Scanning the globe, it is interesting to observe what “making it” means for different nationalities: For example in Russia, where wealth has given the word obscenity a less than substantial meaning, one pre-supposes that success is measured in terms of the number of bodyguards employed. Whereas in Zimbabwe right now, where the entire infrastructure has collapsed, it probably means protecting your family from cholera and starvation.

In the UK, it has, since the 1950s, meant owning your own home: However, in the eighties, under successive Tory governments, somehow this concept took an ugly turn for the worse, and this mantra has been perpetuated by even the staunchest socialist leaders.

Thatcherism brought with it a new type of social vanity – a need to not only keep up with the “Joness’” but at whatever cost, to outdo them.

Now, more than at anytime in UK history, a person is judged by the house they live in and the car they drive – even though in most cases, they actually own neither. The house is mortgaged and the car is purchased on finance – but it really doesn’t matter, because appearances are everything.

I myself only suffered from this self-delusion of “mine is bigger than yours” twice in my life: The first time was in the school yard when I was eight years old, and the second time lasted about twenty years, during a period of my life I now term “the corporate years”

But I digress; let’s get back to this fixation with homeownership.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that homeownership is often desirable. It can be a means for providing good, secure housing and also for allowing moderate-income families to accumulate wealth. It is therefore reasonable to have policies like a limited mortgage interest deduction or credit that make it easier for low- and middle-income people to become homeowners. But, given the current situation, it is long past time for the blind faith in homeownership to be subjected to serious scrutiny.

We now know that the economy has sunk into a recession and faces the worst financial crisis since the depression – possibly even worse than that. The unemployment rate is rising, the foreclosure rate is soaring and home prices are plummeting.

Isn’t it time we settled some scores with the people who led us into this unholy mess?

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know exactly who is at the top of my list – yep, it is one Alan Greenspan for his negligence and total incompetence in allowing the housing bubble to expand to ever more dangerous levels and ignoring the explosion of predatory mortgages.

Then we have the mortgage brokers who made the predatory loans and the so-called “Wall Street wunderkinds” who repackaged them in complex financial parcels and sold them all around the world.

We cannot possibly exclude the builders and the real-estate companies who profited from and promoted the irrational exuberance that fed the housing bubble – they are equally culpable in my view and must take their place in the dock.

Finally, we must also include the evangelists of homeownership on the list. These are the people who pushed the ideology of homeownership as an end itself. They insist on lavish government subsidies, even in situations where homeownership is not a good solution for the people affected.

Tomorrow: I will share with you some simple mathematics, that may just surprise you, and I also intend to further expose the continuing incompetence of Gordon Brown – financial wizard? Hardly.

JF Uncut

I had a dream last night – the French all left France. It was, sadly, only a dream.

You could be forgiven for thinking that after my attack on one of France’s most respected companies yesterday, and my comments here today, that I hate all that is French.

Be assured, nothing could be further from the truth, I am a confirmed Francophile; I have an enormous amount of French friends and my love affair with this country which began many years ago, shows no sign of waning……but sometimes, just very occasionally, even my patience is tested to the limit.

I read this a couple of years ago and I was waiting for an opportunity to re-print it – today is the day:

And God Made Britain

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, “Look Michael, look what I’ve made.”

Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, “What is it?”

“It’s a planet,” replied God, “and I’ve put LIFE on it. I’m going to call it Earth and it’s going to be a great place of balance.” “Balance?” inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth; “For example, North America will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while South America is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot. Over there I’ve placed a continent of white people and over there, is a continent of black people.”

God continued, pointing to different countries. “This one will be extremely hot and arid, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.”

The Archangel, impressed by God’s work, then pointed to a small land mass and said, “What’s that one?”

“Ah,” said God. “That’s Britain, the most glorious place on Earth. There are beautiful lakes, rivers, streams, and hills. The people from Britain are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they’re going to be found travelling the world. They’ll be extremely sociable, hard-working and high-achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace.”

Archangel Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed,”What about the balance, God? You said there would be balance!”

God replied wisely,

“Wait until you see the b******s I’m putting next to them in France.”

Anon

The rest of Europe think that the French are arrogant, but I don’t subscribe to that view. Parisiens are certainly self-centred, thoughtless, rude and inconsiderate – but then the rest of France would agree with that assertion too.

There can be no doubt that the French economy is heading for serious trouble, but not for the same reasons that Britain is now in such turmoil: For once, France’s financial prudence – which can sometimes feel like administrative constipation and beaurocratic nonsense gone mad, has actually protected them.

