Archives

December 31, 2011 - 2011 Tech Disasters

Video: 2011 Tech Disasters In 2011, the corporate world saw some of the biggest and best tech companies make giant mistakes. CNN helps review which mistakes were made and how they handled it.


December 30, 2011 - California jobless rate improves for all the wrong reasons

CLU Center for Economic Research & Forecasting Oregon Economics California has now had three consecutive months of job gains, and the State’s unemployment rate has been declining, albeit slowly. That’s an improvement, but it’s not time to break out the bubbly. For one thing, those job gains have been pretty […]


December 29, 2011 - Economics of KItzhaber’s health care transformation

What if you gave away health care and no one showed up? by Eric Fruits EconInternationalOregon’s governor has a plan to “transform” the delivery of health care in the state. At first blush, it seems that the state will jettison its experiment with the Oregon Health Plan that made headlines […]


December 28, 2011 - The year of Bill Gates Bashing

2011 has been the year of Bill Gates bashing — To his credit, Bill has handled it all in stride By Oregon Small Business Association From government criticisms to former co-workers, 2011 was a year full of unusually sharp and personal criticism of Bill Gates. First of all, Governing Magazine […]


December 27, 2011 - Diploma job requirement may be illegal

Requiring a High School Diploma May Violate the ADA Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) posted an informal discussion letter to its Web site addressing employment qualification standards, including high school diplomas, and concerns they may raise under the ADA. As the EEOC explained, qualification […]



December 25, 2011 - Christmas spirit comes alive in 2011 with layaway angels

By Kathryn Hickock Cascade Policy Institute Struggling parents with children’s clothing and toys on layaway are finding that anonymous strangers have paid their balances down to a penny at Kmart and other stores across the country. Retailers have known “Secret Santas” for years, but this Christmas season appears to be […]


December 24, 2011 - Where gold is heading in 2012

Business Video Pick of the Week: CNBC business video interview gives gold a positive forecast but with big caution.


December 23, 2011 - Portland losing more jobs than comparable cities

Portland’s Economic Health- By the Numbers Portland area employment and income still lagging BY Oregon Prosperity Project A group of Oregon’s leading business associations released a report this week detailing how the Portland Metropolitan economy ranks with other metropolitan economies throughout the US. Some interesting findings: • Portland-metro’s employment per […]


December 22, 2011 - Where the Real Estate Market is heading

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting Real estate markets are unbalanced in most parts of the country: vacancy is too high, but construction is too low. That sounds contradictory, because construction should be low when vacancy is high. Looking forward, however, we’ll find insufficient supply when the economy improves. Underlying […]