Morning Advantage: Another Day, Another Banking Scandal
HBR.org 2012-07-02
As the interest rate scandal that began as "the Barclays affair" has engulfed a dozen regulators and a score of banks, the Financial Times shakes a salmon-colored finger at its readership. "This is market-rigging on a grand scale," laments in the paper in this editorial. "It is hard to think of anything more damning — or more corrosive of the reputation of capitalism." After lamenting the "rotten" culture of Barclays and the "recklessness" of the sector, calling for an investigation and changes into the way key rates are calculated, the FT concludes with this final jab: "If, as now seems likely, many banks were involved in fiddling rates, this raises questions not just about the leadership of one bank but that of the whole industry. For there to be a real change of heart and expectation, it may therefore be necessary to retire this generation of flawed leaders." A generation of bankers to retire? Well, I suppose it would create some open jobs.
Anne-Marie Slaughter Misses a Huge Opportunity (HBR.org)
Sylvia Ann Hewlett has a few things to say about Anne-Marie Slaughter's recent Atlantic article, "Why Women Still Can’t Have It All." First, "41% of professional women these days are choosing not to have children," Hewlett notes, and yet Slaughter made barely a mention of this large demographic. Worse, "The set of solutions Slaughter puts forward in her article (ramping up societal supports for working parents) is distressingly unrealistic" in an America that has moved to the right. Finally, "Young women need stories of struggle and sacrifice like a hole in the head." Instead of painting a bleak picture of success (not to mention and wealth and power) as a lonely, soul-sucking slog, give younger women stories of success to carry them through the tough years ahead.
SOON WE'LL ALL BE HEALTH CARE WORKERS
The Health Care Jobs Fallacy (New England Journal of Medicine)
Health-care jobs growth in the United States is robust — but that may not be a good thing, say Katherine Baicker and Amitabh Chandra. Hiring more and more health care workers doesn't mean that health care quality is improving. There's evidence that it simply means we're throwing more bodies at the problem without improving outcomes or lowering costs — which should be the real goal and metric of success.
The Future of Your Favorite Gadget
Think Smartphones Are Ubiquitous Now? Just Wait a Few Years (Guardian) A Tool for Making Simple PowerPoint and Excel Charts (Juice Labs) Black Market for Body Parts Spreads Among Europe's Poor (New York Times)