You would never catch a French bank lending anyone 125% of a properties’ value, or advancing finance at the rate of eight times salary, knowing full well that the borrower had little chance of making the repayments; absolutely no chance of them introducing self-certification schemes, where self-employed individuals could borrow as much as they like without any proof of income; zero chance of the French property sector crashing, because it has never been over-inflated.

No, France’s imminent decline is going to be brought about by the irresponsibility of successive Socialist administrations, who, in order to stay in power, introduced unsustainable measures which have to now be reversed, if the nation is to survive. But of course, it is not that simple.

For example, how do you tell workers that have become used to a thirty five hour week, that they must now follow the rest of Europe and revert to forty two hours – with no extra pay?

Who is going to break the news to train drivers that in countries such as Britain, retirement, currently set at sixty five and due to rise to seventy within ten years, so why should they stop work at forty five?

Sarkozy has an uphill struggle ahead of him, convincing a country that has become lazy, inefficient and myopic, that there is another way – we wish him well, because he is a good man and a breath of fresh air.

Tomorrow: As I always say, it is business as usual – big week, so be sure to join me.

JF Uncut

The first thing that struck me as I entered the reception area of Eurostar last Thursday was the sea of yellow coated and heavily armed police officers. They were everywhere – probably one hundred, if not more. Then as I slipped off my coat and jacket, placing them on the x-ray machine with all of my luggage, keys, mobile phone etc and walked through the “detection frame” realisation hit me- this was not my usual experience, because this was not my usual route.

For more than five years, I have travelled the Newhaven-Dieppe route, first with Transmanche Ferries and lately with LDL (Louis Dreyfus Lines) who bought out Transmanche a couple of years ago.

I have always travelled as a foot passenger and in all that time, until very recently –  nobody has checked my luggage, asked me if I am carrying anything harmful or dangerous, subjected any of my belongings to x-ray scrutiny – in fact I can assure you that security is virtually non-existent – what a stark contrast to my experience last week!

My question is this: Why, when millions, if not hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent post- 9/11, on upgrading Britain’s security, is the country still blatantly exposed by French incompetence and negligence?

Let me describe the experience of travelling both ways.

When I travel from Dieppe, I collect my ticket – this can often take a considerable amount of time, because invariably, the system is down. Then, as a foot passenger, I am expected to wait in a cafeteria area, until a bus arrives to take me across the car and freight loading area, to the ferry. My entire luggage is with me – no questions, no security, and no x-ray machines – no responsibility

This passage of time is the most frustrating of the entire journey, because there is never a set procedure. Typically we have to wait until all the vehicles are loaded, and the ninety minutes that we are asked to arrive prior to departure, can seem like three hours.

When the bus finally arrives, we load our cases on a cart, which is towed by a small tractor and follows the bus. Unfortunately, once aboard the bus, we do not immediately proceed to the boat, because at that point, we need to have our passports inspected by the Police Des Douanes – a sort of cross between police and customs officers and it is not unknown to have to wait up to half an hour for them to pitch up.

Even if there are only two or three foot passengers, they still arrive mob-handed, often one officer for every passenger – this goes some way to explaining why France has such low unemployment.

That’s it – the full extent of French security and scrutiny.

Once we arrive at Newhaven, we are loaded onto another bus, which takes us to the terminal building and when our cases arrive on the same cart and tractor, we pass through a passport check – just one guy – and we are off.

And if you think that things must be more rigorous at the British end, you are sadly mistaken. The routine is almost identical, but now they do have a couple of people –  I am convinced they are distantly related to the Adams family – who occasionally ask if they can have a look in your hand-luggage They also get you to sign a form, which confirms that you have been asked if you are smuggling anything illegal.

This last act suggests that all hardened criminals, drug runners and signed up members of Al Qaeda, are scrupulously honest, when it comes to admitting that they are concealing five kilos of cocaine, a Kalashnikov or enough semtex to blow up the ferry.

I have no idea how many people have identified and abused this gaping hole in Britain’s rearguard – the thought is horrifying in itself.

Let’s just hope that enough of the right people read this and take the right action.

Tomorrow: More JF Uncut

JF Uncut

My original intention was to post about how it is going to be when we eventually emerge from the worst financial crisis in history. However, I need to digest the information now coming in from yesterday’s summit, and also a colleague sent me a very poignant and wholly relevant link last night, which I wanted to share it with you.

