Is it just me or have you noticed that many more marketers have caught on to "smart" as a way to promote their products or services. Some I would count as ligitimate uses and while others boarder on what I call "smart-washing" (pretending to be a  smart product when you rea...

Well in case you haven't heard the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the weekend said that the recession is over. HARRAHHH!! But wait. Now the bad news. Before you go jumping for joy, they've now declared that most advanced economies in the world are in a depression. So, now w...

Things are never what they appear to be, especially in geopolitics. Former Forbes writer and b usiness and energy journalist Jim (or James) Norman, who wrote the book- The Oil Card, and blew the whistle on Enron with the SEC, argues that the United States manipulated the price of oil as a kind...

Technology is not just a double edged sword-paradoxical good and bad effects. It’s far more complex-it’s a quadruple blade or four-edged blade sword. McLuhan predicted and warned us that every technology or human invented construct has 4 simultaneous effects on culture and society, which strateg...

Guess which city in the province of Ontario, Canada has the best record of entrepreneurial start ups over the recent period? Toronto? Wrong! Waterloo. Off the mark! Give up? Well its Oshawa, the city that has been hard hit by auto sector layoffs [hat tip to Andrew Maxwell for the stats] Unempl...

In 2000, Prakash Loungani, an economist with the International Monetary Fund, published the results of a survey which looked at the ability of economists to accurately forecast economic downturns in 63 industrialized and developing countries.   "The record of failure to predict recessions...

  I started to review and update the process of designing a business model for a new startup from the material I teach in my Innovation and Entrepreneurship classes-specifically the Opportunity Clinic.   Coincidently, Fortune magazine features an article this week on How to Manage ...

  Today's sporting gear is dumb and benign.   But sports equipment is about to get a lot smarter soon --not just from a style point of view but literally.   The sports industry (along with porn) has always been a bellwether sector for new technology applications. Fi...

Since many of my Smart Economy blog predictions throughout 2006-2008 have been fairly accurate, several people have emailed me asking for my opinions for 2009. So, falling back on my track record, and  stepping out on a limb, I offer my 10 Top Hot predictions for the coming year-2009. Here'...

Politicians, the media and business have called these economic conditions unprecedented. You hear: We're in uncharted waters, we’ve never had so much uncertainty. Last year's euphoria has turn to dispare.   I disagree.     With the need for a second bail out package of $6...