My EMBA Journey

There has been considerable speculation that lowering interest rate would help U.S. avoid recession. I have been having my doubts, this recession has been triggered by housing bubble which has been spread very widely. It has shown its impact on the broad spectrum of the market - from main street to wall street everyone is being impacted.

I read this following quote from Bob Campbell of the San Diego Real Estate Timing newsletter on liquidity trap.

"When an asset like real estate becomes overvalued, even if you drop interest rates to zero, you can't force consumers to borrow more, because they've already borrowed too much. Nor can you force lenders to lend, because they're already puking on 'bad paper.' It's called a liquidity trap." - Bob Campbell

The US House of Representatives approved an economic stimulus package Tuesday worth an estimated 150 billion dollars potentially to avoid recession. Is this a right move?

From the knowledge I gained from macroeconomic studies, I started assessing the various tools Federal administrators can use in such a grim situation as a recession. Reduce the interest rate by working through the monetary policies. Government in turn can spur growth by spending more and giving more tax breaks. Key assumption is people will spend the money they receive as tax breaks or stimulus package checks.

In the following link Jason Furman, a advisor to President Clinton, and author-economist Steven E. Landsburg discuss the U.S. economy and the recently announced stimulus package.They look at how Keynesian theory of managing fiscal policy and monetary policy to prevent an economy from going in to recession.

I found a fantastic article on a total contradiction with Keynes Multiplier Theory. I am sure you will love this article as much as i did.

Do you think you know every country in the world and their location? Take this challenge from Travelpod.com

I had an excellent opportunity to visit Washington as part of a seminar series. The core objective of the seminar is to inculcate an understanding of how political system functions and its impact on business. Our cohort comprises of executives, small business owners and entrepreneurs, for whom this seminar served as an foundation to understand the role of politics and how to make an impact to benefit their businesses.

This seminar was conducted by the Washington Campus - A consortium of 16 major university business schools who are committed to graduate business students and corporate executives. Following where some of the key topics covered by various political members. They included former treasury secretary, staff of white house, political speaker, lobbyist, OMB staff, campaign managers and others.

Decision Making in Washington
Congressional Committees
Political Appointees
Structure of the Federal Courts
The Role of Lobbyists and Interest Groups
The Business/Government Interface
The Political Landscape
The Organization of the White House
Congress: A Representative's Perspective
The Federal Regulatory Process
The Future of the US Economy
The Role of the Media
US Foreign Policy

Some of the important moment from this seminar is meeting Congressmen Christopher Shays. He was an amazing speaker who was very genuine and down to earth.

Following are the key topics discussed in some of our sessions.

1. Immigration
2. Presidential Election 08
3. Macro Economics
4. Foreign Policy

To cap of the session we had a computer simulation in to the life of a congressmen after he/she gets elected. This was a great learning exercise, believe me its not easy to be a politician. There is no way you can satisfy everyone and still win.
But our politician still accomplish the unthinkable.

Overall A+ Seminar