So before I launch into today’s post, I think you will enjoy this: “The Grocery Bagger”

Customer care has become one of the most important issues facing businesses in every market. Customer care programmes come under a number of titles – customer services, customer satisfaction, customer focus, customer orientated etc.

Their common theme is meeting the customer’s requirements and ensuring that all aspects of the business contribute to customer satisfaction. The intention is to build repeat business if customers are satisfied with the product and the standards of service they receive, they will return again and again.

Inconsistent Customer Care
 
Inconsistent customer care performance can have a negative effect on customer perceptions. Petrol companies for example, know that every time a customer walks into one of their outlets, wherever they are in the country, they should expect to receive the same standards of service. Nation-wide consistency is essential when customers are likely to visit multiple outlets – one poor performance can threaten the customer’s perception of the entire operation.

 What Is Customer Care? 
 
 Customer care is about addressing three sets of requirements:
 
• Customer
 
• Staff
 
• Organisation
 
These requirements are interrelated, i.e. it is more difficult to deliver consistently high standards in customer care if the needs of both the organisation and the staff are not taken into account

Customer Requirements
 
• Excellent personal service – feels valued, listened to, treated as an individual

• Products that meet expectations

• Encouragement to express views and give feedback

• Effective relationship with the organisation

• Problems and complaints are handled effectively

Staff Requirements
 
• Effective management style

• Suitable working environment – pay and conditions / tools for the job

• Relevant training to develop skills

• Career potential

• Clarity of role / job description

• Performance standards and appraisal systems

• Sense of involvement / value

• Open communication

• Teamwork

• Rewards / Recognition

Organisational Requirements
 
• Mission statement
 
• Corporate structure
 
• Feedback and communication systems
 
• Profit
 
• Human and technical resources
 
• Demonstrated commitment

Who Are Your Customers?  
 
If you are not serving the customer, you should be serving someone who is. Harmonious relationships with customers and colleagues are essential to service success, because providing outstanding customer service is primarily a team effort. For excellent customer service to exist it has to be practised on an internal basis

 The What And The How
 
 The “What” is the material and the “How” is the personal element. To be outstanding, organisations must deliver excellence in both material and personal service. Customer service is no longer just a question of interpersonal skills

The difference between you and your competitors is achieved when expectations are exceeded. Doing the unexpected, going the extra mile, moves us from meeting expectations to exceeding expectations

 How To Delight Customers:
 
• Be enthusiastic enthusiasm is the driving force of quality service. Customers do not just want products they want products plus enthusiasm
 
• Be professional the word professional does not go with the job it goes with the person
 
 Be The Best
 
• Someone, somewhere has to be the best at this job – why not me?

• Decide to be outstanding
 
How To Be The Best
 
• Use positive self talk – e.g. tell yourself ‘Everyday in every way, I get better and better’

• Don’t be ordinary

• Develop a ‘How can I do it better?’ mind set

 Today Everyone Sells
 
 In a successful company the number of sales people equals the number of employees

• Everyone sells something  – either products, services or the image of the company
 
 And Finally: How To Help Yourself Sell
 
• Pay attention  – give people the benefit of your attention

• Customers like to give their business to those who show they want it

Today’s News: As you can imagine, with a very wide circle of friends, colleagues and acquaintances, I am continually being asked to promote their webinars, tele-seminars, conferences etc. So, on Friday, I decided to launch a new service, that assists anyone looking to massively increase their event bookings.

 I sent out the first set of notification letters yesterday and someone actually thought I was serious

Tomorrow: It’s business as usual – do be sure to join me for a very exciting week.

The wet and bedraggled scrawny youth, that stood before me on that winter’s night in 1969, gave no hint that I was in the presence of a future rock star: He was dressed from head to toe in black apart from white patent leather boots and his grin, which resembled the keyboard of a piano – except that all the keys were glistening white – represented approximately fifty per cent of his entire face. 

His shoulder length wet hair hung limply, and before uttering his first greeting, he needed to part it, rather like opening curtains: He was instantly engaging. “Hi, I’m cousin George, all the way from America and I’m bad” he announced, as if he were already centre-stage rather than any formal introduction.

I was staying with my girlfriend and her parents for a short while before heading off to university and it transpired that young George represented the American wing of the family. I don’t remember how long he stayed with us,after all, it was nearly forty years ago, but it can only have been a matter of a few days.

