The Lehman Bank Collapse – Why the US Should be Thankful Dubya is Leaving

In a black day for the US stock market, Monday saw the Lehman Brothers investment bank go under, Merrill Lynch taken over by Bank of America and leading insurance company AIG facing collapse. Unless an emergency deal with the US Federal Reserve can be met, AIG could be no more. All the more reasons for Americans to be thankful that George W. Bush is on his way out.

Presiding over some of the worst financial crisis’ in America’s history, the President should have been reassuring US citizens about the immediate and long-term future. Instead, he came out with the limp soundbite, “In the long term I am confident that our financial markets are flexible and resilient and can deal with these adjustments.”

Quite how Bush expects the markets to deal with Monday’s catastrophes remains to be seen. While financial experts and analysts predict more chaos ahead and the Lehman demise affected worldwide shares drastically, Bush can remain happy in his White House chair safe in the knowledge he won’t have to worry about it in a couple of months.

Rising unemployment; a weak dollar; increased home foreclosures; Wall Street disasters; soaring oil prices; three out of five of the top American investment banks victims of the financial crisis in the US and the West. Congratulations, Dubya – you’re leaving a hell of a legacy…

9/11 Seven Years On – How the US Economy is the Biggest Loser

As we approach the 7th anniversary of 9/11, it’s a time to honor and remember those who lost their lives in this horrendous event. Whatever theory group you belong to – conspiracy by the US government or a genuine terrorist attack – there’s no getting away from the fact that more than 3,000 innocent people lost their lives. That is why we have to take pause on the anniversary of 9/11 to remember them.

Yet something there’s no getting away from is that the world economy, and particularly that of the US, is in utter disarray as a long-term yet direct result of the 9/11attacks. When George W. Bush launched his War on Terror with his invasion of Afghanistan, he not only ruined the biggest chance he had to turn around how people viewed the US – he also set in motion one of the biggest downturns in American economic stability in recent years.

Whoever wins the upcoming Presidential election will be taking over a seat that is mired in economic meltdown, business failures and employment black holes. And it can all be traced back to 9/11and the Bush administration’s response to it:

• In 2001, the average price for a barrel of crude oil was $23.00 over the year. In 2003, the year Bush invaded Iraq, it rose to an average $28.00 – a rise of more than 20%. Today, in 2008, the price sits at the lofty average of $102.00 a barrel. The natural result of inflation or the cost of an ill thought out war?

• The unemployment figure in 2001 was already high, as a new recession was about to kick in. Official figures put the numbers at 7.7 million, although this only took into effect people claiming benefit. Jump forward 7 years, however, and you can add another 2.1 million to the 2001 figures, with half a million losing their jobs in August 2008 alone. Much of these losses have come in the manufacturing and airline sectors, where high oil costs are decimating freight and transport.

• Home foreclosures have tripled in the last 7 years. Whereas just over 0.4% of all mortgages ended in foreclosure in 2001, that figure has risen to 1.19% as lower and middle class Americans struggle to meet rising mortgage payments. Coupled with increasing unemployment and rising oil costs – again – and the future, both immediate and long-term, looks bleak.

Additionally, some of the largest US companies are seeing a downturn in business as the economy takes a battering. General Motors, for example, has come in for some heavy flak in Canada for its decision to cease production of pick-up trucks with the loss of more than 2,500 jobs. The decision is said to be due to increased gas prices and a downturn in consumer spending. Similar plants in Wisconsin, Ohio and Mexico are also due to close.

As the world reflects on the events of 9/11 that changed the world forever, the effects are still reverberating 7 years on. The difference this time around though is the public’s perception of who the real bad guy is. Unfortunately for US business and the economy, the answer may lie in the leader of the country at the time of the 9/11 attacks…

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Booking Site Hotels.com Shows Excellent Business Sense with Labor Day Sale

For cheap hotels and getaways, booking site Hotels.com is one of the leading companies. Always with an excellent deal for hotels worldwide, the company is also showing its business acumen with the special Hotels.com Labor Day Weekend sale.

Hotels.com Labor Day weekend sale.

For anyone booking through their website by August 29, Hotels.com will offer 30% off as well as a pre-paid MasterCard loaded with $50 after the stay has finished. Available at hotels across California and the rest of the US, it’s a masterstroke by Hotels.com to grab a large slice of the lucrative Labor Day weekend getaway traffic.

