Sustainable business thru Virtualization and Clouds

How to increase competitiveness of business while improving its sustainability? Think of Virtualization and Clouds.

Real savings can be achieved through server consolidation. Virtual environment can be used to consolidate the workloads of several low-utilized servers to fewer machines. Which translates into savings on hardware, environmental and energy costs, management and administration of the IT infrastructure.

Not all outsourcing created equal: managed networks

While I am not a big fan of outsourcing to other countries, I am definitely a proponent of local outsourcing of non-core IT functions, e.g. network management. It is win-win situation: jobs stay in community and the business has an access to a top-notch expertise, while controlling costs and increasing competitiveness.

Has Economics Been Lost in Imaginary Worlds?

An interesting article Economics has met the enemy, and it is economics has been published in Saturday's The Globe and Mail. Has Economics really lost its original sense and became a podium for mental equilibristics?

New Conservative Platform: "Buck a Beer"

Recently Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty asked provincial conservatives to stop criticizing and reveal their economic policy. Yesterday Tim Hudak, the leader of Ontario conservatives, revealed their platform: "Buck a Beer". The choice of priorities is obvious: less money on healthcare and social programs, more affordable bulge drinking. Hopefully just heavy drinkers will support such platform.

Economics of State Incentives for Filmmakers

Today Bloomberg published an interesting article about economics of state incentives for filmmakers in order to attract them to a particular state. The subsidies began in Louisiana in 1992 and today are offered by 42 states.

Read the whole story here

Sustainable Residential Architecture

Take a look at this amazing example of sustainable residential architecture and interior design:

http://www.flixxy.com/apartment-transformation.htm

America's future in Chinese hands

The fundamental shift is happening right now in the US economy: consumers started spending less and saving more. The US economy has to adjust to this new reality: less new cars, smaller and simpler houses. Currently, this drop in spending is compensated by the stimulus package. But what is going to happen when the US government withdraws its life support for the economy. If nothing changes the economy obviously will plunge into the new (or postponed) recession.
The only America's hope is export- currently the US economy is self-centric, just 10% of GDP is export-based (for Germany it is more than 40%). If the US economy will be able to substitute internal consumption by external one - it can be saved. The problem is the size of this increase: export should increase from 10% of GDP to 15% of GDP (50% increase!) and willingness of other countries to increase their internal consumption. Such as Europe is still in recession the only America's hope is China. That is why Obama's administration puts so much pressure on China to loose (appreciate) yuan, which automatically increase China's import. However are emergency markets big enough to digest extra $700 billions annually?