He was like a breath of fresh air; full of energy, totally focused, and he didn’t have a negative vibe in his body. I learned so much from him in those all too brief few days and I regret not telling him that.

He talked incessantly about becoming a rock star – that’s when he wasn’t attempting to teach us the history of his beloved baseball. Oh, and I introduced him to my relgion - soccer!

Two box-office blockbusters were released that year and both became cult films: “Midnight Cowboy” and “Easy Rider” – George had already seen both of them about ten times:Despite that fact, he insisted we all went down to London to watch them again, and we of course, duly obliged.

He couldn’t pass a mirror without uttering Jon Voight’s immortal line: “When I feel cool and good, I spin around and there you are you handsome devil” Or we would be walking along the road and he would take an imaginery kick at a passing car with: “I’m walking here, I’m walking here” – with a superb impersonation of Hoffman’s character, Ricco Rizzo.

When asked how he was doing, George often replied:”I ain’t much of a cowboy, but I am one helluva stud” with another memorable reference to John Voight’s Joe Buck.

However, quotes from Easy Rider were also never very far away, and there was that wonderful scene where Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson shared a cell for the night. When Nicholson sobered up, Hopper intoduced Fonda and himself with: “Do you know who this is? This is Captain America, and I’m Billy!” Was that Nicholson’s first film? 

It all seemed very empty for quite a while after he left. I split up with that girlfriend soon after and didn’t expect to hear from him ever again. But the following Christmas, having rebelled against my parent’s house rules for the umpteenth time, I found myself with a few friends in a cold, damp flat sharing tins of cold baked beans and huddling around a one-bar electric fire: About 11pm on Christmas night, the phone rang; it was George: “This is your very good friend George, and I’m bad” I was so impressed that he had taken the time to find me.

That was the last I heard from him – the rest as they say, is history – he fulfilled his dream: He knew he would become a rock star – fulfilled expectation – and he brought about it’s happening.

So many people are affected by what will undoubtedly turn into the worst recession in history: But we will come through it and when we do, everything will be so much better than it was before. We have to work together, stay focused. By anticipating a better future, we will bring about it’s happening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Thorogood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djj7jW6ny2M&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7VsoxT_FUY

Tomorrow: What will it be like when we come through this? What will have changed? What can we anticipate? Will it be better? – Tomorrow, my analysis and predictions.

Today’s post was inspired by a superbly perceptive piece of writing from one of my favourite columnists and editors of all time – William Rees-Mogg of The London Times.

I missed its publication, but my good friend Maureen Blandford – she of the Chicago Blandfords, and a confirmed Anglophile – kindly brought it to my attention.

It is titled: “The banks must rediscover Victorian values” – A mutual trust between client and bank was once the foundation of our financial system – we need to get it back

He begins:

“The British are – or were – particularly good at banking. British banking financed the Empire and the Industrial Revolution. These achievements owed a great deal to the stability of the gold standard, which lasted from Isaac Newton’s recoinage of gold in 1717 until Ramsay MacDonald’s abandonment of it in 1931. More than two centuries of exchange-rate stability gave the British banking system a stability of its own and, associated with that, a high standard of trust.”

He then goes on to recognise how things used to be, when trust, respect and loyalty actually meant something, when bank managers really were “pillars of society”

“The bank manager then occupied a similar position to the family solicitor or the family doctor. He hoped to maintain a long-term relationship with each client and he hoped that this relationship would survive for generations. He would offer general financial advice, and was concerned to keep the interest of the client and the bank in alignment.”

“After the Second World War, relationship banking went into decline. The banks were attracted by the impersonal profits to be made in transactional banking. They did not look for character as essential to their security. They invested in one-off transactions and increasingly in derivatives. They also relied on credit card and other unsecured forms of lending that could largely be administered by automated processes.”

Mr Rees-Mogg is a good deal older and indeed, wiser than I am. I do remember most of my respect remaining through the sixties and seventies, but I am hard put to identify a precise moment in time when I realised that dramatic changes were taking place.

He continues:
 
“At the same time, global banking became infected by the more adventurous American attitude to risk. US banks, going back to their 19th-century origins, had always been more speculative than the British tradition. They were more willing to take a big risk for a big profit. In the period of the internet bubble of the 1990s and the housing bubble of more recent years, too many British and European banks made the mistake of accepting American levels of risk in the pursuit of maximum profits.”