The 30% off deal does depend on which Hotel.com booking you make – some hotels are offering 30% off the whole weekend, regardless of the duration of your stay, while others require you to book a minimum 3 nights. For the latest information, check the Hotels.com website.

Human Rights and Businesses and the List No-One Should Be On

Human rights and businesses may seem like odd bed-fellows yet there are many companies (large and small) who, while they may not appear to be breaching human rights themselves, actively support countries whose human rights records are less than admirable.

Beijing Olympics are embroiled in human rights issues.

Perhaps it’s only now, in the year that China is hosting the Olympic Games, that human rights and businesses is finally getting the attention it deserves.

You would have thought that in this day and age, to still be speaking about human rights – and the violation of them – would have been a thing of the past.

Indeed, with both the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948 and the 1993 Vienna World Conference both reiterating the rights of human beings in all countries, surely we shouldn’t still be discussing this 60 years later? Yet, again, sadly we are. This is where businesses can make a difference.

One of the grey areas for years has been how businesses have circumnavigated the contentious matter of human rights – whether it’s actually in the workplace, or by supporting other businesses or Governments that have a poor track record in human rights.

Human rights affects us all.

We may feel all smug in the West, pronouncing that we look after our citizens and offer human rights to all, but this is a blatantly false belief. We only need to look at Guantanamo Bay for an example of how great our human rights are on a personal level, and the likes of Nike and similar for their (alleged) sweatshop practices.

Or how about Wal-Mart’s employee “pay structure” (and I use that term loosely) – after all, this is a company whose own Annual Report in 2006 stated that it had received 57 wage and hour lawsuits, and was also successfully sued for $172 million in damages for failing to provide meal breaks for almost 116,000 workers in December 2005.

Now, with the Olympics in Beijing currently under way, once again the cold eye of scrutiny turns to businesses and human rights transgressions, as China comes under attack for its ongoing poor record in human rights over the years.

These include the persecution of anyone that dares to oppose the oppressive Chinese authorities, the continuing crackdown in Tibet, the violations against media freedom and much, much more. You would have thought that with all this controversy going on, businesses would have wanted to stay well away, right? Come on – this is greedy corporations we’re speaking of here.

Instead of using the Beijing Olympics to make a stand and show they actually care about people as opposed to just money, there are many businesses that are still happy to sponsor the Olympics. According to The Olympic Partner Programme (TOP), created and managed by the International Olympic Committee, the 12 TOP sponsors of this year’s Olympics are:

Coca-Cola has turned a blind eye.

1. Coca-Cola

2. Atos Origin

3. GE

4. Johnson-Johnson

5. Kodak

6. Lenovo

7. Manulife

8. McDonald’s (surprise, surprise…)

9. Omega

10. Panasonic

11. Samsung

12. VISA

Looking at some of the names on that list, you might be surprised they’re happy to be associated with a Government that ignores any forms of human rights.

After all, Johnson-Johnson prides itself on being “your family company”. And GE’s own Human Rights policy states that “GE seeks to advance human rights by leading by example – through our interactions with customers and suppliers, the products we offer and our relationships with communities and governments.” Especially if there are big tainted bucks involved, huh, GE?

Although many of the world’s most influential leaders have made their feelings clear on China and her human rights record leading up to the games, these companies in the TOP 12 list have been pretty silent. Their excuse? They don’t want to become involved in politics. Right…. Therefore, it stands to reason that by paying millions in sponsorship money they’re letting their greed do the talking instead – and that allows people to answer back with their views.

I wonder how much longer these companies would stay silent if people spoke with their wallets, and stopped buying their goods or services? Or let their voices be heard in other ways, such as the outcry and furore that followed the Olympic flame everywhere it went prior to its arrival in China.

Would these companies be shamed into withdrawing their support that is so out of tune with reality? Possibly, possibly not. However, one thing is certain – this isn’t something that’s going to go away.

Bloggers Unite against human rights injustices.

Already there are thousands of bloggers making a stand with the Bloggers Unite project, which is celebrating its first anniversary. The Human Rights Watch has a Take Action campaign that offers advice on how you can try and effect change in the minds of businesses everywhere.

If you’re a business owner yourself, take a look at who you deal with and whether this needs to change. We might not make a difference overnight, but we can make a difference, and that’s the most important thing of all.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights