Post. Scores of TV programs and radio call-in shows are devoted to fiery polemic by, or vigorous exchanges between, true believers at both ends of the political spectrum. Nothing remotely approaching this breadth of news and opinion is available in a country like Norway. Purportedly to strengthen journalistic diversity (which, in the ludicrous words of a recent prime minister, 'is too important to be left up to the marketplace'), Norway’s social-democratic government actually subsidizes several of the country’s major newspapers (in addition to running two of its three broadcast channels and most of its radio); yet the Norwegian media are (guess what?) almost uniformly social-democratic—a fact reflected not only in their explicit editorial positions but also in the slant and selectivity of their international coverage." This is one small but vital reason why I enjoyed staying in DC last summer and in Massachussets so far this year. There are so many different opinions and perspectives readily available here, and those who say that "Americans are stupid" ought to come here and have a second look. After checking out this country's many universities think-tanks, and smart magazines such as The Atlantic and the New Republic, they just might be surprised. A great, and related, article is Ilya Shapiro's piece about Purple America: "I am a cosmopolitan conservative, residing in that nebulous region distrusted by both coastal elites and the populist sages of the heartland, Purple America. Purple America is not so much a place as an idea, or more precisely a confluence of values from Red America with tastes from Blue America. It believes in personal responsibility, discipline, civil society, spontaneous order, ordered liberty, and that the best thing government can do is not get in the way. Yet it craves independent films, fine cigars, Belgian ales, and South American fútbol -- along with a good baseball game (preferably without the designated hitter)."

Link | July 12, 23:40

Confident Business Executives

The second McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives (July 2004) has found that business leaders are upbeat about the global economy. Executives from larger companies generally plan to increase their investments in China and India, and they see those countries as important sources of talent—although there are striking regional differences. CEOs and CIOs differ on how much IT spending will increase and on what business processes are most reliant on IT. Globally, IT and telecommunications are the industries most likely to hire but least likely to raise prices. Related: Economy Set for Best Growth in 20 Years

Link | July 08, 04:45

John Kerry

Fascinating profile of the Democrats' presidential candidate in this issue of TIME. He seems to fit the "lone wolf" description to a tee; not that much management and leadership experience, but certainly a highly intelligent investigating senator.

Link | July 05, 14:59

Boston's Fourth of July Celebration

How can a child of the eighties like yours truly NOT love a city which has David Lee Roth of Van Halen fame as a guest artist on Independence Day? "Might as well jump!"

Link | July 05, 14:55

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July!

Link | July 04, 17:02

Red Sox vs. Yankees

Maybe this baseball thing isn't so dull after all (context)...

Link | July 03, 01:19

Weekend reading

Now it’s up to the Iraqis by Mark Steyn in the Spectator The rule of law, Russian-style in the Economist Europe disunited by Vlad Sobell via AEI A new Euro-Atlantic strategy by Ronald D. Asmus and Bruce P. Jackson in Policy Review Making the grandest tour (de France) by Robert Messenger in the New Criterion The Capitalism of Soccer by Daniel Gross in Slate Red Herring's blog (new to me, anyway!) The Micro-Multinational by Jason Pontin in Wired

Link | July 03, 00:31

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