“Huge sums were lent to clients who might not be able to repay. The systems of bonuses gave bankers strong incentives to gamble with the bank’s money. They could not be supervised adequately by senior staff who did not grasp the details of the new securities in which their banks were speculating.”

“Where relationship banking still survives, there have been relatively few problems of bad debts. The problems have arisen in transactional and unsecured credit card banking with one-off or completely unknown customers. Of course the customers have often behaved badly; if a bank does not know its customers, who are only blips on a computer screen, some of them will behave badly. The bank only has itself to blame.”

He then reminds us that there is no end to the obscene and twisted behaviour of the “Fat Cats”

Having failed to regulate themselves adequately; having failed to protect the interests of their investors; having encouraged borrowers to take totally unacceptable risks by borrowing way above their capability to repay; having bankrupted themselves and been bailed out by the government (for government, read taxpayer) – they continue to seek more ways in which to pile the misery on. 

“The Sunday Times yesterday had a blazing example of the evils that can result.”

“Banks issuing credit cards have found a legal way of turning unsecured debt into debt secured on house property. That means that credit card debt, which banks have been ladling out to all comers, can lead to the repossession of the family home. Which bank is notorious for the harsh use of this loophole of which credit card customers were given no prior warning? Apparently it is Northern Rock, which was “rescued” by being nationalised. So the grotesque situation has arisen in which the Government is repossessing the houses of credit card customers – to their considerable dismay – as part of the rescue of an incompetently run bank.”

“The decline of moral responsibility has damaged British banks; it is the real flaw behind the credit crisis. There will be new regulation of the world’s banking system after the crisis. Governments cannot risk another catastrophe on this scale. The banks need to change their behaviour. They need to re-establish relations with their clients and value experience in their staff. They need to beware of American-style, high-risk, high-return, policies. British banking was based on protecting the client’s interest as well as the bank’s. Bankers should not be ashamed of their Victorian heritage.”

William Rees-Mogg has had a distinguished career with The Times and The Sunday Times. He was Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times before becoming Editor of The Times in 1967, a position he held until 1981. He was made a life peer in 1988. Since 1992 he has been a columnist for The Times, writing on a variety of issues. He has also been chairman of the Broadcast Standards Council and British Arts Council.

Tomorrow: We are back to the front-line, and my soap-box has been returned to the cupboard: Do join me for a particularly interesting week. JF
 

On this side of the pond, only serious observers of American politics had heard of Bradley A Blakeman; that is until last week, when he twice appeared on popular BBC political forums, hosted by David Dimbleby - now a lot more people have been exposed to this bumbling, out of touch, horse’s ass.

David is revered in the UK, and following in his father Richard’s footsteps, has become known as the “Voice of the BBC” – always commentating on Royal events and important State functions: He is also known for his patience, good manners and ability to remain in control, whatever the circumstances.

However, in the face of continuous interruption and downright rudeness from our Brad, even the demure Dimbleby was struggling to maintain his cool.

Lest we forget, it was Brad Blakeman, who tried to deflect the outrage caused by Sarah Palin’s extravagance, when she spent  $150.000 on a new election wardrobe, when he criticised Barack Obama’s decision to take a break from campaigning and visit his sick grandmother – see here 

Then Blakeman would not admit that the Republican Party blatantly lied to the electorate by claiming that Obama wanted to introduce sex education for kinder gardeners – when of course we all know the truth was that he wants to raise awareness of “Stranger danger” - see here

Then we have David Schuster laughing out loud at Blakeman’s economy with the truth – here

Back to the shows: At one point he tried to convince the audience and indeed the viewers, that America is loved throughout the world: “Of course everyone loves us, we help them, we go to their aid, we support them”

Dear Bradley,

It’s time for a reality check, my friend, America is probably the most unpopular country in the world right now. This is not a new phenomonem, it has slowly been building for about eight years – and that time period is not coincidental.

The rest of the world has watched with something bordering on incredulity, as the Bush administration has systematically sought fights with anyone who might dare to offer resistance, staggering into one conflict after another, and never, it would appear, with a Plan B.

It is estimated that the cost of your “sponsorship” in Iraq and Afghanistan will be anything from a staggering $1Trillion to $3 Trillion. There is no end in sight!

I am British and I opposed the invasion of Iraq, because, like many others from the “Thinking Classes” I did not accept that there was sufficient, reliable, evidence to suggest the existence of WMD – and we were right. But you convinced my Prime Minister and he in turn convinced Parliament – so without WMD, where is the motive and the justification?

But if you were to conduct a global poll right now, you would discover that the most obvious reason for the current level of mistrust, is due to America’s failure to pass legislation which would have given the Government greater control over Wall Street – and the fat cats who have gorged on obscene bonuses – and continue to do so, even in the face of catastrophic losses.

We can thank God that your revered leader “Not Gone But Forgotten” President George W will not be making any more world changing decisions. Then the real job has to begin, and it is going to be a long haul back.

The early signs are encouraging and by looking across the aisle when considering his new administration, President Elect Obama, has further demonstated that he knows what he doesn’t know. It is a wise man that can identify his limitations – it’s a great pity you didn’t have one in charge for the past eight years.

All we ask is that you lead us, not dictate us – we want to look up to you again and respect you.

You can start by keeping Bradley A Blakeman off our screens.

Sincerely

A World Citizen

PS: I actually love America; My eldest daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter live there; I have an enormous amount of fantastic friends there and I may even consider retiring there – just thought you should know that.

*My thanks to Current for producing the excellent image.

Tomorrow:Thoughts about how it used to be before the finance industry “de-personalised” – is this where it all started to go wrong?

 JF Uncut

I have never been one for “La nostalgie” – I have always preferred to look forward, in the belief that what comes next will always be better that what has just been.

Witness a room full of divorcees who have since re-married and ask them if they are not now happier with their new partners than they were with their previous ones – they nearly all will be.

Or conduct a survey of employees who have experienced redundancy, but are now re-employed - they will all be much more content in their new positions.

When I am coaching my students on the power of self-belief, inevitably we have to discuss that most evil and cancerous state of mind that mankind has inflicted upon itself – negativity – I ask them to imagine a barrel of two hundred and forty healthy apples. I then ask them to mentally place one rotten apple half-way down the barrel, and leave it there for just one week.

Now, you would think that with odds of two hundred and forty to one, the rotten apple would be transformed, but we know that does not happen, and in just seven days, so many of it’s fellow apples who had previously been in such rude health, are now infected.

Happened in your office? I bet it has. You see, despite what most people believe, negativity is always stronger.

Why? – Well quite simply it is far easier to be negative than it is to be positive.

Much easier to criticise, complain or condemn, than it is to praise.

In my experience successful people are always more positive than negative. It’s as if they have invisible plastic wings on their shoulders, which prevent them from constantly looking backwards. They focus on the future, determined to make it better than the past. They refuse to carry the pain, the hurt, the disappointments, the poor results from previous times, on their backs in a huge sack.

These are difficult times that we are now living in – but nothing more than that. It was inevitable, bound to happen, as I have discussed within previous JF Uncut posts.

What is important is that we use the experience to make things better, to learn from the mistakes that have been made. We must expose the people and the actions that have placed us in this alarming predicament and ensure that it never happens again – we owe that to our children and their children.

But we must move on – look forward and not drown in a pool of self-pity. Whatever comes next will be better, you can count on it.

Winners & Losers

• A Winner Makes Mistakes And Admits – “I Was Wrong”

A Loser Says -” It Was Not My Fault”

•  A Winner Credits His Good Luck For Winning, Though It Wasn’t Luck

A Loser Blames Bad Luck For Losing But It Wasn’t Luck

•  A Winner Works Harder Than A Loser And Has More Time For Leisure

A Loser Is Always Busy, Too Busy Staying A Failure

•  A Winner Shows He Is Sorry Making Up For It

A Loser Says He Is Sorry But He Does It Again Next Time

“The winners in life constantly think in terms of I can, I will and I am. Losers on the other hand concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have done or what they don’t do” – Dennis Waitley

Maybe, we will even re-discover trust and respect.

Tomorrow: It’s business as usual – be sure to join me for a big week – JF

Catalyst released some interesting statistics about women in business in the United States this month. 

Check out some of the information available in the Catalyst U.S. Women in Business report:

Percentage of women in the U.S. labor force: 46.3%
Percentage of women in management, professional and related occupations: 50.6%
Percentage of female Fortune 500 corporate officers: 15.4%
Percentage of female Fortune 500 board seats: 14.8%
Percentage of female Fortune 500 top earners: 6.7%
Percentage of female Fortune 500 CEOs: 2.4%

Here are some statistics from the Catalyst Women CEOs of the Fortune 1000 report:

Number of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies: 12
Number of female CEOs in Fortune 501-1000 companies: 10
Total female CEOS in Fortune 1000 companies: 22
Looks like the business world has a long way to go to reach anything close to equality in leadership.

Those are pretty staggering statistics; we just do not appear to be moving forward at all.

I know literally hundreds of highly successful women in business, and I have so many really bright, highly astute associates right now, who all have a very broad commercial bandwidth:

Jill Konrath, Leslie Buterin, Joanne Black, Linda Richardson, Colleen Francis, Kendra Lee, Maureen Blandford, Robin Frey-Carey, Lori Richardson, Wendy Weiss, Cindy King, Cheryl Clausen, Diane Helbig, Debbie Fay, Rochelle Togo-Figa, Joan Paul, Kim Duke, Anne Miller, Tammy Stanley, Terri Dunnevant……….need I go on?

None of these richly talented female entrepreneurs would be out of place in a boardroom.

What I can tell you is that if I compiled a list of the top one hundred sales professionals that have worked for me, 70% would be women.

If I repeated the same exercise, but this time considered the best managers that have reported to me, the number would be at least 60-40 in favour of women.

Wake up America, you are living in the dark ages and frankly, you are being left behind.

Tomorrow: I need to turn my attention back to the money men - and women – and remind them how it used to be.

Final thought for the day: “Bank managers are like umbrellas – when it is tipping it down outside, can you find one? But then, miraculously, as soon as the sun comes out, you are tripping over them in the hallway”

And finally, finally - for the beautiful Alice Farrington:

 Thanks Bill – you are a genius!

JF Uncut

As sovereign governments of major countries in the world come under severe pressure to inject fresh funds in concert into their financial institutions and national economies, their tax revenue and customs departments are gearing up to crack down on private banking tax havens at lightning speed. 
 
In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding “The Price of Offshore”, demonstrating that USD 11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by the rich and ultra rich – High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) – across the globe.  This was based on data from many consulting firms and financial institutions including the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from 70+ tax havens with Switzerland at the top of the black money pyramid.  The USD 11.5 trillion of assets held offshore would generate a return of about USD 860 billion a year at a 7.5% rate of return, and a consequent tax loss of USD 250+ billion for sovereign nations, more than three times the OECD countries’ official development assistance to the entire world. 
 
Surprisingly, India – still regarded as a poor country by many – has USD 1.5 trillion in Swiss banks, which is more black money than the rest of the world combined. This is thought to be unaccounted money earned in India by inappropriate means as otherwise any Indian citizen or corporation wishing to open a bank account abroad has to take permission from the Reserve Bank of India and records do not show any such permissions granted for deposits in Switzerland.  A 2006 report of the Swiss Banking Association claims Indians are the biggest depositors of black money in banks located in Switzerland.  Top five countries in terms of such deposits are:
 
India:  USD 1,456 billion
Russia:  USD 470 billion
United Kingdom:  USD 390 billion
Ukraine:  USD 100 billion
China:  USD 96 billion
 
With private account deposits of USD 1.5 trillion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 10 times larger than India’s foreign debt — USD 155+ billion — one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?  Many Indians regard this money as public loot since independence from Britain in 1947 and are asking, “Can we bring back our money?” 

It is argued that once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be repaid immediately, still leaving a huge surplus amount of foreign exchange reserves in India.  Some 80,000 Indians travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. “Obviously, these people won’t be tourists. They must be travelling there for some other reason,” believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he is not referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who have been flying in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!
 
South Asia has been hit hard by the “The Great Unwind” because it is an important part of the global economy which has caved in. Under pressure from the West, India opened up several sectors in the last two decades. However, it has been seen during the last few weeks that the Western financial institutions, hedge funds and capital providers have been the first to sell their shares in various Indian companies, bringing the share market tumbling down. It is estimated that in India alone the Western investors have been withdrawing USD 1+ billion in foreign exchange per week as they experience margin calls, unwind carry trades, and confront liquidity problems and greater hardship in their originating countries.
 
The Swiss Banking Association’s startling disclosure that Indians hold USD 1.4 trillion of their USD 2.15 trillion black money deposits is intensifying pressure on the Indian government to get access to that money as global financial pressures intensify and there is this accelerating flight of capital abroad.  The well known economist Professor Arun Kumar estimates black money generation in India to be currently 50% of the GDP.

The growth of black money in proportional percentage to the GDP has shown an alarming increase in recent years, from 20% in the 1980s to 45-50% at the turn of the century.  It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world’s population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing it invariably through tax havens. 

A recent preliminary investigation to analyse the Swiss banking chain and to assess Indian wealth in that single country, suggests that the number is much larger than the USD 1.4 trillion figure and is more likely to be near USD 3 trillion.  The larger figure can be derived from the deposits in vaults of gold, diamonds and other precious gems alongside assets managed out of Switzerland in other tax havens.  There are some well known ‘slush parks’ like St Kitts, Antigua, Bahamas, Isle of Man and Liechtenstein that multiply such holdings manifold with the central management points in Switzerland.
 
Raymond Baker, a US-based expert in illicit financial flows, in his widely referenced book “Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System” estimates that at least USD 5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to Western tax havens since the mid-1970s.  He estimated cross-border flows of global dirty money in a range between USD 1.1 to USD 1.6 trillion annually, about half of which came from developing and transitional economies, and two thirds of which is commercial dirty money.

In April 2007, the World Bank endorsed Baker’s figure.  Using his lower USD 500bn estimate for developing and transitional economies, Baker has said, “Through most of the 1990s, aid was running at about USD 50bn a year from all sources. It has edged up slightly in this decade. USD 50bn of aid in; USD 500bn of dirty money out. For every USD 1 that we [the West] have been generously handing out across the top of the table, we’ve been taking back some USD 10 of illicit proceeds under the table [via tax havens and other means].

There is no way to make this formula work, for poor or for rich.” The USD 500bn coming illegally out of developing and transitional economies is equivalent to 8% of their GDP.
 
In the 1990s, US Treasury department officials told Baker that illicit inflows into the US stood at around USD 250 billion per year, and in a good year they seized USD 250 million of that. This equates to a failure rate of 99.9%. The volumes have increased since then, but there is no reason to think that the failure rate has improved.  “Laundered proceeds of drug trafficking, racketeering, corruption, and terrorism tag along with other forms of dirty money to which the United States and Europe lend a welcoming hand,” Baker concluded. “These are two rails on the same tracks through the international financial system.” It is not possible to tackle any of these seriously without tackling them all. Baker’s opening speech at a recent conference explains some of the issues in stark detail, “No one I have ever talked to thinks dirty money is declining or that anti-money laundering efforts are stemming the global tide of illicit proceeds. Indicators point in the opposite direction.” Baker broke down his data like this:
 
Cross-border annual flows of Global Dirty Money – Low – High
 
1.  Criminal — USD 331 – 549 billion
2.  Corruption — USD 30 – 50 billion
3.  Commercial — USD 700 – 1,000 billion
 of which:    
 Mispricing – USD 200 – 250 billion
Abusive transfer pricing – USD 300 – 500 billion
Fake transactions – USD 200 – 250 billion
 
TOTAL -USD 1,061-1,599 billion
 
Experts point their finger at the new investment environment of the last two decades which shunned state intervention and favoured massive deregulation.  The retreat of the nation state ensured that the restraint exercised on capital to keep its greed in check was diluted and some amount of the black money went into the process of being legalised.  They point out that in a free market environment takeovers were much easier. Those who possessed black money tried to buy legal businesses to gain legitimacy for their shadow wealth.  The Great Unwind has reversed this process.  Watch out particularly for the United States, Euro-zone countries, United Kingdom, China, India and Russia in regard to the coming sovereign crack down of tax havens worldwide.

Today’s News: One of the most jaw-dropping bulletins ATCA received this week was the announcement by Volvo, the world’s second largest truck maker.  In the third quarter, Volvo received just 115 net order bookings for new trucks in Europe, down from 41,970 a year earlier, ie, a degradation of 99.7%.  In Europe it had almost as many cancellations as new orders.  Year-on-year orders at Volvo crashed 55% in the third quarter.  The company said that the slowdown appeared to be spreading to emerging markets and its orders in North America had failed to recover. 
 
Why?  Volvo’s customers are apparently holding back on replacing vehicles because of the economic uncertainty, and some are not receiving credit to finance new trucks because of tighter credit market conditions.  Scania — majority-owned by Volkswagen — which is not present in the depressed US market, has also received 41% fewer orders than in the same period last year, with a 69% decline in western Europe.  Both Volvo and Scania have declined to give an outlook for next year given the financial uncertainty.  Both truck makers have been cutting production by cancelling shifts and laying off temporary workers. 

Tomorrow: It is business as usual, so be sure to join me.